AP Video: How to Read Revelation & Avoid the Mark of the Beast

[RZehr]

My opinion and theory is that when it started, Eastern was so sick of relativism and growing worldliness in the Mennonite church, that they over corrected into fundamentalism or literalism.
And they found themselves with a mindset that left little room for not taking the Bible (N.T. teachings) literally. And they were and are terribly uncomfortable with making any exceptions to that approach for Revelation.

I could be wrong here. It’s just something I suspect.

I do think that with dispensationalism teaching that Jesus teachings are in a different dispensation than church age dispensation, (my understanding of this subject is that the change point in time between these two dispensations was marked by the resurrection.) it has stopped Mennonites from become super bought in. Because we have never, and refuse to, say that Jesus teachings belong to a prior dispensation. We believe them to be core.

The dynamics are basically as you described but I would add that dispensationalism entered Lancaster Conference in the early 1900s, prior to the formation of Eastern. So there was a reaching for Fundamentalism/dispensationalism in the early 20th century after losing the Old Orders in the 1890s. (Dispensationalism was controversial then, and there were always some amillenials in Lancaster Conference and then in Eastern, of course).

Among the groups I'm most familiar with (moderate, fundamental/progressive, and theological conservatives), amillenials are a small minority, as are extreme dispensationalists. Most would be premillenial, either of the historic variety or a modified dispensationalism that does not reject the teachings of Jesus.

I wonder if there a hewing towards premillennialism that happens the more a group is influenced by evangelical thinking. Or are evangelicals not predominantly premillennials?

[cmbl]

The dynamics are basically as you described but I would add that dispensationalism entered Lancaster Conference in the early 1900s, prior to the formation of Eastern. So there was a reaching for Fundamentalism/dispensationalism in the early 20th century after losing the Old Orders in the 1890s. (Dispensationalism was controversial then, and there were always some amillenials in Lancaster Conference and then in Eastern, of course).

Among the groups I'm most familiar with (moderate, fundamental/progressive, and theological conservatives), amillenials are a small minority, as are extreme dispensationalists. Most would be premillenial, either of the historic variety or a modified dispensationalism that does not reject the teachings of Jesus.

I wonder if there a hewing towards premillennialism that happens the more a group is influenced by evangelical thinking. Or are evangelicals not predominantly premillennials?

Among Mennonites, yes. The less-conservative groups that adopted more Fundamentalist/Evangelical thinking are the ones that have premillenialism. In terms of the "level of conservatism", the amillenial-premillenial dividing line runs between Eastern (modified dispensational premillenial) and Washington County (amillenial). At least that's how things are in the East, I think I recall the late LesterB mentioning that premillenialism was less of a thing in the West.

As far as the Evangelicals, it's interesting. Dispensational premillenialism was very predominant during much of the 20th century, but has seen significant decline. One data point: the church group I grew up in, the Evangelical Free Church of America, changed its statement of faith to remove premillenialism in 2019. They (in my opinion, rightly) recognized it as a theological non-essential.

[barnhart]

I wonder if there a hewing towards premillennialism that happens the more a group is influenced by evangelical thinking. Or are evangelicals not predominantly premillennials?

Among Mennonites, yes. The less-conservative groups that adopted more Fundamentalist/Evangelical thinking are the ones that have premillenialism. In terms of the "level of conservatism", the amillenial-premillenial dividing line runs between Eastern (modified dispensational premillenial) and Washington County (amillenial). At least that's how things are in the East, I think I recall the late LesterB mentioning that premillenialism was less of a thing in the West.

This fits my anecdotal observations. The division is more geographic than an indicator of evangelical influence. Pre-millenialism arrived in Mennonite churches as part of a suite of ideas and practices that claimed renewal, fervor and spiritual life at a time when that was a felt need. Other ideas from that era are Sunday Schools, boards on the wall to track attendance and giving (industrial growth mentality) raised platform at the front (performance/audience mentality) and harmony singing.