Charles G. Finney: Revivalistic Rhetoric

by David B. Chesebrough

Overview

Though much has been written about Charles Finney, The Father of Modern Revivalism, most works have concentrated on his roles as an educator and political reformer. In this new study, Chesebrough examines the rhetorical skills and techniques that made Finney the first contemporary evangelist, one whose methods are still practiced today. A major force in many social reform movements of his time, most notably abolitionism, Finney introduced techniques to revivalist preaching that he used toward politically sophisticated ends. Chesebrough explores both his rhetoric and the effect it had on Finney's audiences, as well as the controversy this major figure often provoked.

Following a survey of Finney's life, with special attention given to those aspects pertaining to the development of his oratory, Chesebrough considers the themes of Finney's sermons and lectures on both religious and political subjects. A third section details the rhetorical devices he introduced and employed, and the volume concludes with three of Finney's actual sermons, which reveal the ways in which this speaker commanded the attention of his audiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313318139
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/2001
Series:	Great American Orators , #31
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

DAVID B. CHESEBROUGH is a Professor of History at Illinois State University. He is the author of six books, including Frederick Douglass: Oratory from Slavery (Greenwood, 1998), Theodore Parker: Orator of Superior Ideas (Greenwood, 1999), and Phillips Brooks: Pulpit Eloquence (Greenwood, 2001).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Finney's Life
Finney's Themes
Finney's Rhetoric
Finney's Sermons
Bibliography
Index