Dominion Theology

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This is a sub-article to Dominionism and Theology.
See dominion (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word Dominion.

Dominion Theology is a term used by some social scientists and journalists to describe a theological form of political ideology, which they claim has influenced the Christian Right in the United States, Canada, and Europe, within Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism. It is associated in these writers' investigations with the movement they call Dominionism, and is described as a more ideologically aggressive form of that movement.

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[edit] Etymology

Dominion Theology is derived from the Biblical text where God grants humankind "dominion" over the Earth. It is influenced by postmillennialism, a view of the End Times which believes that godliness will eventually pervade secular society (some so-called "Golden Age postmillennialists" believe the present age will culminate in a literal one-thousand-year period of virtual heaven on earth, a millennium) before Jesus returns in a Second Coming.

[edit] Adherence

Most mainline Christian denominations (and most Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists) reject Dominion Theology. Many participants in the Christian Right in the United States, however, are classified by critics as a "soft" form of Dominionism involving both postmillennialists and premillennialists and others in a coalition seeking political power. Often, Dominionism flows out of a form of triumphalism in which a specific religion assumes that it is the only proper and legitimate religion.

[edit] History

Dominion Theology arose in the 1970s in religious movements reasserting aspects of Christian nationalism. Ideas for how to accomplish this vary. Very doctrinaire versions of Dominion Theology are sometimes called "Hard Dominionism" or "Theocratic Dominionism," because they seek relatively authoritarian theocratic or theonomic forms of government.

[edit] Sub-articles

[edit] Christian Reconstructionism

Main article: Christian Reconstructionism

An example of Dominionism in reformed theology is Christian Reconstructionism. While acknowledging the small number of actual adherents, authors such as Sara Diamond and Frederick Clarkson have argued that postmillennial Christian Reconstructionism played a major role in pushing the primarily premillennial Christian Right to adopt a more aggressive dominionist stance.[1] [2]. According to Diamond, "Reconstructionism is the most intellectually grounded, though esoteric, brand of dominion theology."[3]

Dominionism, Dominion Theology, and Christian Reconstructionism are not the same thing. A nested subset chart looks like this:

Triumphalism
Dominionism
Dominion Theology
Theonomy
Christian Reconstructionism

The specific meanings are different in important ways, although the terms have been used in a variety of conflicting ways in popular articles, especially on the Internet.

[edit] Kinism

Main article: Kinism

Kinism is a movement within Reconstructionism that stresses a love for one's ethnicity and race. It is vehemently opposed to inter-racial marriage, and most kinists are supporters of the Confederacy and secession efforts. Some favor traditionalism and monarchy, some are more republican and constitutional, others stress various conspiracies related to Zionism and the New World Order that are considered a threat to the white race. All kinists are united in their commitment to Reformed theology, theonomy, ethnic nationalism, and agrarian economy.

[edit] Kingdom Now theology

Main article: Kingdom Now theology

Kingdom Now theology is another example of Dominion Theology, according to some writers who use this terminology. The Kingdom Now movement appears to belong to a very different, somewhat antithetical theological stream, compared to Christian Reconstructionism.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Barron, Bruce. 1992. Heaven on Earth? The Social & Political Agendas of Dominion Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.
  • Rushdoony, Rousas John. 1973. The Institutes of Biblical Law. Nutley, NJ: P & R Publishing (Craig Press).
  • Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York: Guilford Press.

[edit] External links

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