A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism
This article focuses on the evangelical theology and revival practice of Charles Grandison Finney, popular in his time yet critically under-explored in American philosophy, specifically regarding his role in the emergence of American pragmatism. Spearheaded by American philosophers like Charles Sand...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Open Theology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2022-0210 |
| _version_ | 1811203014152683520 |
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| author | Welch Shawn |
| author_facet | Welch Shawn |
| author_sort | Welch Shawn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article focuses on the evangelical theology and revival practice of Charles Grandison Finney, popular in his time yet critically under-explored in American philosophy, specifically regarding his role in the emergence of American pragmatism. Spearheaded by American philosophers like Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, pragmatism argues that the significance of abstract concepts lies in their practical consequences in lived experience, as opposed to their internal logic or conformity to intellectual traditions. Whereas this philosophical method is often seen as predominantly secular in its origins, this article approaches pragmatic thinking and practice from the point of view of the spiritual conversion strategies of Charles Finney and antebellum evangelical culture more broadly. I expand on what Leonard I. Sweet has called Finney’s “pragmatic philosophy of revivalism,” addressing his theology and revival practice to disclose its latent pragmatic tendencies and those within antebellum evangelical culture. I argue that by looking at Finney as an early practitioner of this method, we must reappraise his and evangelicalism’s role in the emergence of philosophical pragmatism, challenge its putative secularity, and – as Charles Taylor has recently demonstrated – reassess what academic disciplines mean when they cite the presumed distinction between the religious and the secular. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:47:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-84d588fd9a1f4dfb88fc31a708f4df53 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2300-6579 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:47:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Theology |
| spelling | doaj.art-84d588fd9a1f4dfb88fc31a708f4df532022-12-22T03:51:06ZengDe GruyterOpen Theology2300-65792022-08-018128429610.1515/opth-2022-0210A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical RevivalismWelch Shawn0Independent scholar, Durham, North Carolina, United States of AmericaThis article focuses on the evangelical theology and revival practice of Charles Grandison Finney, popular in his time yet critically under-explored in American philosophy, specifically regarding his role in the emergence of American pragmatism. Spearheaded by American philosophers like Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, pragmatism argues that the significance of abstract concepts lies in their practical consequences in lived experience, as opposed to their internal logic or conformity to intellectual traditions. Whereas this philosophical method is often seen as predominantly secular in its origins, this article approaches pragmatic thinking and practice from the point of view of the spiritual conversion strategies of Charles Finney and antebellum evangelical culture more broadly. I expand on what Leonard I. Sweet has called Finney’s “pragmatic philosophy of revivalism,” addressing his theology and revival practice to disclose its latent pragmatic tendencies and those within antebellum evangelical culture. I argue that by looking at Finney as an early practitioner of this method, we must reappraise his and evangelicalism’s role in the emergence of philosophical pragmatism, challenge its putative secularity, and – as Charles Taylor has recently demonstrated – reassess what academic disciplines mean when they cite the presumed distinction between the religious and the secular.https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2022-0210american evangelicalismpragmatismcharles finneynew haven theologysecularismhomileticsexperience |
| spellingShingle | Welch Shawn A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism Open Theology american evangelicalism pragmatism charles finney new haven theology secularism homiletics experience |
| title | A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism |
| title_full | A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism |
| title_fullStr | A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism |
| title_short | A Pragmatic Piety: Experience, Uncertainty, and Action in Charles G. Finney’s Evangelical Revivalism |
| title_sort | pragmatic piety experience uncertainty and action in charles g finney s evangelical revivalism |
| topic | american evangelicalism pragmatism charles finney new haven theology secularism homiletics experience |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2022-0210 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT welchshawn apragmaticpietyexperienceuncertaintyandactionincharlesgfinneysevangelicalrevivalism AT welchshawn pragmaticpietyexperienceuncertaintyandactionincharlesgfinneysevangelicalrevivalism |