07-26-2018, 09:31 AM
13 red flags of a dominionist church.
Posted on July 22, 2018 by luckyotter
![[Image: angry-violent-god.jpg?w=640]](https://otterlover58.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/angry-violent-god.jpg?w=640)
I’ve written about Christian dominionism before, especially as it relates to our current political situation here in America, but what exactly is it, and how can you tell if your church has gone dominionist or has dominionist tendencies?
What is dominionism?
First, we need to define dominionism. What exactly is it anyway? Basically, it’s a postmillennialist theology that was started by Rousas Rushdoony in the 1960s, with the publication of his tome, Institutes of Biblical Law. It has its roots in Calvinism, and is in fact Calvinism on steroids. It’s a form of theonomy, or theological totalitarianism, that teaches that God has mandated humans to prepare the world for Christ’s return by “christianizing” the “7 mountains” of society: government, family, media, education, religion, entertainment/arts, and business. They seek to do this by installing only Christians (specifically, dominionist evangelicals) into the top echelons of each of these seven “mountains” who will then work on changing them. One of the tasks of the people mandated to transform the “government” mountain is replacing the Constitution with Old Testament biblical (Mosaic) law. In fact, they’re busy doing this right now, which is why there are so many dominionist Christians in the Trump administration. Dominionists (and many “normal” evangelicals also) believe that Trump has been “anointed” by God as a “wrecking ball” to help bring about God’s kindgom on earth. Many people have compared dominionism to ISIS and the Taliban, two extremist factions of Islam that also don’t recognize the separation of religion and government and have made laws based on the Q’uran (sharia law) the law of the land in some Middle Eastern countries.
Dominionism isn’t a denomination. It’s an authoritarian theology that has infiltrated a variety of Christian denominations in America, mostly evangelical, fundamentalist, or pentecostal (you’re pretty safe from it if you’re in a mainline or liberal Protestant or Catholic church — for now). Dominionism has flown under the radar for years and has gone under several different names: New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Manifest Sons of God, the Latter Rain movement (an early incarnation from the 1970s), Kingdom Now, Kingdom Theology, Joel’s Army, and other names. It’s actually a fascist and nationalist political agenda wrapped up in Christian piety. As a post-millennialist doctrine, it has a different eschatology from “normal” evangelicalism, which is traditionally pre-millennialist and therefore teaches that the Tribulation and Rapture will occur before Christ returns. “Normal” evangelicals (and mainline Christians who believe in the Second Coming) adhere to the biblical teaching that we have no way to know when Christ will return, and there is no way to “prepare” for it, since God’s kingdom is not of this world.
Dominionism is heretical for many reasons but mostly because it says Jesus can’t return until the planet is “Christianized.” For Americans, this means a installing a theocracy based on Old Testament laws. If that sounds a lot like radical Islam to you, that’s because it is. Their agenda is eventual world domination (dominion) and a One World Religion. This is unbiblical. We were never called to force certain religious beliefs on others, only to spread the Gospel. To force a religion on society by way of its laws negates the concept of free will. It also corrupts both the religion and the government. This is why the Founding Fathers were clear about the separation of church and state.
The Bible also never says that only Man can change the world for Christ. In fact, we cannot facilitate Christ’s return ourselves because we can’t even know when He is returning (Mark 13:32).
God’s kingdom, according to John 18:36, is not of this world. But dominionists believe it very much is and to be pleasing to God, the world must be changed to Jesus’ liking. Dominionism is also extremely authoritarian and very cult-like. Many survivors of spiritual or religious abuse came from churches that embraced tenets of dominionism and reconstructionism.
Here’s an excellent (and scary) description of dominionism from a political research website:
Dominionism Rising: A Theocratic Movement Hiding in Plain Sight
Dominionism has been working its dark magic within American evangelical churches, and even some charismatic Catholic churches. Now that it’s infiltrated our political system, it threatens the integrity of our Constitution and our freedom. Many of the current GOP in high level positions, and some members of Trump’s staff are actively trying to install dominionist doctrine into our laws. Here are 13 red flags to look for.
(The rest will be paraphrased).
