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Charles Finney
Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875). Born on August 29, 1792, in Warren, Connecticut, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leading figure in the Second Great Awakening. Raised in a non-religious family, he studied law in Adams, New York, until a dramatic conversion in 1821, when he experienced a vision of Christ, abandoning law for ministry. Largely self-taught in theology, he was licensed by the Presbyterian Church in 1824 and began preaching in western New York, sparking revivals with his direct, emotional sermons and “new measures” like the anxious bench. His campaigns in cities like Rochester (1830–1831) led to thousands of conversions, influencing social reforms like abolitionism. In 1835, he joined Oberlin College as a theology professor, later serving as its president (1851–1866), promoting Christian perfectionism and co-educational, anti-slavery values. Finney authored Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) and Systematic Theology (1846), shaping evangelicalism. Married three times—Lydia Andrews (1824, died 1847), Elizabeth Atkinson (1848, died 1863), and Rebecca Rayl (1865)—he had six children. He died on August 16, 1875, in Oberlin, Ohio, saying, “The moral law of God is the only standard of holiness.”
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Sermon Summary
Charles Finney encourages Charles Hill Roe to actively contribute to the periodical press, emphasizing the importance of sharing the work of God and the displays of divine grace witnessed in Birmingham. Finney believes that Roe has a responsibility to document and share these blessings, as it serves to glorify God and inspire others. He urges Roe to use his writing as a tool for the furtherance of Christ's cause, highlighting the need to publicly acknowledge and celebrate God's work.
Charles Hill Roe
To Charles Hill Roe c. April 1850 [Extract published in Eliza Roe Shannon, A Minister's Life: Memoirs of Charles Hill Roe (Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1900), pages 69-70. This letter was probably written from Worcester in March or April 1850 to Roe who was in Birmingham] [page 69] I never remember his [Roe's] contributing a line, aside form home mission reports, to any paper or magazine while we lived in England, and I might say almost the same in regard to his after life in America. His esteemed friend Charles G Finney, once wrote to him as follows: "Brother Roe, how is it that you have nothing to do with the periodical press? Why don't you use your pen for the furtherance of Christ's cause? Could you not do great good by giving some [page 70] account of the work at Birmingham as you view it? It seems to me that you owe it to God and to the churches in this and other countries to record these displays of divine grace to the glory of the Redeemer. We have no right to conceal and hide so great blessings received from God. Hide pride from man and give glory to God."
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Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875). Born on August 29, 1792, in Warren, Connecticut, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leading figure in the Second Great Awakening. Raised in a non-religious family, he studied law in Adams, New York, until a dramatic conversion in 1821, when he experienced a vision of Christ, abandoning law for ministry. Largely self-taught in theology, he was licensed by the Presbyterian Church in 1824 and began preaching in western New York, sparking revivals with his direct, emotional sermons and “new measures” like the anxious bench. His campaigns in cities like Rochester (1830–1831) led to thousands of conversions, influencing social reforms like abolitionism. In 1835, he joined Oberlin College as a theology professor, later serving as its president (1851–1866), promoting Christian perfectionism and co-educational, anti-slavery values. Finney authored Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) and Systematic Theology (1846), shaping evangelicalism. Married three times—Lydia Andrews (1824, died 1847), Elizabeth Atkinson (1848, died 1863), and Rebecca Rayl (1865)—he had six children. He died on August 16, 1875, in Oberlin, Ohio, saying, “The moral law of God is the only standard of holiness.”