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The Significance of Silence
Book by Olson, Arnold Theodore
- GenresTheologyNonfiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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About the author
Arnold Theodore Olson
11 booksDr. Arnold Theodore Olson was the last president of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association and was instrumental in the merger of that group with the Swedish Evangelical Free Church in 1950. He was elected Vice-President of the newly formed Evangelical Free Church of America and in 1951 became President of the EFCA and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1976.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 22, 2021
Read and studied this for my credentialing process as a pastor called to an EFCA church! A good history book of the EFCA!
November 1, 2022
Anti-confessional, Arminian, and Dispensational... As a Reformed Baptist, I don't think I would have liked the EFCA and its predecessor denominations all that much if I had experienced it during its origins. 😊
This book contains many interesting aspects of EFCA history. Unfortunately, it's not terribly well written.
A few notes on some of the early positions of the EFCA (and its predecessor denominations):
- Notwithstanding my significant theological differences with the founders, there are many things about them I find commendable. Although there's a danger of swinging the pendulum, it's understandable why they were allergic to confessionalism. To them, it was associated with dead orthodoxy.
- I can understand wanting to open up membership to anyone who is a believer, despite theological differences (e.g., regardless of whether they were baptized as an infant or believer). However, it's definitely a misstep to move from that to treating baptism, of any sort, as entirely unnecessary for church membership at all (which it seems like some of the founders did?) That position is rather unthinkable in the history of the church. The founders placed such an emphasis on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology)--the core things they all had in common--that it seems they suffered from a nearly non-existent doctrine of the church (ecclesiology). Speaking with Greg Strand, the current chair of the EFCA heritage committee, he agrees with this assessment; and he thinks the EFCA even as it exists today still suffers from a shallow ecclesiology.
- Contrary to what Olson argues, the insertion of Premillennialism in the original 1950, and later 2008, Statements of Faith is entirely unfitting to the very ethos of the EFCA. The ethos, as Olson articulates, is to minor on the minors. which of course millennial views are. However, Olson treats premillennialism as a major. He also dabbles in some revisionist history in order to make his case for the historical precedent of the premillennial view. The amendment in 2019 to change "premillennial" to "glorious" in the Statement of Faith was the right move, long overdue.
One should note, as far as my experience goes, the EFCA "back then" is not reflective in every respect of who the EFCA is today. In a good many ways, the EFCA has shifted from some of the positions and approaches of their founders, and hopefully for the better--and hopefully continually so as needed.
This book contains many interesting aspects of EFCA history. Unfortunately, it's not terribly well written.
A few notes on some of the early positions of the EFCA (and its predecessor denominations):
- Notwithstanding my significant theological differences with the founders, there are many things about them I find commendable. Although there's a danger of swinging the pendulum, it's understandable why they were allergic to confessionalism. To them, it was associated with dead orthodoxy.
- I can understand wanting to open up membership to anyone who is a believer, despite theological differences (e.g., regardless of whether they were baptized as an infant or believer). However, it's definitely a misstep to move from that to treating baptism, of any sort, as entirely unnecessary for church membership at all (which it seems like some of the founders did?) That position is rather unthinkable in the history of the church. The founders placed such an emphasis on the doctrine of salvation (soteriology)--the core things they all had in common--that it seems they suffered from a nearly non-existent doctrine of the church (ecclesiology). Speaking with Greg Strand, the current chair of the EFCA heritage committee, he agrees with this assessment; and he thinks the EFCA even as it exists today still suffers from a shallow ecclesiology.
- Contrary to what Olson argues, the insertion of Premillennialism in the original 1950, and later 2008, Statements of Faith is entirely unfitting to the very ethos of the EFCA. The ethos, as Olson articulates, is to minor on the minors. which of course millennial views are. However, Olson treats premillennialism as a major. He also dabbles in some revisionist history in order to make his case for the historical precedent of the premillennial view. The amendment in 2019 to change "premillennial" to "glorious" in the Statement of Faith was the right move, long overdue.
One should note, as far as my experience goes, the EFCA "back then" is not reflective in every respect of who the EFCA is today. In a good many ways, the EFCA has shifted from some of the positions and approaches of their founders, and hopefully for the better--and hopefully continually so as needed.
March 1, 2022
Great insight into the stance of the EFCA and why they choose to focus on the majors instead of the minors.
July 5, 2015
A great explanation of the rationale behind Evangelical free Church theology, Majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors.
February 1, 2021
Required reading, otherwise I would not have read it. The section on the Lord’s Supper was most interesting but overall dry unless denominational/Free Church history is your thing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews