Ray Berrian
New Member
Charles Finney entered Hamilton Oneida Academy in Clinton, New York. He became proficient in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew pursuing a classical education and music. He played the violoncello and later became a lawyer.
Rev. George Gale was his pastor who was a Princeton Calvinist. Finney, though under the authority of the presbytery hammered out the understanding of Scripture but found himself at odds with Calvinism and the Universalism which was strong in Boston.
He preached in one room school-houses and later in the great churches in New York City, Boston, London and Scotland. He was known to have preached to over 3,000 people during various worship services. He was the first evangelist to popularize public invitations inviting men and women to receive Christ by either standing up in church or by coming to the front pews for counseling. While Finney could not bring revival, those years were times when great conviction fell on those who heard the Gospel.
First, he became Professor of Theology at Oberlin Collegiate Institue and 1851 became President of the college with 1,020 students on campus.
Rev. Finney became a mover of social change when the 'underground railroad' became a safe haven for southern fugitives. Many applied for the 'writ of habeas corpus' and Ohio law that protected the slaves from extradition back to the southern states. In 1858, a newly elected Democratic state legislature repealed the law leaving fugitives vulnerable to enforcement of the Federal Fugitive Slave Law.
Many were brought into the Kingdom of God through the preaching of Charles Finney, causing whole communities to find the Lord while closing saloons and bringing those converts into the various Christian denominations nearest to their homes.
Rev. George Gale was his pastor who was a Princeton Calvinist. Finney, though under the authority of the presbytery hammered out the understanding of Scripture but found himself at odds with Calvinism and the Universalism which was strong in Boston.
He preached in one room school-houses and later in the great churches in New York City, Boston, London and Scotland. He was known to have preached to over 3,000 people during various worship services. He was the first evangelist to popularize public invitations inviting men and women to receive Christ by either standing up in church or by coming to the front pews for counseling. While Finney could not bring revival, those years were times when great conviction fell on those who heard the Gospel.
First, he became Professor of Theology at Oberlin Collegiate Institue and 1851 became President of the college with 1,020 students on campus.
Rev. Finney became a mover of social change when the 'underground railroad' became a safe haven for southern fugitives. Many applied for the 'writ of habeas corpus' and Ohio law that protected the slaves from extradition back to the southern states. In 1858, a newly elected Democratic state legislature repealed the law leaving fugitives vulnerable to enforcement of the Federal Fugitive Slave Law.
Many were brought into the Kingdom of God through the preaching of Charles Finney, causing whole communities to find the Lord while closing saloons and bringing those converts into the various Christian denominations nearest to their homes.
