View source for Dominion theology

{{Short description|Ideology seeking Christian rule}}
{{Not to be confused with|Dominion (political theory)}}
{{Christian nationalism US sidebar|Principles}} 
'''Dominion theology''', also known as '''dominionism''', is a group of [[Christian politics|Christian political]] ideologies that seek to institute a nation governed by [[Christians]] based on their [[Religious law#Christianity|understandings]] of [[biblical law]]. Prominent adherents of those ideologies include [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] [[Christian reconstructionism]], [[Charismatic Christianity|Charismatic]] and [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] Kingdom Now theology, and the [[New Apostolic Reformation]].<ref name="Nel2019">{{cite book |last1=Nel |first1=Marius |title=African Pentecostalism and Eschatological Expectations: He is Coming Back Again! |date=16 September 2019 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-4007-1 |page=74 |language=English |quote=In pentecostal practice, the attention of Christian life moved from the "other world" to this world, and the expectancy of the kingdom that would realise in this lifetime changed to "kingdom now" that eventually ended in dominion theology (dominionism), a group of Christian political ideologies that seeks to institute a nation governed by Christians where biblical law would be upheld. Other ideologies represented by this thinking include theologically diverse groups like Calvinist Christian reconstructionism and Roman Catholic integralism.}}</ref><ref name="Faggioli2017">{{cite web |last=Faggioli |first=Massimo |date=18 July 2017 |title=Why Should We Read Spadaro on 'Catholic Integralism'? |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/why-should-we-read-spadaro-%E2%80%98catholic-integralism%E2%80%99 |accessdate=20 July 2017 |publisher=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]] |language=English |quote=Spadaro and Figueroa capture this tension most explicitly when they point out the difference between the “dominionist” political culture of the conservative political ecumenism of “Evangelical and Catholic integralists,” and Pope Francis’s acceptance of the distinction between political power and religious authority.}}</ref>  Extents of rule and ways of acquiring governing authority are varied. For example, dominion theology can include [[theonomy]] but does not necessarily involve advocacy of adherence to the [[Mosaic Law]] as the basis of government. The label is primarily applied to groups of [[Christianity in the United States|Christians in the United States]].

Most of the contemporary movements that are labeled dominion theology arose in the 1970s from religious movements asserting aspects of [[Christian nationalism]]. [[Integralism|Roman Catholic integralism]] is also sometimes considered to fall under the dominionist umbrella, but the Catholic integralist movement is much older and theologically markedly different from Protestant dominionism since it is tied to the doctrine that the Catholic Church is the [[one true church|only true church]].

== Etymology ==
Dominion theology is a reference to the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]]'s rendering of [[Genesis 1:28]] in which God grants humanity "dominion" over the Earth.

<blockquote>And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."</blockquote>

In the late 1980s, several prominent [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] authors<ref name="Hunt88" /><ref name="Dager90" /><ref name="Lindsey90" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=House |first1=H. Wayne |title=Dominion Theology, blessing or curse? |last2=Ice |first2=Thomas |date=1988 |publisher=Multnomah |isbn=978-0-88070-261-4 |location=Portland}}</ref> used the phrase ''dominion theology'' and other terms such as ''dominionism'' to label a loose grouping of theological movements that made direct appeals to the passage in Genesis.<ref name="McVicar 2013">{{cite journal|last=McVicar|first=Michael J.|title='Let them have Dominion:' 'Dominion Theology' and the Construction of Religious Extremism in the US Media|journal=[[Journal of Religion and Popular Culture]]|year=2013|volume=25|issue=1|pages=120–145|doi=10.3138/jrpc.25.1.120|s2cid=143317815}}</ref> Christians typically interpret the passage as meaning that God gave mankind responsibility over the Earth, but one of the most distinctive aspects of dominion theology is that it is interpreted as a mandate for Christian stewardship in civil affairs, no less than in other human matters.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Vlas, Natalia|author2= Vasile Borari|title=Religion and Politics in the 21st Century: Global and Local Reflections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8swBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA203|access-date=6 December 2017|date=26 July 2013|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-5076-6|page=203}}</ref>

== Types ==
=== Christian reconstructionism ===
{{Further|Christian reconstructionism}}
An example of dominionism in Reformed theology is Christian reconstructionism, which originated in the teachings of [[R. J. Rushdoony]] in the 1960s and the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Burke |first=Daniel |date=1 September 2011 |title=5 Facts About Dominionism |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/5-facts-about-dominionism_n_945601.html |access-date=3 November 2017 |website=Huff Post |agency=[[Religion News Service]]}}</ref> His theology focuses on [[theonomy]], the rule of the Law of God, and his belief that all of society should be ordered according to the laws that governed the [[Israelites]] in the [[Old Testament]]. His ideas on [[biblical law]] in civil government are laid out most comprehensively in ''[[The Institutes of Biblical Law]]'', but he wrote many other books dealing with the subject. Rushdoony's proposed system is strongly [[Calvinistic]] by emphasizing the sovereignty of God over human freedom and action, and denying the operation of [[spiritual gifts|charismatic gifts]] in the present day ([[cessationism]]). Both of those aspects are in direct opposition to Kingdom Now theology (see below).

