By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann

Early Life  Born in 1792 in Warren, Connecticut  Parents moved to Western New York  Little access to religious services or books  “I seldom heard a sermon, unless it was an occasional one from some travelling minister, or some miserable holding forth of an ignorant preacher who would sometimes be found in that country.”

Middle Years  In 1821, when he was 29 he converted to American Evangelism  Rejected Predestination “The sinner chooses to sin just as the penitent chooses to repent.”  God offered himself to everyone, but you have to save yourself  Started slowly, used new tactics to reach the greatest amount of people

Middle Years Cont.  “I now think that I sometimes criticized his sermons unmercifully. I raised such objections against his positions as forced themselves upon my attention.... What did he mean by repentance? Was it a mere feeling of sorrow for sin? Was it altogether a passive state of mind? or did it involve a voluntary element? If it was a change of mind, in what respect was it a change of mind? What did he mean by the term regeneration? What did such language mean when spoken of as a spiritual change? What did he mean by faith? Was it merely an intellectual state? Was it merely a conviction, or persuasion, that the things stated in the Gospel were true?” [Memoirs, ]

Middle Years Cont.  Crucial figure of Jacksonian Era  Stressed qualities of Equality of men Self-governance Free will

Later Life  Was at odds with conservative clergy  Worked at Oberlin College and Theological Seminary  President of Oberlin from 1851 to 1866  After Finney stopped his campaigning he began devising a doctrine of Christian perfectionism  He died August 1875

Movement-Revivalism  Movement characterized by: Located in the West Emotional Meetings, where conversion occurred Impassioned preaching, examination of souls

Revivalism Continued  First occurred in small, emotional meetings (not as emotional as in First Great Awakening)  Served as social gatherings  Conversions jumped from 1 in 15 in 1800 to 1 in 6 in 1850  Encouraged return to God

Finney’s Reforms  Desire to reform social America  Wanted to limited of alcohol and abolition of slavery  Allowed and encouraged women to participate in his sermons and mass

Contributions Made  Most influential of all of the Revivalists  Caused the Baptists and Methodists to have the most conversions  Very theatric, created the interactive and enthusiastic sermon

Effects of the Contributions  Even with massive conversions, problems arose Cult-like perfectionism Doctrinal compromise Anxious Seat  Even with his revivals, Evangelical Christianity almost disappeared  New Measures Mass Conversions Man controls his destiny

Effects Continued  Burnt Over District- Western New York  Pelangianism Original Sin did not taint humans  Perfectionism His choice, no original sin

Bibliography  Charles Grandison Finney. Virginia College. Taken from on April 8,  Charles Finney. Institute for the Study of American Evangleicals. Taken from biography/charles-finney/ on April 7, 2010http://isae.wheaton.edu/hall-of- biography/charles-finney/  Johnson, Phillip R. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Taken from on April 7,  Scott, Donald. Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great Awakening. Taken from nevanrev.htm on April 8, nevanrev.htm

By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann