See Dominion (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word Dominion.

Dominion Theology is a theological form of Dominionism practiced by a very small set of religious movements within Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Primarily found in the United States, Dominion Theology has also appeared in Canada, and several European countries.

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.

Most mainline Christian denominations (and most Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists) reject Dominion Theology. Many participants in the Christian Right in the United States, however, embrace a "soft" form of Dominionism involving both postmillennialists and premillennialists and others in a coalition seeking political power.

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.

An example of Hard Dominionism is Christian Reconstructionism. While acknowleding 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

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.

Some critics argue that Kingdom Now theology is another example of Dominion Theology.

A widely condemned form of Dominion Theology is Christian Identity, a theonomic form of premillennial Protestantism that incorporates a racial claim that white Christians in the United States are the true descendants of the tribes of Israel and thus God's chosen. Religious leaders across Christianity have denounced Christian Identity for its tendency to promote antisemitism and white supremacy, and graft itself onto fascist and neonazi formations.

See also

• Dominionism
• Theocracy
• Theonomy
• Christian Reconstructionism
• Kingdom Now theology
• Fundamentalism
• Calvinism
• Separation of church and state

References

Barron, Bruce. 1992. Heaven on Earth? The Social & Political Agendas of Dominion Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.

Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York: Guilford Press.

Clarkson, Frederick. 1997. Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage.

External links

• Article by Sara Diamond
• "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence" by Frederick Clarkson
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
• Theocracy Watch
• The Yurica Report
• Christian Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, and Theonomy
• Christian Reconstructionism - The Foundation of Modern Conservatism
• The Chalcedon Foundation
• Religious Movements: Christian Reconstructionism
• What is Christian Reconstructionism?