📘 Lexicon Entry: Dominative Christianism

The transformation of Christian practice into a mechanism of control rather than liberation, subordinating Christ’s kenotic model to power-seeking frameworks.

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. Derived from Latin *dominare* (to rule, to dominate) and Greek *-ismos* (systemic practice), this term captures the systematic tendency to transform Christian practice into a mechanism of control rather than liberation. This distortion manifests across the theological spectrum, replacing Christ’s boundary-crossing love with ideological control and reducing Jesus to a rhetorical tool rather than a transformative exemplar whose cruciform pattern defines authentic Christian existence.

Primary Concept

Dominative Christianism, Christian nationalism, religious power, political theology, kenotic theology, power structures, Christian identity, theological distortion, imperial Christianity

APA: Geevarghese-Uffman, C. (2025). Dominative Christianism. Political Theology Lexicon. Common Life Politics. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon

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

MLA: Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Dominative Christianism.” Political Theology Lexicon, 2025, www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon.

Theological: Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Dominative Christianism.” In Political Theology Lexicon. Digital theological resource. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon (accessed [date]).

Christianity fundamentally structured around Christ’s kenotic (self-emptying) love as revealed in Philippians 2:5-8, with power understood through service rather than domination

Divine sovereignty expressed through vulnerable love that enables rather than competes with human agency, grounded in trinitarian understanding of mutual indwelling without domination

Ecclesial authority as service to community flourishing rather than institutional control, following Jesus’s teaching that greatness comes through serving others

Christian identity transformed into vehicle for power acquisition and control, with Christ’s example subordinated to pragmatic political effectiveness and domination frameworks

Divine sovereignty collapsed into human control mechanisms that justify religious, political, or cultural domination over others rather than service to flourishing

Ecclesial authority corrupted into hierarchical control that prioritizes institutional victory over reconciliation and community formation

Kenotic Inversion: Replaces Christ’s self-emptying pattern with power accumulation and control mechanisms

Rhetorical Instrumentalization: Reduces Jesus to rhetorical tool for political or cultural dominance rather than transformative exemplar

Victory Prioritization: Values institutional or ideological triumph over reconciliation and community building

Cruciform Abandonment: Fundamentally divorces Christian practice from Christ’s pattern of vulnerable love and sacrificial service

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. Manifests in parallel through conservative and progressive expressions.

Imperial Christianity Legacy: Traces back to Constantinian settlement where church power became aligned with imperial control rather than prophetic witness

Christendom Nostalgia: Contemporary expressions often seek to restore perceived Christian cultural dominance rather than embody cruciform discipleship

Modern Political Integration: Systematic subordination of theological integrity to political effectiveness across conservative and progressive contexts

Kenotic Christology: Central theological foundation emphasizing Christ’s self-emptying as pattern for authentic Christian existence and community formation

Trinitarian Participation: Understanding Christian life as participation in divine communion rather than acquisition of power over others

Cruciform Discipleship: Following Jesus’s pattern of vulnerable love that transforms rather than dominates social relationships

Philippians 2:5-8 Christ’s kenotic self-emptying as fundamental Christian pattern contrasting with dominative approaches

Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus teaching that Christian leadership serves rather than dominates, rejecting gentile models of power

Luke 4:18-19 Jesus’s mission to liberate rather than control, bringing good news to oppressed rather than maintaining systems of domination

John 13:12-17 Foot washing as paradigm of Christian authority through humble service rather than hierarchical control

Manifests distinctly in two parallel theological formations: MAGA Christianism (expressed through nationalist, conservative power structures that prioritize cultural and political dominance) and Providential Identitarianism (articulated through progressive, identity-based power claims that similarly replace Christ’s boundary-crossing love with ideological control).

MAGA Christianism: Conservative expression prioritizing cultural and political dominance over cruciform discipleship, using Christian identity to justify nationalist power claims

Providential Identitarianism: Progressive expression subordinating Christ’s boundary-crossing love to identity-based power claims and ideological control mechanisms

Megachurch Empire Building: Institutional expressions that prioritize organizational growth and influence over community formation and prophetic witness

Theocratic Aspirations: Political movements seeking to impose Christian identity through legal and cultural control rather than evangelical witness and service

Emerges in contexts where Christian identity becomes entangled with political power, cultural dominance, or institutional control rather than prophetic witness

Manifests across political spectrum when theological integrity becomes subordinated to pragmatic effectiveness in cultural or political contests

Public Witness Corruption: Damages Christian credibility by associating faith with power-seeking rather than service and reconciliation

Ecclesial Polarization: Creates division within Christian communities between those prioritizing institutional power and those emphasizing cruciform discipleship

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.

Samuel Wells’s analysis of imperial versus incarnational models of Christian engagement with power and authority

William Cavanaugh’s critique of how Christian identity becomes subordinated to state and market mechanisms

Stanley Hauerwas’s examination of how Constantinian settlement corrupted authentic Christian witness

Contemporary political theology scholarship analyzing intersection of religious identity and power structures

Related Primary Concepts: Christianism, MAGA Christianism, Providential Identitarianism

Key Mutations: Practical Atheism, Binary Apocalypticism, [Authoritarian Spirituality – TBP]

Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism, Identity Synthesis

Theological Alternatives: Being With, Servant Power, Kenotic Sovereignty

Historical Context: Civil Religion, Covenant Theology

May 18, 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.*