The Anxious Bench
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
In response to a schism in the German reformed church and to John Williamson Nevin’s dislike of Charles Finney’s religious practices, Nevin provides an in-depth criticism of the practice of the “Anxious Bench,” in which parishioners whose souls are in “jeopardy” sit before the congregation and receive public censure. He attacks the anxious bench as “quackery,” calling out its manipulative nature and illegitimacy in creating disciples and converts. His dissertation outlines the dangers of the practice, and refers readers instead to “the system of the catechism,” where salvation occurs through ordinary yet divine means of grace.
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- Offers an in-depth criticism of the “Anxious Bench” practice
- Outlines the dangers of the “Anxious Bench”
- Refers readers to “the system of the catechism”
John Williamson Nevin (1803–1886) was an American theologian and professor. He studied at Princeton University and was a professor of biblical literature at Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. Well-versed in German, he studied contemporary German theologians, and eventually converted to the German Reformed Church, accepting a position at the Church’s seminary in Mercersburg, PA. He and his colleagues developed a conservative doctrinal position eventually labeled the “Mercersburg Theology.”