Full adherents to reconstructionism are few and marginalized among most Christians.<ref name = "Martin1996a">{{Cite book|last = Martin|first = William|year = 1996|title = With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America|location = New York|publisher = Broadway Books}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref><ref name = "Diamond1998p213">{{Cite book|last = Diamond|first = Sara|year = 1998|title = Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right| location = New York|publisher = Guilford Press|page = 213}}</ref><ref name="OrtizKennedy">{{cite web|last = Ortiz|first = Chris|year = 2007|url = http://www.chalcedon.edu/blog/2007_09_01_archive.php#3737641030821242405|title = Gary North on D. James Kennedy|work = Chalcedon Blog|publisher = [[Chalcedon Foundation]]|access-date = 6 September 2007|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091011080305/http://www.chalcedon.edu/blog/2007_09_01_archive.php#3737641030821242405|archive-date = 11 October 2009}}
</ref> [[Dave Hunt (Christian apologist)|Dave Hunt]],<ref name="Hunt88">{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Dave |title=Whatever Happened to Heaven? |date=1988 |publisher=Harvest House}}</ref> [[Albert James Dager]],<ref name="Dager90">{{Cite book |last=Dager |first=Albert James |title=Vengeance is Ours: The Church in Dominion |date=1990 |publisher=Sword Publishers}}</ref> [[Hal Lindsey]],<ref name="Lindsey90">{{Cite book |last=Lindsey |first=Hal |title=The Road to Holocaust |date=1990 |publisher=Bantam}}</ref> and [[Thomas Ice]]<ref name=":0" /> specifically criticize Christian reconstructionism from a Christian viewpoint and disagree on theological grounds with its theocratic elements as well as its Calvinism and [[postmillennialism]]. [[J. Ligon Duncan]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003 |title=Church in Fayetteville, NC |url=https://www.providencearp.com/ |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Providence ARP |language=en-US}}</ref> Sherman Isbell,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Isbell |first=Sherman |title=The Divine Law of Political Israel Expired: General Equity |url=https://www.westminsterconfession.org/resources/a-godly-society/the-divine-law-of-political-israel-expired-general-equity/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Presbytery of the United States}}</ref> [[Vern Poythress]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Poythress |first=Vern S. |title=The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses |date=1991 |publisher=Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers |location=Brentwood, Tenn.}}</ref> [[W. Robert Godfrey|Robert Godfrey]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Godfrey |first=W. Robert |title=Theonomy: A Reformed Critique |date=1990 |publisher=Academie Books |editor-last=Barker |editor-first=William S. |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |pages=299–312 |chapter=Calvin and Theonomy |editor-last2=Godfrey |editor-first2=W. Robert}}
</ref> and [[Sinclair Ferguson]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Sinclair |title=Theonomy: A Reformed Critique |date=1990 |publisher=Academie Books |editor-last=Barker |editor-first=William S. |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |pages=315–349 |chapter=An Assembly of Theonomists? |editor-last2=Godfrey |editor-first2=W. Robert}}</ref> analyze reconstructionism as conservative Calvinists, primarily giving a theological critique of its theocratic elements. Michael J. McVicar has noted that many leading Christian reconstructionists are also leading writers in [[paleolibertarian]] circles.<ref>{{Citation |last=McVicar |first=Michael J. |title=The Libertarian Theocrats: The Long, Strange History of RJ Rushdoony and Christian Reconstructionism |date=Fall 2007 |url=http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v22n3/libertarian.html |journal=Public Eye |volume=22 |number=3 |access-date=24 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823060015/http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v22n3/libertarian.html |url-status=live |archive-date=23 August 2013}}</ref>

Some social scientists have used the word ''dominionism'' to refer to adherence to Christian reconstructionism.<ref name="Barron1992a">{{Cite book |last=Barron |first=Bruce A. |title=Heaven on earth?: the social & political agendas of dominion theology |publisher=Zondervan |year=1992 |isbn=9780310536116 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich}}</ref><ref name="DavisHankins2003">{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Derek H. |title=New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America |last2=Hankins |first2=Barry |publisher=Baylor University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780918954923 |pages=115}}</ref><ref name="DavidsonHarris2006">{{Cite journal|first1 = Carl|last1 = Davidson|first2 = Jerry|last2 = Harris|year = 2006|title = Globalisation, theocracy and the new fascism: the US Right's rise to power|journal = Race & Class|volume = 47|issue = 3|pages = 47–67|doi = 10.1177/0306396806061086|s2cid = 143793920|url = http://www.metaetherproductions.org/words/articles/articles/globalisation,%20theocracy%20and%20the%20new%20fascism.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220926114523/http://www.metaetherproductions.org/words/articles/articles/globalisation,%20theocracy%20and%20the%20new%20fascism.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = September 26, 2022}}</ref>

=== Kingdom Now theology ===
Kingdom Now theology is a branch of dominion theology that has a following within [[Pentecostalism]] and attracted attention in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Gordon |date=Summer 1990 |title=Kingdom now theology: a look at its roots and branches |journal=Paraclete |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=1–12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Griffin |first=William A |date=Spring 1988 |title=Kingdom Now: New Hope or New Heresy |journal=Eastern Journal of Practical Theology |volume=2 |pages=6–36}}</ref>

Kingdom Now theology states that although [[Satan]] has been in control of the world since the [[Fall of Man]], God is looking for people who will help him take back dominion. Those who yield themselves to the authority of God's apostles and prophets will take control of the kingdoms of this world, being defined as all social institutions, the "kingdom" of education, the "kingdom" of science, the "kingdom" of the arts, etc.<ref>{{cite web|title=An Examination of Kingdom Theology|url=https://www.apologeticsindex.org/l04.html|publisher=Apologetics Index|access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Should have a more academic source instead of an apologetics site|date=April 2025}} [[C. Peter Wagner]], the founder of the [[New Apostolic Reformation]], writes: "The practical theology that best builds a foundation under social transformation is dominion theology, sometimes called 'Kingdom Now'. Its history can be traced back through R. J. Rushdoony and [[Abraham Kuyper]] to [[John Calvin]]."<ref name="Wagner2008">{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=C. Peter |title=Dominion!: How Kingdom Action Can Change the World |publisher=Chosen Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8007-9435-4 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |page=59}}</ref>

