Dominionism

ShannonL, how do you equate believing that the Holy Spirit will empower to church to progress well beyond where is it today spiritually with the idea that it's up to Christians to do it?

I would encourage everyone to read what is actually written by people with differing viewpoints from his own instead of just buying into the spin of critics of other viewpoints.

 

Ken H.

I'm reading different views. The fact that I'm raising questions should indicate that. I may respond with a bias answer to some of your posts. just don't let that fool you. The preterist, dominion issue has made me look back at my own views. I want to always have my convictions concerning theology to be backed up scripturally not just because that is how i was taught.
The new interest in preterism, postmill, amill, dominionism. These things have made me take a fresh look at my eschatology to see whether I believe it out of conviction or just because that is what I know.
I know lots of folk that believe what they believe and really don't even know why. I don't think that is cool.

 

I salute you.

 

You are incorrect. From the leading Dominionist website:

We believe in regeneration , not in revolution. Men are not changed fundamentally by politics, but by the power of God. Men's hearts are changed by regeneration (Jn. 3:3). They are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col. 1:13). From that point, they progressively work to reorient their lives and every sphere they touch in terms of God's holy, infallible Word. Long-term, pervasive social change is the result of extensive regeneration and obedience by the people of God. This means, of course, that there can be no Christian society of any significance or longevity unless a large number of its members are Christians.

- www.chalcedon.edu/credo.php </font>[/QUOTE]From the original article posted for comment:

Dominionism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is on the political-religious concept of dominionism.

Dominionism is a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism that encourages not just active political participation in civic society but also attempts to dominate the political process.

The broad concept of Dominionism is based on the Bible's text in Genesis 1:26:
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" NIV

Most Christians interpret this verse as meaning that God gave humankind dominion over the Earth. Many consider this a mandate for stewardship rather than the assertion of total control. A more assertive interpretation of this verse is seen as a command that Christians bring all societies, around the world, under the rule of the Word of God, as they understand it.

As Sara Diamond explains, the general Dominionist idea, is "that Christians alone are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns — and there is no consensus on when that might be. Dominionist thinking precludes coalitions between believers and unbelievers...."[1] (http://zena.secureforum.com/Znet/zmag/articles/feb95diamond.htm)

This creates a contradictory tension. "The Christian Right wants to take dominion," says Diamond, but also wants to work within "the existing political-economic system, at the same time." In the United States, Dominionism raises issues of separation of church and state, but since Dominionism appears in a variety of forms, it is important to take each example and evaluate the specific beliefs, especially around the issue of theocracy.

During the administration of George W. Bush, critics of the Dominionist idea have sometimes claimed the trend is representative of all Christians of a Republican or politically conservative orientation. New York Times reporter Chris Hedges, for example, has equated the sermons of James Dobson to the rhetoric used in the former Yugoslavia to justify the slaughter of Muslims by Serbian Christians, and he has characterized federally-funded Christian charities as "parallel indoctrination systems." Many Christian conservatives suggest such claims are overblown and hyperbolic.

 

1) I think you may have missed the operative phrase - "the Holy Spirit has empowered the church".

</font>[/QUOTE]But where is this in scripture that all this will be reconstructed by the church?

 

Thank you Marcia,

Its only in the Bible if you spiritualize two thirds of all prophecy mentioned in the Bible.

 

Let me just add that Shannon you are correct in that the dominionist and reconstructionist would fall into the post-mil camp. Pre-mil's would not hold this view it does not fit its view.

Dominionist hope to usher in the coming of Christ to a world that is prepared for His coming. Pre-mils believe that Jesus will return to establish His own Kingdom. They would consider the verse which I paraphrase- "When the Lord returns will He find faith on the earth?"

A full-preterist would not fit in the dominionist camp although a partial-preterist could or could not.

Bro Tony