Charles G. Finney
1792 - 1875

"No words can describe the wonderful joy that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love. The waves came over me and over me, one after another, until I cried out, 'I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me. Lord, I cannot bear any more." -Finney's description of his filling with the Holy Spirit on the day of his conversion"

Charles Finney was born in Connecticut to an ordinary family and life that gave little hint of the great things God had in store for him. He was a schoolteacher and then a lawyer before his conversion at age 29.

Finney was filled with the Holy Spirit on the same day he was saved and immediately began witnessing to friends and family members. More than twenty people were saved in the 24 hours following Finney's conversion.

Finney's personal evangelism soon became public evangelism as he began to travel and preach in extended revival meetings. He considered revival to be a natural result of following the instructions God had laid out in His Word. During Finney's fifty years of preaching, more than 500,000 were saved.

He wrote many books, the most enduring of which are The Autobiography of Charles Finney and Lectures on Revival of Religion.

After ill health forced him to stop traveling in meetings, he accepted the pastorate of a church in New York City. From 1852 until 1866 he served as president of Oberlin College in Ohio.

Although some of his theology was lacking, he was a powerful, Spirit-filled soul winner who brought revival to cities and towns across the eastern United States.