In 2007 Wagner stated:
{{Blockquote|text=Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is to do whatever is necessary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to retake the dominion of God's creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing less than seeing God's kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.<ref name="Holvast">Holvast, René, ''Spiritual Mapping in the United States and Argentina: 1989-2005'', p161</ref>}}

Kingdom Now theology is influenced by the [[Latter Rain (post–World War II movement)|Latter Rain]] movement,<ref name="Steinkamp" /> and critics have connected it to the [[New Apostolic Reformation]],<ref>{{cite web|last=West|first=Marsha|title=Damnable Heresies Invading the Church|url=http://www.conservativecrusader.com/articles/damnable-heresies-invading-the-church|publisher=Conservative Crusader|access-date=6 November 2010|date=25 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120231510/http://conservativecrusader.com/articles/damnable-heresies-invading-the-church|archive-date=20 November 2010}}</ref> "[[Spiritual warfare|Spiritual Warfare Christianity]],"<ref name="Steinkamp">{{cite journal|last=Steinkamp|first=Orrel|title=The "Script" Underlying Spiritual Warfare Christianity |journal=The Plumbline|date=November–December 2003 |volume=8|issue=4|url=https://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel15.html|access-date=6 November 2010}}</ref> and Fivefold ministry thinking.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bowman|first=Robert M.|title=The Faulty Foundation of the Five-Fold Ministry|journal=[[Christian Research Institute|Christian Research Journal]]|date=Fall 1987|url=https://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0009a.html|page=31|access-date=6 November 2010}}</ref>

[[Seven Mountains Dominionism]], also known as the Seven Mountains Mandate or 7MM, has become a more prevalent manifestation of Kingdom Now theology since the early 2010s. [[Bill Bright]], [[Loren Cunningham]], and [[Francis Schaeffer]] are often credited as having been given the same divine vision that revealed the Seven Mountain Mandate in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |last=French |first=David |author-link=David French |date=28 February 2021 |title=How a Rising Religious Movement Rationalizes the Christian Grasp for Power |url=https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/how-a-rising-religious-movement-rationalizes |access-date=15 September 2021 |website=[[The Dispatch]]}}</ref><ref name="Hardy-2020">{{Cite web |last=Hardy |first=Elle |date=March 19, 2020 |title=The "modern apostles" who want to reshape America ahead of the end times |url=https://theoutline.com/post/8856/seven-mountain-mandate-trump-paula-white |access-date=15 September 2021 |website=[[The Outline (website)|The Outline]]}}</ref> The mandate proposes that there are seven "mountains" that Christians must control to establish a global Christian theocracy and prepare the world for Jesus' return: government, education, media, arts and entertainment, religion, family, and business.<ref name="Matirko-2019">{{Cite web |last=Matirko |first=Jack |date=20 February 2019 |title=Dominionism in America Part 5: The Seven Mountains Mandate |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/infernal/2019/02/dominionism-in-america-part-5-the-seven-mountains-mandate/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220212403/https://www.patheos.com/blogs/infernal/2019/02/dominionism-in-america-part-5-the-seven-mountains-mandate/ |archive-date=20 February 2019 |access-date=15 September 2021 |website=[[Patheos]]}}</ref>{{User-generated inline|date=April 2025}} The mandate is based on two Biblical passages: {{Bibleverse|Isaiah|2:2–3}}, which says, "In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains," and {{Bibleverse|Revelation|17:1–18}}, which describes "a scarlet beast... [with] had seven heads and ten horns."{{Cn|date=April 2025}} Prominent Christian leaders who support Seven Mountains Dominionism include [[David Barton (author)|David Barton]], [[James Dobson]], [[John Hagee]], [[Bill Johnson (pastor)|Bill Johnson]], [[Lance Wallnau]], and [[Paula White]]. Notable politicians who have embraced it include [[Michele Bachmann]], [[Sam Brownback]], [[Ted Cruz]], [[Newt Gingrich]], [[Mike Huckabee]], [[Charlie Kirk]], [[Sarah Palin]], and [[Rick Perry]].<ref name="Matirko-2019" />{{User-generated inline|date=April 2025}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hardy|first=Elle|date=15 January 2021|title=How a conservative Christian movement became an important part of Trump's political strategy|work=CBC Radio|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/mrna-after-covid-19-blowing-up-trump-plaza-crokicurl-history-of-swear-words-and-more-1.5874120/how-a-conservative-christian-movement-became-an-important-part-of-trump-s-political-strategy-1.5874143|access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Coulter |first=Dale M. |date=18 January 2021 |title=Neocharismatic Christianity and the Rise of the New Apostolic Reformation |url=https://firebrandmag.com/articles/neocharismatic-christianity-and-the-rise-of-the-new-apostolic-reformation |access-date=15 September 2021 |website=Firebrand Magazine}}</ref><ref name="Hardy-2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fea |first=John |date=4 February 2016 |title=Ted Cruz's campaign is fueled by a dominionist vision for America (COMMENTARY) |url=https://religionnews.com/2016/02/04/ted-cruzs-campaign-fueled-dominionist-vision-america-commentary/ |access-date=15 September 2021 |website=[[Religion News Service]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Throckmorton |first=Warren |date=4 February 2016 |title=John Fea on Ted Cruz's Dominionism |url=https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2016/02/04/john-fea-on-ted-cruzs-dominionism/ |access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Need something better than a blog post|date=April 2025}}

Kingdom Now theology should not be confused with [[Kingdom theology]], which is related to [[inaugurated eschatology]].

