The Evangelical Conspiracy: Dominion at any Price
Rev. Eric J. Titus, Th.D.
Theologian at Large
The eminent Swiss theologian Karl Barth (pronounced Bart, please!), in the midst of a rising tide of National Socialism, was battling against far-right factions within the German coalition of Protestant churches. Conspiracies were the go to commodity of the day. Barth grew impatient with the inaction of the Church in the face of the danger from right-wing ideology, and more so its lack of interest in speaking vigorously and without equivocation against it. In his essay “Quousque Tandem?” (How long at last/until?) Barth continually repeats his frustration. He says that he has waited too long and now he must be “gruff (schroff).” I have grown this way too. I’m not an evangelical in any sense of the word as it is understood today. I used to be (I think), but I abandoned this nomenclature some twenty-five to thirty years ago. Still I am a Christian (and yes I know my Bible—very well!) and It is far past time, so let me be gruff.
There is little doubt in my mind that the evangelical churches in the United States are involved in nothing less than a conspiracy against the Word of God, the vocation of the Church, and reason itself. They have allied themselves with the most ghastly evil, they have given their vocational tasks to the State and have engaged in a Weltanschauung rooted in propaganda rather than reason. They have, in short, brought “strange and profane fires before the Lord” (Lev. 10:1).
My umbrage here is not with the United State’s Senate, the House of Representatives, those involved in Newspeak, or those who wield power in the GOP. That is not to say that I have no offense against them. I have a spate of offense against all these. I find the lack of a moral compass, the temerity of spirit, the outright cowardice, and the lack of any backbone repugnant and obscene. But this is my position as a citizen of the United States. I can also without reservation state that if all party labels were dropped, whether the sitting President, majority party in the Senate or if House were Republican or Democrat I would be just as equally horror-stricken by what has happened. That the GOP seems to relish the malefic acts and deeds to which they have become mid-wives is all the more distressful. To return to my opening paragraph, my umbrage is directed toward what I believe is a far more dangerous component in this nefarious nexus and it is here that I speak as a Minister of Word and Sacrament and theologian.
There is a driving force, an artifice, that drives the movement as a whole. They have a goal. This is the so-called “Seven Mountain Mandate.” For many evangelicals this is the new “Great Commandment.” It supersedes even the call of Jesus to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” And perhaps therein lies the problem. Perhaps evangelicals do love their neighbors as they love themselves, which would reveal to me a self-loathing of prodigious proportions.
What are these mandates from evangelical luminaries, publishers, and ringleaders? Here for your delectation is a brief definition of dominion ideology and those seven mountains. It has nothing to do with Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain, that is for sure. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The seven mountains of the evangelical mandate are based in something called dominion theology (its precursor was Rushdooney’s Reconstructionism) which is a belief that posits that since God gave Adam dominion over the earth in the Genesis narrative, Christians should seek to dominate the world in the name of establishing the kingdom of God on earth (never mind that Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world). “Seven mountains” refers to the idea that seven arenas of human existence must be dominated by Christianity (read here evangelical Christianity). Those arenas are: education, religion, family, business, government/military, arts and entertainment, and the media. In short all of human existence.
Whatever the case may be, evangelical leadership seems to have made a Faustian covenant with the GOP and Donald Trump. As long as the Republican party can push through this dominion ideology (for it is certainly not theology!) then apparently there is no purlieu, no boundary, no line in the sand over which they have forbidden themselves to cross. “Simply give us power, do our bidding, and you will have our support, our vote, and perhaps even our reverence and worship,” they say.
What is frightening about this is that over the past five or so decades they have managed to bring all their ideological baggage into each of these spheres of human existence. While historic-mainline churches were asleep at the wheel, evangelicalism managed to dominate the airwaves, found major networks (CBN and TBN), dozens if not hundreds of colleges and universities, major publishing houses, and influence the military by blending hyper-patriotism and the Gospel with an eschatological nationalism that has infected even our troops (see the 2008 film Silhouette City: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259226/plotsummary). In fact eschatological nationalism has spread like wildfire since the time of the dispensational writings and preaching of John Nelson Darby in the mid 1800s. This is and has always been a dangerous doctrine from which political policy has been derived. The Left Behind series of books has seared a very peculiar interpretation of the book of Revelation into the public conscious (even beyond the bounds of Christianity!) blending it with other eschatological statements in the scripture and producing a completely pestiferous cultural and political phenomenon in the process. Perhaps the best treatment for this, by way of antidote, is Barbara Rossing’s: The Rapture Exposed.
