📘 Lexicon Entry: Dominative Christianism

The transformation of Christian practice into a mechanism of control rather than liberation.

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.

Primary Concept

Dominative Christianism, Christian nationalism, religious power, political theology, kenotic theology, power structures, Christian identity

Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Dominative Christianism.” *Political Theology Lexicon*. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon. Accessed [date].

Christianity is fundamentally structured around Christ’s kenotic (self-emptying) love and sacrificial example

Power understood through service rather than domination

Christian identity rooted in participation in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection

Community formation occurs through shared participation in Christ across differences

Christian identity becomes primarily a vehicle for power acquisition and control

Christ’s example subordinated to pragmatic political effectiveness and domination frameworks

Divine sovereignty transformed into human control mechanisms

Christian practice divorced from Christ’s exemplar

Replaces Christ’s sacrificial model with pragmatic political effectiveness

Transforms divine sovereignty into human control mechanisms

Prioritizes institutional or ideological victory over reconciliation

Fundamentally divorces Christian practice from Christ’s exemplar

Reduces Jesus to a rhetorical tool rather than a transformative exemplar

Derived from Latin *dominare* (to rule, to dominate) and Greek *-ismos* (systemic practice)

Captures the systematic tendency to transform Christian practice into a mechanism of control rather than liberation

Manifests in parallel through conservative and progressive expressions

Represents a critical departure from orthodox Christian understanding

Systematic misappropriation of Christ’s kenotic model of self-giving love

Replacement of communal discernment with hierarchical power structures

Substitution of divine economy with transactional or identitarian frameworks

Subordination of theological principles to power-seeking frameworks

Contrasts with Philippians 2:5-8 where Christ "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:5-8)

Contradicts Jesus’s teaching that "whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant" (Matthew 20:26)

Violates Jesus’s rejection of worldly power models: "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them" (Mark 10:42)

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

Religious institutions functioning as political mobilization networks rather than spiritual formation communities

Emerges during periods of perceived threat to religious or cultural influence

Functions through religious institutions, political organizations, and ideological movements

Appeals to believers who fear loss of cultural relevance or institutional access

Operates across political spectrum through different theological expressions

Transforms Christianity from prophetic tradition into cultural ideology

Creates religious justification for political and cultural domination

Contributes to polarization by sacralizing ideological conflicts

Reduces theological discourse to power competition

Political Theology: Analysis of how religious symbols function to legitimate power structures

Theological Studies: Examination of departures from orthodox Christian understanding

Sociological Research: Investigation of how religious movements mobilize for cultural and political control

Historical Analysis: Tracing patterns of religious-political fusion across different contexts

Related Primary Concepts: Christianism, MAGA Christianism, Providential Identitarianism

Key Mutations: Binary Apocalypticism, Practical Atheism, Primitive Biblicism

Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism, Identity Synthesis

Theological Alternatives: Participatory Freedom, Being With, Servant Power

Historical Context: Civil Religion, Covenant Theology

May 21, 2025

*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*