=== Integralism ===
{{Further|Integralism}}
Catholic integralism has been characterized as a form of dominionist theology, but in reality, it is much older and theologically distinct from the dominionism that is espoused by Protestants.<ref name="Nel2019" /><ref name="Faggioli2017" /> [[Antonio Spadaro]] and Marcelo Figueroa have said that Catholic integralists have entered into a nontraditional [[ecumenical]] alliance with Protestant reconstructionists who share "the same desire for religious influence in the political sphere."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spadaro |first1=Antonio |last2=Figueroa |first2=Marcelo |year=2017 |title=Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A surprising ecumenism |url=https://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articolo/evangelical-fundamentalism-and-catholic-integralism-in-the-usa-a-surprising-ecumenism/ |accessdate=20 July 2017 |publisher=[[La Civiltà Cattolica]] |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Glatz |first=Carol |date=13 July 2017 |title=Journal: Strip religious garb, fundamentalist tones from political power |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/strip-religious-garb-fundamentalist-tones-from-us-political-power.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713160520/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/strip-religious-garb-fundamentalist-tones-from-us-political-power.cfm |archive-date=July 13, 2017 |accessdate=20 July 2017 |publisher=[[Catholic News Service]] |language=English}}</ref> Likewise, in the ''[[National Catholic Reporter]]'', Joshua J. McElwee wrote that Catholic integralists, along with their Protestant counterparts, wish to establish a "theocratic type of state."<ref>{{cite web |last=McElwee |first=Joshua J. |date=13 July 2017 |title=Italian Jesuit magazine criticizes political attitudes of some US Catholics |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/italian-jesuit-magazine-criticizes-political-attitudes-some-us-catholics |accessdate=20 July 2017 |publisher=[[National Catholic Reporter]] |language=English}}</ref> But ultimately, the goals of Protestant dominionists and Catholic integralists are divergent, as Catholic integralists adhere to the doctrine that the [[Catholic Church]] is the "[[one true church|only true church]]" and that every form of Protestantism is "[[heresy|heretical]]." That has not prevented cooperation between them, however, when it has been mutually beneficial.

In recent years, a "revived Catholic integralism" has been noted among the younger generation of Catholics writing for websites such as ''The Josias''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=8 October 2016 |title=Opinion: Among the Post-Liberals |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/opinion/sunday/among-the-post-liberals.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Integralism could be said to merely be the modern continuation of the traditional Catholic conception of church–state relations elucidated by [[Pope Gelasius I]] and expounded upon throughout the centuries until the ''[[Syllabus of Errors]]'', which condemned the idea that the separation of church and state is a moral good.<ref>{{cite web |author=Pope Pius IX |author-link=Pope Pius IX |date=1864 |title=The Syllabus Of Errors |url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9syll.htm |access-date=11 March 2021 |via=Papal Encyclicals Online}}</ref> For example, some Catholics have praised the actions of [[Pius IX]] in the 1858 [[Mortara case]] in which he ordered the abduction of a six-year-old [[Jewish]] boy who had been baptized without his parents' consent.<ref name="unreasonable">{{cite journal |last1=Schwartzman |first1=Micah |last2=Wilson |first2=Jocelyn |date=2019 |title=The Unreasonableness of Catholic Integralism |url=https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol56/iss4/10 |journal=San Diego Law Review |volume=56 |pages=1039–1041}}</ref> A systematic account of Catholic integralism as a coherent political philosophy has been written by the Catholic theologians Thomas Crean and Alan Fimister: ''Integralism: a manual of political philosophy''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Integralism |url=http://www.editiones-scholasticae.de/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=31&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=455&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615181252/http://www.editiones-scholasticae.de/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=31&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=455&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=19 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |access-date=14 June 2022 |website=Editiones Scholasticae}}</ref>
== Political activism ==
{{Further|Christian right}}
In the late 1980s, the sociologist [[Sara Diamond (sociologist)|Sara Diamond]] started to write about the intersection of dominion theology with the political activism of the [[Christian right]].<ref name="Diamond1989a">{{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Sara |title=Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right |publisher=South End Press |year=1989 |location=Boston}}</ref><ref name="Diamond1995a">{{Cite book|last = Diamond|first = Sara|year = 1995|title = Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States|location = New York|page = [https://archive.org/details/roadstodominionr00diamrich/page/246 246]|publisher = Guilford Press|isbn = 0-89862-864-4|url = https://archive.org/details/roadstodominionr00diamrich/page/246}}</ref> Diamond argued that "the primary importance of the [Christian reconstructionist] ideology is its role as a catalyst for what is loosely called 'dominion theology.'" According to Diamond, "Largely through the impact of Rushdoony's and North's writings, the concept that Christians are Biblically mandated to 'occupy' all secular institutions has become the ''central unifying ideology'' for the Christian Right"<small> (emphasis in original)</small> in the United States.<ref name="Diamond1989a" />{{rp|138}}

