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Charles G. Finney--The Link Between the First and Second Great Awakenings in America

ByJayRogers

“Whenheopenedhismouthhewasaimingagun.Whenhespokebombardmentbegan.Theeffectsofhisspeakingwerealmostunparalleledinmodernhistory.Overhalfamillionpeoplewereconvertedthroughhismin-istry...inanagewhentherewereno amplifiers or mass communi-cations,hespearheadedarevivalwhichliterallyalteredthecourseofhistory.”�

CharlesFinneywasborntheyearafterWesleydied;appropriately,becausetherevivaleventsofFinney’slifebecamethelinkfromtheFirstGreatAwakeningofonecenturytotheSecondGreatAwak-eningofthenext.Hislifeandwritingsin-fluenced more people toward revival and socialreformthananyotherpreacherofthelastcentury.Hehatedslaverywithapassionandbecameachampionofmanysocialreformissuesofthe�8thcentury.His convictions were born in the fires of revivalandshapedbyakeenlawyer’smindcommittedtothefullauthorityoftheBible.Soeffectivewerehiswritingsthattheyhavebeentheimpetusforreviv-alsaroundtheworldsincehisdeath.2

Extravagantandemotionalinhispreaching,perhapsnootherrevivalistofhisdaywasaseffectiveandcontroversialasFinney.Everywherehewenttumultfollowedhim—itwaseitherrevivalorriot—reminiscentofthepowerthatfol-lowed the first century apostles in the

BookofActs.Hismostcontroversialmeasuresincludedallowingwomentoleadprayerduringmeetings,appealingbynametosinnerswhilepreaching,longprotractedmeetingswithoutaplannedformat,andteachingthepossibility,eventhenecessity,oftotallyeradicatingsinbothintheindividualandinsoci-ety.Someestimatethatover80%ofhisconvertsduringtherevivalsstayedtruetoChristwithouteverbacksliding.Thiswasduetohisurgentmessagestressingholi-nessandpurity.Inlateryears,hemovedawayfromsensationalismandputmoreemphasisonthepoweroftheHolySpiritthroughprayer.

Asatheologian,heisbestknownforhisRevivalLectures.NootherbookshavebeensomightilyusedofGodtopromotetruebiblicalrevival.Init,heexplainswhatarevivalisandtreatsatlengthrelatedsubjectsastheplaceoffaithandprayerinrelationtorevival;theneedforthebaptismintheHolySpirit;methodstobeusedinthequestforsouls;hindrancestorevivals;instructionstonewconverts;andhowtogrowingrace.3

Notes�.PerryMiller,Charles Finney,cover.2.Finney,The Heart of Truth,cover.3.WinkiePratney,Revival,(Springdale,PA:WhitakerHouse,�983)pp.��6-�27.

(ReprintedwithpermissionfromTheForerunnerInternational,P.O.Box362�73,MelbourneFL32936-2�73.)