VFF conference on ideas about the future of the world

VFF conference on ideas about the future of the world

From April 26 to 28, 2024 the annual conference of the Freikirchenforschung (VFF) will take place on the campus of Friedensau Adventist University. The theme is "The future of the world between horror and hope".

In view of the many crises in our world, the question of how Christians imagine the future is attracting a great deal of interest. Since the time of the Reformation, very different concepts have emerged. The question of the return of Jesus in connection with the millennial kingdom is often at the center of interest. Particularly in the USA, the idea of a rapture of the church before the millennium (premillennialism) became established in evangelical circles in the 20th century, which has also met with resonance in certain circles in Germany. The conference will examine this theological concept, which often implies a certain view of salvation history (dispensationalism), in very different ways and will also consider the political and cultural implications. The conference program includes lectures by scholars from the disciplines of New Testament, church history and systematic theology. Participation is also possible online via Zoom. As part of the event, the general meeting of the Association for Free Church Research (VFF) will take place on Friday evening (April 26). The program of the conference – as well as the registration – can be found at https://www.thh-friedensau.de/forschung/konferenzen/ jahrestagung-2024/. The registration deadline is April 19, 2024.

The VFF was founded in 1990 by theologians and historians from various free churches. The initiator was Professor Dr. Robert Walton, then Director of the Seminar for New Church and Theological History at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Münster. Today, the association has members from 27 denominations. Specialist and lay historians from twelve countries belong to it. 180 individuals and 21 institutes work together to promote academic work within the framework of free church research.

The VFF deals with theological and church history topics from the perspective of the Free Church. It promotes academic work within the framework of free church research. To this end, the association also maintains a specialist library for the Free Church, which can be consulted at Friedensau Adventist University. Further information: www.freikirchenforschung.de.