The term “Finneyite” refers to preacher Charles Grandison Finney’s views about Christianity. In the 1800s, he argued that people should reform their approach to the Christian faith by focusing on personal freedom and social equality rather than fatherly authority and respect for the family.
Finneyite Quotes in Kingdom of Matthias
The Kingdom of Matthias quotes below are all either spoken by Finneyite or refer to Finneyite. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Prologue: Two Prophets at Kirtland
Quotes
In contrast to the Finneyite inventors of Yankee middle-class culture, the two prophets at Kirtland may look like marginal men—cranky nay-sayers to the economic, domestic, and social progress of the nineteenth century. Against the Finneyites’ feminized spirituality of restraint, Smith and Matthias (each in his own way) resurrected an ethos of fixed social relations and paternal power. Yet as they saw things, they were defenders of ancient truth against the perverse claims of arrogant, affluent, and self-satisfied enemies of God.
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Finneyite Term Timeline in Kingdom of Matthias
The timeline below shows where the term Finneyite appears in Kingdom of Matthias. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue: Two Prophets at Kirtland
...begins driving American culture’s moral agenda. Such people, including revivalist preacher Charles Grandison Finney, spread “Finneyite” ideas celebrating reform and personal freedom. According to this view, any coercive behavior—including slavery and...
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In contrast to the Finneyite moral agenda, Matthias and Smith’s rhetoric celebrates “fixed social relations and paternal power.” It’s hostile...
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Chapter 1: Elijah Pierson
...little odd that Elijah Pierson ends up joining Matthias’s cult, because Elijah is an avid Finneyite, who celebrates the progressive agenda of ensuring personal freedom for all people. However, when Elijah’s...
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Chapter 2: Robert Matthews
...politicians who think his sermons are too intense. He moves to Albany, becomes an avid Finneyite, and begins preaching from North Dutch Church, until he founds Albany’s Fourth Presbyterian Church. Matthews...
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...lock Margaret in their home and forcibly baptize her. She resists, telling Matthews that her Finneyite church would not condone such behavior.
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...betray Christ. In 1831, Matthews abandons his family and travels to Rochester—the center of the Finneyite evangelical movement—to announce himself as “Matthias, Prophet of the God of the Jews.”
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Epilogue
Matthias’s cult also influences American society. Although Matthias’s anti-Finneyite agenda collapses (with only Isabella Van Wagenen remaining true to its cause until the end),...
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