Rick Joyner of The Oak Initiative and MorningStar Ministries dedicated yesterday’s edition of Prophetic Perspectives to distancing himself from dominion theology while discussing the ties between presidential candidates like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann to avowed dominionists. Joyner said he agreed with much of the dominionist objective of having fundamentalist Christians influence — if not control — government and society at large, but noted that he does not share dominionists’ belief that such ‘dominion’ will usher in the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ. “I just don’t believe His dominion can come to the earth until He comes,” Joyner said, “and that’s the one defining point of a dominonist to me.”
As Sarah Leslie of the Discernment Research Group points out, Joyner once said that the “Kingdom of God” he hopes to build “may seem like totalitarianism” at first because “the kingdom will start out necessarily authoritative in many ways, or in many areas, but will move toward increasing liberty” once the culture is radically changed.
But Joyner pointed to one group who he claims did subscribe to dominion theology: the Founding Fathers. According to Joyner, the Founders would have been known as dominionists because they wanted to “establish a government that was built on biblical principles” and “really thought they were building the Kingdom of God.” He went on to blame dominion theology for Manifest Destiny and other “really foul things” in U.S. history. Joyner mentioned that secular reporters are increasingly studying dominionism and are “terrified by it and they’re wondering if this presidential candidate is influenced by this kind of thinking,” adding, “as a Christian, I would be alarmed by some of that.”
To a large degree our nation, America, was built on or by those whole held to dominion theology. Most of the Founding Fathers were devoted Christians, this is really you would have to call them dominionists. Now it drove them to try to build and establish a government that was built on biblical principles because they really thought they were building the Kingdom of God here. Now I don’t believe America is the Kingdom of God and I don’t believe it ever will be, it’s not the New Jerusalem, but I believe we have a purpose like many nations do. We have a specific purpose and especially one in helping prepare the way for the Lord, I just don’t believe His dominion can come to the earth until He comes. I have always believed that and I hold to that, and that’s the one defining point of a dominonist to me.
You can cross over into some areas that are not good and not have good results. And I think some of the things that manifested later through our government, in America, some of the really foul things that happened had their roots in the false teaching that was included in the dominion theology, the wrong teachings that really went awry. I’m talking about some aspects of the Manifest Destiny that was used to almost try to eradicate the Native Americans, some of that was rooted in dominion theology, and there are some secular people, secular reporters who studied this and looked at that and they see the connection and they’re terrified by it and they’re wondering if this presidential candidate is influenced by this kind of thinking, is this what we’re going to get? Listen, as a Christian, I would be alarmed by some of that.
