Age of Progress II The Second Great Awakening: Finney, Moody, and The Rise of Mormonism

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1 1 Add me Moody description in Ordained of the Lord H.A. Ironside, pp. ~ Age of Progress II The Second Great Awakening: Finney, Moody, and The Rise of Mormonism 3 Early 19 th Century Churches With the post-revolutionary war economic boom the USA spread west Along with the frontiersmen went Christians, missionaries, and churches. c People exercised their right to religious freedom The lack of a state church continued to increase the number of unchurched u Inter-denominational struggles caused strife especially in rural areas 4 Early 19 th Century Churches Along with the economic boom came a massive increase in immigration ion Roman Catholic numbers swelled along with the immigrants, especially among the German and Irish The frontier/rural areas tended towards mainstream protestant denominations and the urban areas towards Catholicism Interdenominational movements like the American Bible Society, American A Tract Society, and the American Sunday School Union rose to meet the growing needs 5 Early 19 th Century Churches Christianity gained some state support due to its founding of social apparatus like schools, universities, orphanages, etc. Crazy utopian communities like the Oneida community emerged 6 Charles Finney Born Aug. 29, 1792 in Warren, CT At 2 his family moved to NY along with many other emigrants, they y were poor farmers and lived in harsh conditions He heard very little preaching growing up and what he did was grammatically poor Didn t t go to college but got a high school education and then a Law certification Moved to Adams, NY and led the church choir though still an outspoken unbeliever 7 Charles Finney Finney had a vision of Christ in the middle of the street and began to convert After a day long process Finney knew he was saved He realized that he now was to preach 1

2 Began an education that was more argument than learning Was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, but later became Congregationalist 8 Charles Finney Finney was Semi-Armenian and specifically anti-hypercalvinist due to Unitarianism s s origins in calvinistic thought He led a massive reform in the methodology of revival Preached extemporaneously, used encouragers, prayed for people by name from the pulpit, had women praying at the front of the church, endorsed e mixed gender prayer services, and ostensibly created the modern altar call with his anxious bench 9 Charles Finney Preached massive revivals with claims of over 500,000 getting saved Western New York became the Burned-Over District because there was no fuel left for revival there The mass conversions weren t t all absorbed by local churches and some fell by the wayside once emotion was gone Was a staunch abolitionist Was to some degree involved in the perfectionist theology of his day 10 Charles Finney 11 Became professor and eventually president of Oberlin college, the e first college to allow women and black people to study in classes with white males Finney died in 1875 His Christianity and the effects of his ministry are still to this day hotly debated To many Reformed Christians Finney is an arch-heretic heretic and the doom of evangelism To many modern Evangelicals Finney is a great hero and model for revival 12 D.L. Moody Born Feb th of 9 children His father died when he was 4 and his mother had great difficulty y keeping the family together A local Unitarian pastor came alongside the family and helped care for them both spiritually and materially The Moody family became Christian At 17 he traveled to Boston, and after a period of hopeless job hunting got a job as a shoe salesman in his uncle s s store 13 D.L. Moody 2

3 He was mostly illiterate, but an excellent shoe salesman Moody converted after a visit from his Sunday school teacher After some scufuffle he was given membership in the church Following his impetuous nature Moody moved to Chicago on a whim He made a good deal of money as a salesman as well as increasing his involvement in various works for God 14 D.L. Moody His love for evangelism manifested itself, he rented a pew and filled f it weekly with various bums and wastrels Began a Sunday school ministry among the children of the slums earning e him the nickname Crazy Moody At 24 Moody submitted to his call to full time ministry having lost l all desire to work Became very involved in the Y.M.C.A During the Civil war Moody initiated tent camp evangelism converting many soldiers 15 D.L. Moody 1867 traveled to England and met his two heroes Charles Spurgeon and George MüllerM A massive fire burned down Moody s s school and YMCA building in Chicago He traveled to New York in order to raise funds for rebuilding While in New York his soul was tormented until he had a revelation and anointing Traveled to England in order to refresh and increase in learning 16 D.L. Moody In answer to a crippled girls prayers Moody preached in a church that saw a massive revival of over 400 new members Thus began his career of mass evangelism Teaming up with Ira Sankey Moody traveled all over preaching revival wherever he went He founded several schools including the still famous Moody Bible e Institute It is said that in his lifetime he preached to over 1,000,000 people. 17 D.L. Moody He grew old became ill with a heart condition Hiding the condition he preached one more series of sermons in KentuckyK He then went home to die He died 18 2 nd nd Great Awakening Massive 19 th Century revival that swept across America It began with the Kentucky Revival in the early 1800 s s and continued on in 3

4 19 2 nd various aspects throughout the rest of the century. In the frontiers the Baptists and Methodist denominations grew quickly q as they were the primary movers in revival More urban revivals such as took place in New England under Finney and Chicago under Moody were less denominational nd Great Awakening The entire awakening was marked by radicalism Especially in the frontiers people were excitable and prone to hystericsh Also gave rise to several modern day heretical movements like Mormons and Jehovah s s Witnesses Provided a platform for social change often promoting such ideas as race equality and prohibition Many many many were saved or at least claimed to be 20 Joseph Smith Jr. Born in Virginia to a down on their luck family who moved around looking for work Moved to New York along with many other families, eventually giving ing up on hard work and seeking less difficult means of employment Joseph was marked as a clever boy with a knack for storytelling, but was never well educated Supposedly at 14 he had a theophany of God the Father and Jesus 21 Joseph Smith Jr. He began spreading his tale with some success, though when he began telling about it meets with mixed reports Functioned as an exhorter during the 1824 revival that took place e in Palmyra Was almost baptized in the Baptist church in order to marry Emma Hale 1827 the location of golden plates containing the real testament of Jesus Christ was revealed to him by the angel Moroni,, along with a restorationist command for the church 22 Joseph Smith Jr. He translated the plates by dictating to a scribe as he translated Thus was the book of Mormon written A good looking a charismatic man he eventually gained many followers 1831 to avoid conflict in New York the Smiths moved to Kirtland Ohio where they built the first Mormon temple 1838 they fled to Missouri due to local unrest and mob violence primarily due to Smith s s polygamous practices 23 Joseph Smith Jr. Moved to Independence Missouri and had visions that it was to be the center of Zion in Christ s s soon to come millennium Political blocs, physical violence, and a take over attempt made the 4

5 Mormons unpopular in Missouri Smith was imprisoned for several months but bribed his way out with w liquor and $$ 1839 moved to Nauvoo Illinois where the Mormons became dominant and Smith became mayor 24 Joseph Smith Jr Smith became a freemason 1844 announced his candidacy for president of the USA The newly made newspaper the Nauvoo Expositor complained against Smith and his Polygamy Smith ordered the paper destroyed and shut down violating freedom m of the press Popular opinion rose against Smith and he was imprisoned in Carthage jail 25 Joseph Smith Jr. While in jail with his brother and a few followers a mob came and d attacked them Both Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed, Joseph tried to escape by jumping from the window and was shot His last words were Oh, Lord, my God, the beginning of a Masonic cry for help Smith s s death left a succession crises from which the church split, though the mainstream Mormons followed Brigham Young to Utah where they remain 5