Things like the “Seven Mountain Mandate” exist because evangelicals who are untrained (or grabbed their degrees from dubious sources—pedigree matters!) have adopted a hermeneutical methodology that sews together texts of scripture like Shelly’s Dr. Frankenstein sewed corpses together, with roughly the same result. In order to make this possible, the second great lie of evangelicals, inerrancy/infallibility (which are really technical distinctions that say the same thing) along with literal and historically-culturally divorced interpretations of scripture were brought into existence.
In adopting this theological fiction they are able to control the interpretive narrative, and woe be to one that should disagree with the interpretation given from the “inerrant and infallible” word of God or “man” of God, “touch ye not God’s anointed!” With This little verse a titanium plated shield protects these curs from any accountability in act, word, or thought. Evangelical leaders following such abusive hermeneutic, as a result, enthrone themselves as the sole arbiters of truth. "When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?" to return to Shelly. Surely not the evangelical community who have been plunged by their leaders into a benighted existence.
Given these two great theological fictions, it is alarming that seventy-five percent of evangelicals want the United States to be declared a “Christian Nation” (see the recent post from Religious News Service: https://religionnews.com/2022/09/23/study-more-than-3-4-of-republican-evangelicals-want-us-declared-a-christian-nation/). This accounts for tens of millions of people, all of who have been led down a conspiratorial path, whose root is difficult to emancipate from the human soul. Not to mention that some of these evangelical intellectual Lilliputians now roam the halls of political power.
What is called for here is deep theological reformation within and from the evangelical ranks. Some have spoken and continue to speak, but they are few and far in between. Every evangelical theologian and biblical scholar with any soundness and integrity ought to be screaming out the window like Howard Beale: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Still more necessary is the ousting of evangelical pastors, “evangelists,” media moguls, and press pirates, who are infecting the very soul of rank and file Christians, who mostly, I think, are following the their leaders thinking they are doing the right thing. It is a misfortune that a great many evangelicals have no ecclesiastical authority over them and those that do, have seen their structures bow the knee to Ba’al.
The first step in this reformation might be to tell the world what in heaven’s name you are for. Evangelicalism has a long tradition of telling us what you are against. It is a negative, imperative, and frankly judgmental theology. Through the decades you have been against evolution (and science in general), dancing, theater, the arts in general, smoking (good call), drinking, mini-skirts, rock-and-roll, Catholics, mainline Christians, democrats, socialists, abortion, people of color, sufferage for women, foreigners, Harry Potter, any book that you find yourself offended by, vaccines, reducing green-house emissions, and masking during a pandemic, among a host of other things. Perhaps you can begin reforming by telling us what exactly is your theology is for? You are prolific at expounding “the bad news.” Maybe it would help if you articulated beyond—everything is cool if I just say a simple twenty-second prayer? What does a positive evangelical theology look like? I have not one clue what gospel (good news) is for you in its credendi et praxis (creed and practice).
Having said this I think it is important for Christians of all species to understand that this is not just an evangelical problem, it’s an us problem. When Christians of any sort use the name and claim to be Christian while engaged in horrific non-Christian conduct, especially when the numbers are in the millions (!) it means that the world perceives us all together. When one part of the Body of Christ behaves badly it is a reflection upon us all. We all need to speak up, to provide guidance and correction, and to offer assistance. We all need, in the face of bad behavior and evil intent, to understand the corporate nature of the matter. When one part of the body stands in need or repentance then we all need to repent.
We are at defcon 1 in the Christian Church and evangelicals behind the pulpit, in the pews, in the lectern, and in the media; all of you are responsible for this conspiracy against the Word of God, the vocation of the Church, and reason itself. In your lingo, “it’s time to have a come to Jesus meeting.” I suggest that you do so sooner rather than later. Theology can be life-giving or toxic. Right now you are leaking the radiation of Gehenna.