History
Reacting against the pervasive Calvinism of the Great Awakening, the successors of that great movement of God’s Spirit turned from God to humans, from the preaching of objective content (namely, Christ and him crucified) to the emphasis on getting a person to "make a decision". "The evangelical Christians of the 19th century combined revivalism with social reform and helped lead campaigns to abolish slavery and support women's suffrage and child labor laws. Charles Grandison Finney, popularized the idea of the "altar call" in order to sign up his converts for the abolition movement."
Evangelical churches have taken this act of response to the proclaimed word from a corporate action and made it a private act. Many churches, particularly those that practice anabaptism, believe that one must make a public proclamation of faith based on scriptural passages found in the Bible in which Jesus states, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
Read more about this topic: Altar Call
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