Charles Finney on Christian obligation in politics, by Ari Sclar

...It is altogether improbable that religion will ever make progress among heathen nations except through the influence of revivals. The attempt is now making to do it by education, and other cautious and gradual improvements. But so long as the laws of mind remain what they are, it cannot be done in this way. There must be excitement sufficient to wake up the dormant moral powers, and roll back the tide of degradation and sin…

The church must take right ground in regard to politics…[T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics, or the Lord will curse them…They must let the world see that the church will uphold no man in office, who is known to be a knave, or an adulterer, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a gambler. Such is the spread of intelligence and the facility of communication in our country, that every man can know for whom he gives his vote…

The churches must take right ground on the subject of slavery…[A] thing to be avoided is an attempt to take neutral ground on this subject…It is a great national sin. It is a sin of the church. The churches by their silence, and by permitting slave-holders to belong to their communion, have been consenting to it…

• Charles Finney, 1835

1. Which alternative group of Christian moral reformers is the author referring to as those “making to do it [reform] by education, and other cautious and gradual improvements”?

1. What political and economic developments of the era arguably made moral reform an urgent cause for individuals like the author of this document? Be specific and cite TWO sentences from the document in your answer.

1. How does this author’s approach to slavery differ from earlier anti-slavery efforts? Be specific and cite ONE sentence from the document in your answer.