Comment: Dominionism is American authoritarianism in religious garb. I suspect that you are safe if you are Jewish or Eastern Orthodox, too.
Posted on July 22, 2018 by luckyotter
I’ve written about Christian dominionism before, especially as it relates to our current political situation here in America, but what exactly is it, and how can you tell if your church has gone dominionist or has dominionist tendencies?
What is dominionism?
First, we need to define dominionism. What exactly is it anyway? Basically, it’s a postmillennialist theology that was started by Rousas Rushdoony in the 1960s, with the publication of his tome, Institutes of Biblical Law. It has its roots in Calvinism, and is in fact Calvinism on steroids. It’s a form of theonomy, or theological totalitarianism, that teaches that God has mandated humans to prepare the world for Christ’s return by “christianizing” the “7 mountains” of society: government, family, media, education, religion, entertainment/arts, and business. They seek to do this by installing only Christians (specifically, dominionist evangelicals) into the top echelons of each of these seven “mountains” who will then work on changing them. One of the tasks of the people mandated to transform the “government” mountain is replacing the Constitution with Old Testament biblical (Mosaic) law. In fact, they’re busy doing this right now, which is why there are so many dominionist Christians in the Trump administration. Dominionists (and many “normal” evangelicals also) believe that Trump has been “anointed” by God as a “wrecking ball” to help bring about God’s kindgom on earth. Many people have compared dominionism to ISIS and the Taliban, two extremist factions of Islam that also don’t recognize the separation of religion and government and have made laws based on the Q’uran (sharia law) the law of the land in some Middle Eastern countries.
Dominionism isn’t a denomination. It’s an authoritarian theology that has infiltrated a variety of Christian denominations in America, mostly evangelical, fundamentalist, or pentecostal (you’re pretty safe from it if you’re in a mainline or liberal Protestant or Catholic church — for now). Dominionism has flown under the radar for years and has gone under several different names: New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Manifest Sons of God, the Latter Rain movement (an early incarnation from the 1970s), Kingdom Now, Kingdom Theology, Joel’s Army, and other names. It’s actually a fascist and nationalist political agenda wrapped up in Christian piety. As a post-millennialist doctrine, it has a different eschatology from “normal” evangelicalism, which is traditionally pre-millennialist and therefore teaches that the Tribulation and Rapture will occur before Christ returns. “Normal” evangelicals (and mainline Christians who believe in the Second Coming) adhere to the biblical teaching that we have no way to know when Christ will return, and there is no way to “prepare” for it, since God’s kingdom is not of this world.
Dominionism is heretical for many reasons but mostly because it says Jesus can’t return until the planet is “Christianized.” For Americans, this means a installing a theocracy based on Old Testament laws. If that sounds a lot like radical Islam to you, that’s because it is. Their agenda is eventual world domination (dominion) and a One World Religion. This is unbiblical. We were never called to force certain religious beliefs on others, only to spread the Gospel. To force a religion on society by way of its laws negates the concept of free will. It also corrupts both the religion and the government. This is why the Founding Fathers were clear about the separation of church and state.
The Bible also never says that only Man can change the world for Christ. In fact, we cannot facilitate Christ’s return ourselves because we can’t even know when He is returning (Mark 13:32).
God’s kingdom, according to John 18:36, is not of this world. But dominionists believe it very much is and to be pleasing to God, the world must be changed to Jesus’ liking. Dominionism is also extremely authoritarian and very cult-like. Many survivors of spiritual or religious abuse came from churches that embraced tenets of dominionism and reconstructionism.
Here’s an excellent (and scary) description of dominionism from a political research website:
Dominionism Rising: A Theocratic Movement Hiding in Plain Sight
Dominionism has been working its dark magic within American evangelical churches, and even some charismatic Catholic churches. Now that it’s infiltrated our political system, it threatens the integrity of our Constitution and our freedom. Many of the current GOP in high level positions, and some members of Trump’s staff are actively trying to install dominionist doctrine into our laws. Here are 13 red flags to look for.
(The rest will be paraphrased).
Comment: Dominionism is American authoritarianism in religious garb. I suspect that you are safe if you are Jewish or Eastern Orthodox, too.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.