Charles Grandison Finney

Charles Grandison Finney ( born August 23, 1792 in Warren, Connecticut; † August 16, 1875 in Oberlin, Ohio ) was an American revivalist.

Life

Charles G. Finney was the youngest of seven children of a simple farmer family. In 1818 he began in Adams in New York State training as an office assistant in a firm of at. Through his studies in the jurisprudential area he always came back in contact with quotations from the Bible; to see the Bible verses in their context, he began more and more often to read the full story.

In the autumn of 1824 Charles Finney had a conversion experience when he was walking alone in a forest. A few days later he heard another intense experience with God, which he later described as a baptism of the Spirit.

After this dramatic experience Finney was a full- time preacher and later also an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church. In several places experienced Finney, such as municipalities experienced by his preaching revivals. It is estimated that up to 500,000 people were converted through his preaching style.

In 1835, founded and directed Finney Oberlin Collegiate Institute ( Oberlin College), a theological faculty in Oberlin, Ohio, where he trained preacher. From 1851 to 1866 he was the rector of Oberlin College. Until shortly before his death he still held lectures to his students.

In Germany Charles Finney coined the Holiness movement and the community movement.

"It is the one of the largest and most deplorable abuses minutely nowadays. Even with sincere pious pastors Christianity in many cases is so superficial that they can not understand the really spiritually -minded members of their communities. Their sermons not meet their needs and therefore do not give them the right food. Do not agree with the experience of them. The clergyman in question are themselves not deep enough established to go to the detriment of the souls entrusted to them on the ground and to be able to awaken the church. "

Writings (selection )

  • Aids to prayer. Principles of prayer. Dynamis: Kreuzlingen, 1983 ISBN 3-85645-039-4.
  • Memoirs. Dusseldorf 1902 ( reprint: Bernard, Solingen 2001, ISBN 3-925968-99-7 )

Secondary literature

  • Ulrich Gaebler: rationality, morality, conversion. The revival sermon by Charles Grandison Finney in North America, 1824-1832, 1980. ISBN 90-242-0186-1
  • Ulrich Gaebler: "Resurrection Time." Revivalist of the 19th century. Six portraits. C. H. Beck Verlag, Munich, 1991. ISBN 3-406-35157-3
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Finney, Charles Grandison. In: Biographic- bibliographic church encyclopedia ( BBKL ). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm, 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8, Sp 33-34. (Articles / Articles beginning possibly in the Internet Archive )
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