While acknowledging the small number of actual adherents, authors such as 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.<ref name="diamond1995">{{cite journal|last=Diamond|first=Sara|author-link=Sara Diamond (sociologist)|title=Dominion Theology|journal=[[Z Magazine]]|date=February 1995|url=http://www.publiceye.org/diamond/sd_domin.html|access-date=24 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515193703/http://www.publiceye.org/diamond/sd_domin.html|archive-date=15 May 2013|url-status = live}}</ref>

Misztal and Shupe concur with Sara Diamond and Frederick Clarkson by arguing, "Reconstructionists have many more sympathizers who fall somewhere within the dominionist framework, but who are not card-carrying members."<ref name="Misztal-Shupe-1992">{{Cite book |last1=Barron |first1=Bruce |title=Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: Revival of Religious Fundamentalism in East and West |last2=Shupe |first2=Anson |date=1992 |publisher=Praeger |editor-last=Misztal |editor-first=Bronislaw |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=85 |chapter=Reasons for the Growing Popularity of Christian Reconstructionism: The Determination to Attain Dominion |editor-last2=Shupe |editor-first2=Anson D.}}</ref> According to Diamond, "Reconstructionism is the most intellectually grounded, though esoteric, brand of dominion theology."<ref name="diamond1995"/>

The journalist [[Frederick Clarkson]] defined ''dominionism'' as a movement that includes dominion theology and reconstructionism as subsets but is much broader in scope and extends to much of the Christian right in the United States.<ref name = "Clarkson1994a">{{Cite journal|last = Clarkson|first = Frederick|date=March–June 1994|url = http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisrec.html|title = Christian Reconstructionism: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence | publisher = [[Political Research Associates]]|journal = The Public Eye|volume = 8|issue = 1 & 2}}
</ref><ref name="Clarkson1997a">{{Cite book |last=Clarkson |first=Frederick |url=https://archive.org/details/eternalhostility0000clar/ |title=Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy |publisher=Common Courage |year=1997 |isbn=9781567510881 |location=Monroe, Maine |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}
</ref>

In his 1992 study of dominion theology and its influence on the Christian right, Bruce Barron wrote:

<blockquote>
In the context of American evangelical efforts to penetrate and transform public life, the distinguishing mark of a dominionist is a commitment to defining and carrying out an approach to building society that is ''self-consciously defined as exclusively Christian,'' and dependent specifically on the work of Christians, rather than based on a broader consensus.<ref name="Barron1992ap14">
{{Cite book|last=Barron |first=Bruce A. |title=Heaven on earth?: the social & political agendas of dominion theology|publisher = Zondervan|location = Grand Rapids, Mich|year = 1992|page = 14|isbn = 0-310-53611-1
}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1995, Diamond called the influence of dominion theology "prevalent on the Christian Right."<ref name="diamond1995" />

The journalist [[Chip Berlet]] added in 1998 that although they represent different theological and political ideas, dominionists assert a Christian duty to take "control of a sinful secular society."<ref name="Berlet1998a">{{Cite book |last=Berlet |first=Chip |title=Unraveling the Right: The New Conservatism in American Thought and Politics |date=1998 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=9780813331478 |editor-last=Ansell |editor-first=Amy E. |pages=24 |chapter=Following the Threads}}
</ref>

In 2005, Clarkson enumerated the following characteristics shared by all forms of dominionism:<ref name="Clarkson2005a">{{cite journal |last=Clarkson |first=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Clarkson |date=Winter 2005 |title=The Rise of Dominionism: Remaking America as a Christian Nation |url=http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v19n3/clarkson_dominionism.html |journal=[[Political Research Associates|The Public Eye]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref>

<blockquote>
#Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism, in that they believe that the United States once was, and should once again be, a [[Christian nation]]. In this way, they deny the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] roots of American democracy.
#Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity.
#Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, insofar as they believe that the Ten Commandments, or "biblical law," should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.<ref name="Clarkson2005a"/>
</blockquote>

