📘Lexicon Entry: Dominative Christianism

Category: Primary Concepts | Published: 2025-04-02

Definition

Dominative Christianism describes a theological phenomenon wherein Christian identity is systematically subordinated to power-seeking frameworks that fundamentally misappropriate Christ's kenotic model of self-giving love.

Etymology and Origin

Derived from Latin dominare (to rule, to dominate) and Greek -ismos (systemic practice), the term captures the systematic tendency to transform Christian practice into a mechanism of control rather than liberation.

Theological Mutations

Dominative Christianism manifests distinctly in two parallel theological formations:

• MAGA Christianism: Expressed through nationalist, conservative power structures that prioritize cultural and political dominance

• Providential Identitarianism: Articulated through progressive, identity-based power claims that similarly replace Christ's boundary-crossing love with ideological control

Key Characteristics

1. Replaces Christ's sacrificial model with pragmatic political effectiveness

2. Transforms divine sovereignty into human control mechanisms

3. Prioritizes institutional or ideological victory over reconciliation

4. Fundamentally divorces Christian practice from Christ's exemplar

Theological Departure

Dominative Christianism represents a critical departure from orthodox Christian understanding by:

• Reducing Jesus to a rhetorical tool rather than a transformative exemplar

• Replacing communal discernment with hierarchical power structures

• Substituting divine economy with transactional or identitarian frameworks

Constructive Alternative

Participatory Freedom Theology offers a robust alternative, understanding Christian identity as the capacity for love without domination, rooted in the Trinitarian model of mutual indwelling.

Related Terms

• Christianism

• MAGA Christianism

• Providential Identitarianism

• Participatory Freedom

• Binary Apocalypticism

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Last updated: 2025-04-02