Ohio History Journal

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THE EVANGELIST AS THEOLOGICAL DISPUTANT:

THE EVANGELIST AS THEOLOGICAL DISPUTANT:

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY AND SOME OTHERS

 

by CHARLES C. COLE, JR.

Assistant Dean, Columbia College, Columbia University

 

Interpreting the word of God, defining dogma, and disputing

against heretical views have been primary tasks of religious leaders

for many centuries. A glance at the countless succession of theo-

logical battles from Augustine's condemnation of Pelagius through

Wycliffe, Hus, Luther, and Savonarola suggests that the respon-

sibilities of defending what is deemed "truth" and of attacking

heresy are deeply rooted and persistent obligations of theologians.

The tradition of tolerance is very young.

Even in the New World theological dispute has had a rich,

colorful, and sometimes unsavory history. The Calvinist was as

prejudiced as the Old World Catholic, the Puritan as sure of

his views as Thomas Aquinas or Ignatius Loyola. Intolerance and

persecution, Roger Williams notwithstanding, characterized the early

American religious scene. The United States today practices religious

freedom in spite of, not because of, its early religious development.

The tradition of dispute and intolerance in colonial America

got off to an early start. The problems created by the less pious

second generation precipitated a debate that convulsed ministerial

meetings in 1657 and 1662 and which resulted in a compromise

called the Half-Way Covenant.1 This agreement, which in the

end satisfied no one, produced an abundant supply of controversial

theological works which, while archaic in a modern setting, serve

as tributes to the tenacity and occasional brilliance of the trans-

planted seventeenth century mind.

The Great Awakening, with which Jonathan Edwards was asso-

ciated, brought forth more doctrinal discussions. Edwards, considered

the first major original American theologian, did much to reinterpret

1 The Half-Way Covenant permitted unregenerate adults to stay in the church,

have their children baptized, and be considered members, but denied to them and

their children the right to communion. See Samuel E. Morison, The Puritan Pronaos

(New York, 1936), 168; Herbert W. Schneider, The Puritan Mind (New York,

1930), 86-87.

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