You may not have heard of David Malcolm Bennett, as most people have not. The Anglo-Australian author is a little-known name in the theological world, which after reading his 2011 book The Sinner's Prayer is truly a shame. Dr. Bennett appears to have had little experience in working with academic presses, choosing rather to self-publish his literature. While self-publication has been stigmatized in previous decades as being indicative of low-quality, nothing could be farther from the truth when it comes to Bennett's work.
For many Christians, the "sinner's prayer" may be a phrase that is somewhat foreign. It is not a prayer offered by a sinner, per se, as that would just be every prayer except those of Christ. This phrase refers to a specific prayer (or perhaps a type of prayer) that has been popularized in American Evangelical circles as the formula by which a person comes into relationship with God, receiving salvation. Much ink has been spilled and many trees have died in examining the biblical precedent (or lack thereof) for such a practice, but Bennett's contribution to the field is unique in its historiographical footprint - reaching farther back into the annals of history to find the origin of this practice, as well as reaching into the recent past to find the impact that the practice is having on Christianity around the world.
The book begins with a page familiarizing the reader with the credentials of the author, which was helpful because of his relative quietness in the theological world. There is then a section labelled "Glossary" which simply defines a few key terms that are used in the book. The terms in the book, admittedly, are terms that most Christians should be familiar with but realistically are not (i.e. Calvinism, Arminianism, Pelagianism), showing that Dr. Bennett has a real grasp of the intended audience's familiarity with the topic that he setting out to write about.
The first chapter is devoted towards defining the key elements of the sinner's prayer, particularly as utilized in the most broadly applied forms, such as that of the Four Spiritual Laws camp and the Billy Graham Association's Steps to Peace with God (among others).
Theologically studious readers will find the bulk of their appreciation for the book in chapter two, which examines the theological and biblical precedent for the practice. I was surprised at Bennett's transparency, as he makes great efforts not to straw-man the arguments in favor of the sinner's prayer, noting a few arguments in its support that I have never heard before and for which there are no accompanying citations - leading me to believe that he sought out any passage that could possibly be used as justification for such a practice. He does not set these up to only knock them down, but rather steel-mans them before examining the counter arguments. This chapter also examines the propositions of many advocates of the sinner's prayer who claim that the practice was used by such early ministers as John Flavel, Jonathan Edwards, and Asahel Nettleton.
"Only 3% of the persons responding [saying the sinner's prayer] were ever incorporated into a local congregation. It seems highly probably that most of the remaining 97% were not truly converted." - The Sinner's Prayer
Perhaps the most staggering portion of the book comes in his examination of the statistics surrounding the effectiveness of the sinner's prayer. Drawing from sources that are highly in favor of the sinner's prayer, such as Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the statistics they provide are nearly definitive proof of the erroneous nature of the practice. CCC reports that 97% of those that make decisions at their meetings never attend church afterwards, and the SBC reported that over half of those that make decisions of faith in their churches drop out after doing so. There is also a useful application of the information, as Bennett researches the differing types of salvation experiences as determined by age group. This would serve many ministers who are seeking to reach those in middle-age rather than only children.
One failure of Bennett, in my opinion, is that he does not address the typical distinction that accompanies these sorts of theological institutions which claims that there is a difference between a "convert" and a "disciple". Bennett does touch on this at one point, referring to Christ giving a command to go and make disciples and not only converts, but he does not hone in on this to give it the examination that it deserves. As what appears to be a Calvinist (though not explicitly stated), Bennett regularly argues that God is the initiator of faith and salvation, that total depravity is correct, and that our decision "follows God's process of regeneration. It does not precede it." With this in mind, perhaps he never considered that this distinction between converts and disciples was possible, but that is a very real distinction in many churches who hold to the perseverance of the saints without holding to any of the works of the Spirit in a Christian's life.
Bennett is tactful in his instruction of how a person should be led to become a Christian, falling on both historical practice and Biblical instruction. He further instructs Christians to examine themselves against the scriptures, such as 1st John, in order to confirm that they are in the faith - a refreshing breath of air in a world that holds no standards of testing faith as real or not.
The rest of the book is much more of a historiographical essay than a theological text. It examines the pre-Charles Finney development of the Sinner's Prayer (and briefly the usage of the altar call), before diving into the time of Finney and those influenced by him such as D.L. Moody. Much time is also spent following the development of the application of Revelation 3:20 that is so commonly used by advocates of this view. There is even a very interesting subsection devoted to examining a painting that greatly contributed to the popularity of this view. Leaving the 1800's (after a very detailed study of various ministers of differing denominational affiliations), examination is given to the First World War era and the spread of this practice around the world.
The book concludes with chapters on the most recent and most popular advocates of this view, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. Time is spent examining their theologies, as well as the various means that they used to apply this practice (such as Decision Cards). A firm denunciation of the practice completes the book, not on one point of order alone, but on several very-well given arguments.
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