This new, critical edition of Charles G. Finney's memoirs contains the complete text of the original manuscript.
In preparing the first edition of The Memoirs of Charles Finney for nineteenth-century readers, James Fairchild edited or omitted what seemed to him outrageous passages, exaggerated language, and repetitions. All subsequent editions have been based on Fairchild's work.
In this new, critical edition of Finney's memoirs, Garth Rosell and Richard Dupuis have restored the complete text of the original manuscript. Included are never-before-published sections on Finney's labors in Michigan, the notorious Oberlin Lynching scandal and Finney's part in the trial, Finney's attitude toward Blacks, opposition he encountered, and his first wife's severe illness. There are also over thirty illustrations and maps that give the reader a sense of "being there." "Few men influenced a whole generation for Christ as deeply as Charles G. Finney. Now Finney's life and commitment to Christ come alive through the pages of this revised edition of his Memoirs. Not only have Dr. Rosell and Mr. Dupuis given us a monument of modern historical scholarship, but y doing so they have given us a vivid portrait of one of the most remarkable Americans of the 19th century. Even if we cannot concur with Finney in every detail of his thinking, no one can read these pages without being challenged by his passion for evangelism, his concern for social injustice, and his love for God."