# The Dominion Mandate: dominion theology and the Christian right

The belief that Christians are called to take dominion over society: Rushdoony's Reconstructionism and its Institutes of Biblical Law, the Seven Mountain Mandate, the New Apostolic Reformation, and the contested question of its political reach.

*This story part of: State, law, and coercion*

## 1970 — Dominion theology and the Genesis mandate

Dominion theology reads the command in Genesis to "have dominion" as a charge for Christians to shape every sphere of society by biblical standards. It gave a shared language to a set of movements on the American religious right, from Reconstructionism to later charismatic streams.

## 1973 — Rushdoony founds Christian Reconstructionism

R.J. Rushdoony argued that biblical law should govern civil society, courts and economy alike. His 1973 Institutes of Biblical Law became the founding text of Christian Reconstructionism, the most rigorous form of dominion theology.

## c. 1975 — The Seven Mountain Mandate

Traced to a 1975 exchange between Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham and later popularised by Lance Wallnau, the Seven Mountain Mandate calls on Christians to take the commanding heights of seven spheres: religion, family, education, government, media, arts and business.

## 1996 — The New Apostolic Reformation

C. Peter Wagner named the New Apostolic Reformation, a network of charismatic "apostles and prophets" pursuing dominion over society. It became a growing force in global Pentecostalism.

## 2011 — Dominionism's reach into politics is debated

Dominionist language of taking the seven mountains spread through parts of the American Christian right and its activism around government and courts. Scholars and journalists disagree over how far the label fits and how much real influence it carries.