The essayist Katherine Yurica began using the term ''dominionism'' in her articles in 2004, beginning with "The Despoiling of America".<ref name="Yurica2005a">{{cite web|last = Yurica|first = Katherine|date = 11 February 2004|url = http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm|title = The Despoiling of America|access-date = 3 October 2007|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014442/http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm|archive-date = 28 September 2007}} Also published in {{Cite book|title = Toward a New Political Humanism|editor = Barry F. Seidman and Neil J. Murphy|publisher = Prometheus Books|location = New York|year = 2004}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}
</ref><ref name="Yurica2005b">
{{cite web |last=Yurica |first=Katherine |date=19 January 2005 |title=Why the Bible Commands You to Be a Liberal (And Vote for Democrats) |url=http://www.yuricareport.com/Religion/TheBloodGuiltyChurches.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930221309/http://www.yuricareport.com/Religion/TheBloodGuiltyChurches.html |archive-date=30 September 2009 |access-date=19 January 2010 |website=Yurica Report}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=January 2010}}<ref name="Yurica2005c">
{{cite web |last=Yurica |first=Katherine |date=23 May 2005 |title=Yurica Responds to Stanley Kurtz Attack |url=http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Conference/YuricaRespondsToKurtz%20.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015846/http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Conference/YuricaRespondsToKurtz%20.html |archive-date=28 September 2007 |access-date=6 October 2007 |website=Yurica Report}}</ref> Authors who also use the term ''dominionism'' in the broader sense include the journalist [[Chris Hedges]],<ref name="Hedges2004a">{{Cite web |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=15 November 2004 |title=The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism |url=http://www.theocracywatch.org/chris_hedges_nov24_04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228040226/http://www.theocracywatch.org/chris_hedges_nov24_04.htm |archive-date=28 February 2025 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[TheocracyWatch]]}}</ref><ref name="Hedges2005a">
{{Cite magazine |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=May 2005 |title=Feeling the Hate with the National Religious Broadcasters |url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/05/0080541 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011175831/http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/05/0080541 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |access-date=11 April 2007 |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]] |publisher=}}</ref><ref name="Hedges2007a">{{Cite book |last=Hedges |first=Chris |title=American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America |date=2006 |publisher=Free Press}}</ref> Marion Maddox,<ref name="Maddox2005a">{{Cite book |last=Maddox |first=Marion |title=God under Howard: The Rise of the Religious Right in Australian Politics |date=2005 |publisher=Allen & Unwin}}</ref> James Rudin,<ref name="Rudin2006a">{{Cite book |last=Rudin |first=James |title=The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us |date=2006 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |location=New York}}</ref> [[Michelle Goldberg]],<ref name="Goldberg2006a">{{Cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Michelle |title=Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism |date=2006 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-06094-2 |location=New York}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Michelle |date=14 August 2011 |title=Dominionism: Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry's Dangerous Religious Bond |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/dominionism-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perrys-dangerous-religious-bond/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref> [[Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Kevin Phillips]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Kevin |title=[[American Theocracy]]: the Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century |date=2006 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-03486-4 |location=New York}}</ref> [[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]],<ref name="HarrisLAT">{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=15 March 2007 |title=God's Dupes |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-harris15mar15-story.html |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> [[Ryan Lizza]],<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lizza |first=Ryan |date=8 August 2011 |title=Leap of Faith |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/15/leap-of-faith-ryan-lizza?currentPage=all |access-date=17 April 2025 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> [[Frank Schaeffer]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schaeffer |first=Frank |date=9 August 2011 |title=Michele Bachmann Was Inspired By My Dad and His Christian Reconstructionist Friends – Here's Why That's Terrifying |url=http://www.alternet.org/story/151960 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150418135559/http://www.alternet.org/story/151960 |archive-date=18 April 2015 |access-date=3 January 2017 |website=[[AlterNet]]}}</ref> and the group [[TheocracyWatch]].<ref name="TheocracyWatch2005a">{{Cite web |date=December 2005 |title=The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party |url=http://www.theocracywatch.org/ |url-status=dead |access-date=May 8, 2006 |website=[[TheocracyWatch]] |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912052937/http://www.theocracywatch.org/ }}</ref> Some authors have applied the term to a broader spectrum of people than have Diamond, Clarkson, and Berlet.

Sarah Posner in ''Salon'' argues that there are various "iterations of dominionism that call on Christians to enter... government, law, media and so forth... so that they are controlled by Christians." According to Posner, "Christian right figures promoted dominionism... and the GOP courted... religious leaders for the votes of their followers." She added: "If people really understood dominionism, they’d worry about it between election cycles."<ref name="posner-2011-salon">{{Cite web |last=Posner |first=Sarah |date=21 August 2011 |title=The Christian right's 'dominionist' strategy |url=https://www.salon.com/2011/08/21/posner_nar_dominionism/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]}}</ref>

Michelle Goldberg notes<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Michelle |date=12 May 2006 |title=Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism |url=https://www.salon.com/2006/05/12/goldberg_14/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]}}</ref> that [[George Grant (author)|George Grant]] wrote in his 1987 book ''The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action'':

{{blockquote|Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ—to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.... But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice.... Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land—of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.}}

=== Spectrum of dominionism ===
Writers including [[Chip Berlet]]<ref name="Berlet2005b">{{Cite web |last=Berlet |first=Chip |date=December 2005 |title=The Christian Right, Dominionism, and Theocracy: Part Two |url=http://www.publiceye.org/feeds/public/berlet/2005/12/christian-right-dominionism-and.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211115900/http://www.publiceye.org/feeds/public/berlet/2005/12/christian-right-dominionism-and.html |archive-date=11 February 2012}} </ref> and Frederick Clarkson<ref name="Clarkson2005a"/> distinguish between what they term "hard" and "soft" dominionism. Such commentators define "soft" dominionism as the belief that "America is a [[Christian nation]]" and [[state religion|opposition]] to [[separation of church and state]], but "hard" dominionism refers to dominion theology and Christian reconstructionism.

Michelle Goldberg uses the terms ''Christian nationalism'' and ''dominionism'' for the former view.<ref name = "Goldberg2006a"/> According to Goldberg:

<blockquote>In many ways, Dominionism is more a political phenomenon than a theological one. It cuts across Christian denominations, from stern, austere sects to the signs-and-wonders culture of modern megachurches. Think of it like political Islamism, which shapes the activism of a number of antagonistic fundamentalist movements, from Sunni Wahabis in the Arab world to Shiite fundamentalists in Iran.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>

