The Evangelical Free Church of America and Premillennialism

https://claudemariottini.com/2019/09/04/the-evangelical-free-church-of-america-and-premillennialism/ 

 

According to an article published in Christianity Today, the Evangelical Free Church of America stepped back from its premillennial convictions. According to the news report written by Morgan Lee, “The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) has changed its position on end times doctrine. The denomination recently voted to drop the word ‘premillennial’ from its statement of faith.”

In a document titled “The Proposal to Amend our Statement of Faith: A Rationale for the Change,” the denomination stated that “Many churches in the EFCA, recognizing that premillennialism is merely a denominational distinctive and not an essential of the gospel, simply do not enforce it as a required doctrinal position for members, elders or even for pastors.”

In the article published in Christianity Today, Daniel Hummel, a historian of US religion, said: “Historians often see the shift towards premillennialism happening in the mid-nineteenth century with the Civil War, with a more pessimistic view of the future coming into a lot of American’s minds. And there’s also new theological influences that are making premillennialism much more popular. Premillennialism becomes sort of the main tradition and the air that a lot of evangelicals breathe, throughout the 20th century.”

Premillennialism is predominantly found among conservative evangelicals who continue to use the King James Bible and modern translations which continue the tradition of the Authorized Version. Christians who adhere to fundamentalist theological views believe that before the millennial there will be the seven-year tribulation and that the church will be raptured before the tribulation. Thus, the premillennial view, that the church will be taken before the millennium begins.