Berlet and Clarkson have agreed, "Soft Dominionists are Christian nationalists."<ref name = "Berlet2005b"/> Unlike ''dominionism'', the phrase ''Christian nation'' occurs commonly in the writings of leaders of the Christian right. Proponents of the idea (such as [[David Barton (author)|David Barton]] and [[D. James Kennedy]]) argue that the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] were overwhelmingly Christian, that founding documents such as the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] are based on Christian principles, and that a Christian character is fundamental to American culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barton |first=David |title=America's Godly Heritage |date=1993 |publisher=WallBuilder Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=D. James |title=Character and Destiny: A Nation in Search of Its Soul |last2=Nelson Black |first2=Jim |date=1994 |publisher=Zondervan Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=D. James |title=What If America Were a Christian Nation Again? |last2=Newcombe |first2=Jerry |date=2003 |publisher=Thomas Nelson}}</ref> They cite, for example, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]]'s comment in 1892 that "this [the United States] is a Christian nation"<ref>''[[Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States]],'' 143 U.S. 457, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226, 29 February 1892</ref> after they cite numerous historical and legal arguments in support of that statement.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kennedy |first=D. James |date=28 November 2001 |title=Christian Roots of America |url=http://www.coralridge.org/TTT/ActionSheets/1128Kennedy.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704191400/http://www.coralridge.org/TTT/ActionSheets/1128Kennedy.html |archive-date=4 July 2008 |access-date=3 November 2017 |website=Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church}}</ref>

Kennedy characterized his perspective on Christian political involvement as more akin to participatory democracy than to dominionism. In an interview with [[NPR]]'s [[Terry Gross]], Kennedy was asked whether he wanted all public office holders to be Christians. Kennedy answered, "We have people who are [[secular]] and [[humanism|humanist]] and unbelievers who are constantly supporting in every way possible other people who share those views. And I don't object to that. That's their privilege. And I think that Christians should be allowed the same privilege to vote for people whom they believe share their views about life and government. And that's all I'm talking about."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Terry |date=18 May 2005 |title=Closing the Gap Between Church and State |url=https://www.npr.org/2005/05/18/4656600/closing-the-gap-between-church-and-state |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=NPR}}</ref>

== Criticism of usage of term ==
Those labelled dominionists rarely use the terms ''dominionist'' and ''dominionism'' for self-description, and some people have attacked the use of such words.<ref name="McVicar 2013"/> The journalist and conservative commentator [[Stanley Kurtz]], writing for the ''[[National Review]]'', labeled it "conspiratorial nonsense," "political paranoia," and "[[association fallacy|guilt by association]]",<ref name="Kurtz2005b">{{Cite journal |author=Kurtz |first=Stanley |date=2 May 2005 |title=Dominionist Domination: The Left runs with a wild theory |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200505020944.asp |url-status=dead |journal=[[National Review|National Review Online]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507110311/http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200505020944.asp |archive-date=7 May 2005 |access-date=6 October 2007}}</ref> and decried Hedges' "vague characterizations" that allow him to "paint a highly questionable picture of a virtually faceless and nameless 'Dominionist' Christian mass".<ref name="Kurtz2005a">
{{Cite journal |author=Kurtz |first=Stanley |date=28 April 2005 |title=Scary Stuff |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200504280758.asp |url-status=dead |journal=[[National Review|National Review Online]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050428163019/http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200504280758.asp |archive-date=28 April 2005 |access-date=6 October 2007}}</ref> Kurtz also complained about a perceived link between average Christian evangelicals and [[extremism]] such as [[Christian reconstructionism]]:

<blockquote>The notion that conservative Christians want to reinstitute slavery and rule by genocide is not just crazy, it's downright dangerous. The most disturbing part of the ''Harper's'' cover story (the one by Chris Hedges) was the attempt to link Christian conservatives with [[Hitler]] and [[fascism]]. Once we acknowledge the similarity between conservative Christians and fascists, Hedges appears to suggest, we can confront Christian evil by setting aside 'the old polite rules of democracy.' So wild conspiracy theories and visions of genocide are really excuses for the Left to disregard the rules of democracy and defeat conservative Christians—by any means necessary.<ref name = "Kurtz2005b"/></blockquote>

Joe Carter of ''[[First Things]]'' writes:

<blockquote>[T]here is no "school of thought" known as "dominionism." The term was coined in the 1980s by Diamond and is never used outside liberal blogs and websites. No reputable scholars use the term for it is a meaningless neologism that Diamond concocted for her dissertation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Joe |date=10 August 2011 |title=A Journalism Lesson for the New Yorker |url=https://firstthings.com/a-journalism-lesson-for-the-new-yorker/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[First Things]]}}</ref></blockquote>

Diamond denies that she coined the broader sense of the term ''dominionism'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berlet |first=Chip |date=31 August 2011 |title=How We Coined the Term 'Dominionism' |url=http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/8/31/17047/5683/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412154535/http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/8/31/17047/5683/ |archive-date=12 April 2012 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=Talk to Action}}</ref> which appears in her dissertation and in ''Roads to Dominion'' solely to describe dominion theology. Nevertheless, Diamond originated the idea that dominion theology is the "central unifying ideology for the Christian Right."<ref name="Diamond1989a" />{{rp|138}}

Jeremy Pierce of ''First Things'' coined the word ''dominionismist'' to describe those who promote the idea that there is a dominionist conspiracy and wrote:

<blockquote>It strikes me as irresponsible to lump [Rushdoony] together with Francis Schaeffer and those influenced by him, especially given Schaeffer's many recorded instances of resisting exactly the kinds of views Rushdoony developed. Indeed, it strikes me as an error of the magnitude of some of Rushdoony's own historical nonsense to consider there to be such a view called {{sic|Dominionism}} that Rushdoony, Schaeffer, James Dobson, and all the other people in the list somehow share and that it seeks to get Christians and only Christians into all the influential positions in secular society.<ref name="Pierce11">{{Cite web |last=Pierce |first=Jeremy |date=14 August 2011 |title=Dominionismists |url=https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/08/dominionismists/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120165910/https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/08/dominionismists/ |archive-date=20 January 2025 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[First Things]]}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Lisa Miller (journalist)|Lisa Miller]] of ''[[Newsweek]]'' writes that {{"'}}dominionism' is the paranoid ''[[wikt:mot du jour|mot du jour]]''" and that "certain journalists use 'dominionist' the way some folks on [[Fox News]] use the word ''[[sharia]]''. Its strangeness scares people. Without history or context, the word creates a [[siege mentality]] in which [[Ingroups and outgroups|'we' need to guard against 'them']]."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Lisa |date=17 August 2011 |title='Dominionism' beliefs among conservative Christians overblown |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/dominionism-beliefs-among-conservative-christians-overblown/2011/08/17/gIQAb5eaNJ_print.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129003735/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/dominionism-beliefs-among-conservative-christians-overblown/2011/08/17/gIQAb5eaNJ_print.html |archive-date=29 January 2012 |access-date=3 June 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> [[Ross Douthat]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "many of the people that writers like Diamond and others describe as 'dominionists' would disavow the label, many definitions of dominionism conflate several very different Christian political theologies, and there's a lively debate about whether the term is even useful at all."<ref name="Douthat11b">{{Cite web |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=29 August 2011 |title=The New Yorker and Francis Schaeffer |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-new-yorker-and-francis-schaeffer/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=New York Times}}</ref>

Other criticism has focused on the proper use of the term. Berlet wrote that "just because some critics of the Christian Right have stretched the term dominionism past its breaking point does not mean we should abandon the term,"<ref name="Berlet2005a">{{Cite web |last=Berlet |first=Chip |date=2005 |title=The Christian Right, Dominionism, and Theocracy |url=http://www.publiceye.org/feeds/public/berlet/2005/11/christian-right-dominionism-and.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918061837/http://www.publiceye.org/feeds/public/berlet/2005/11/christian-right-dominionism-and.html |archive-date=18 September 2008 |access-date=25 September 2007 |website=Public Eye}}</ref> and argued that rather than label conservatives as extremists, it would be better to "talk to these people" and "engage them."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henican |first=Ellis |date=1 May 2005 |title=A spiritual olive branch for the far-right faithful |url=http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Conference/SpiritualOliveBranchChipBerlet_Newsday.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006070752/http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Conference/SpiritualOliveBranchChipBerlet_Newsday.html |archive-date=6 October 2008 |access-date=23 September 2006 |website= |publisher=Newsday |via=Yurica Report}}
</ref> Diamond wrote, "Liberals' writing about the Christian Right's take-over plans has generally taken the form of conspiracy theory" and argued that instead, one should "analyze the subtle ways" that ideas like Dominionism "take hold within movements and why."<ref name="diamond1995" /> The authors Robert Gagnon and Edith Humphrey argued strongly against the use of the term in reference to the US presidential candidate Ted Cruz in a 2016 op-ed for ''[[Christianity Today]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Humphrey |first1=Robert Gagnon |last2=Humphrey |first2=Edith |date=6 April 2016 |title=Stop Calling Ted Cruz a Dominionist |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2016/04/stop-calling-ted-cruz-dominionist/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[Christianity Today]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity|Reformed Christianity}}
{{div col|colwidth==30em}}
* [[Christ of Europe]]
* [[Christian democracy]]
* [[Christian Patriot movement]]
* [[Christian state]]
* [[Christian supremacy]]
* [[Evangelical environmentalism]]
* [[Münster rebellion]]
* [[National Catholicism]]
* [[Opus Dei]]
* [[Pan-Christianity]]
* [[Theodemocracy]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite book |last=Barron |first=Bruce A. |title=Heaven on earth?: the social & political agendas of dominion theology |publisher=Zondervan |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |year=1992 |isbn=0-310-53611-1}}
*{{cite book |author=Diamond, Sara |author-link=Sara Diamond (sociologist) |title=Roads to dominion: right-wing movements and political power in the United States |url=https://archive.org/details/roadstodominionr00diamrich |url-access=registration |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-89862-864-4}}
*{{Cite Q|Q119680396|author=Ingersoll, Julie}}
*{{cite book |last=Lindsey |first=Hal |author-link=Hal Lindsey |title=The Road to Holocaust |url=https://archive.org/details/roadtoholocaust00hall |url-access=registration |publisher=Bantam |location=London |year=1989 |isbn=0-553-05724-3}}
*{{cite book |first=Rousas John |last=Rushdoony |author-link=Rousas John Rushdoony |author2=[[Gary North (economist)|Gary North]] |title=[[Institutes of Biblical Law]] |publisher=P & R Publishing |location=Phillipsburg, New Jersey |year=1973 |isbn=0-87552-410-9}}
*{{cite book |first=C. Peter |last=Wagner |author-link=C. Peter Wagner |title=Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World |publisher=Chosen Books |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8007-9435-4}}

==External links==
* WELS Topical Q&A: [https://web.archive.org/web/20090927073137/http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=10&cuItem_itemID=11307 Dominion Theology] ([[Confessional Lutheran]] perspective)

*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Christian theology}}
{{Christianity and politics}}
{{Relpolnav}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=November 2017}}

[[Category:Dominion theology| ]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Christian fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Christian nationalism]]
[[Category:Far-right politics and Christianity]]
[[Category:Protestantism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Religious nationalism]]
[[Category:1980s neologisms]]