A more radical view of dominion theology is post-millennial eschatology, or the belief that Jesus will return to set up His kingdom after the millennium rather than before. Essentially, this eschatological system sets forth the idea that the church will usher in the return of Christ by taking over in leadership. People like Charles Finney, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards, whom the Calvinists usually revere, all ascribed to a post-millennial eschatology. Have these evangelical heresy-hunters accused Jonathan Edwards of being a heretic, part of the NAR or someone who believed in dominion theology because of his post-millennialism?
Of course not. He's one of their heroes. Yet they call charismatics "NAR heretics" on the basis of less radical views on the same subject. How is that consistent? How is that fair?
Strawman argument. I have met no one who criticizes the NAR even remotely discussing eschatology. Why? Because that is not the issue with dominionism. Dominionism loves this world. It wants the sins of the world. It idolizes this world. It could care less about end times theology because it is too busy abusing this day theology. They insist that there are seven cultural mountains that Jesus wants the church to conquer before He returns. The initial teaching was that Jesus could not return until this was accomplished but modern-day NAR adherents realized this was so unbiblical that they quickly shifted to "influencing" instead of conquering. Oh, by the way, wonder where they got such a bad theology like the seven mountains garbage? C. Peter Wagner:
"The way to achieve dominion is not to become "America's Taliban," but rather to have kingdom-minded people in every one of the Seven Mountains: Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Arts & Entertainment, and Business so that they can use their influence to create an environment in which the blessings and prosperity of the Kingdom of God can permeate all areas of society. -- C. Peter Wagner
Except that logic only works if you convert everyone to your belief system. Last time I checked the Crusades didn't work either. Even though most NAR folks dabble in the notion of Christian media or entertainment, the primary focus from the seven mountains heresy is in politics. Dominionism has become the last idol of the church age. So many churches are infected with this and it only has grown over the past few years. Without getting overly political, realize that the same people who invaded the Capital last year, beat the police within inches of their lives, defecated in the well of the Senate and threatened to hang the Vice President started their infiltration with prayer and by praising Jesus Christ. The church does not conquer societal mountains because it cannot. More importantly, it should not. Do we really need another alleged Christian production like "The Chosen" or alleged Christian book like The Shack?
Jealousy or Charismatic Cabal? The second part of the whole NAR conspiracy is the charismatic connection. This part is pretty easy to understand because evangelical heresy-hunters have always disliked charismatics. Why? Much of it boils down to jealousy. The Bible tells us that even Jesus was delivered up by the Pharisees because of jealousy (see Matt. 27:18). It's easy to understand why the critics are jealous. The largest spiritual movements in the world are charismatic. The most popular worship music is charismatic. Most of the large churches in the world are charismatic. There's energy and excitement and, more importantly, abundant evidence of fruit in the charismatic camp.
Yes, the largest spiritual movements in the world are Charismatic but it is not the Holy Spirit they move in. Realize that Daniel Kolenda is bragging about things like the Toronto Blessing where Christians rolled around on the floor making animal noises whole claiming the Holy Spirit made them do so. I am not jealous of that Daniel. It saddens me because it is a stain on Christianity. Likewise, the Pensacola outpouring was a stain. Videos of this event still show people violently shaking and uncontrollably spasming. You do realize that self-control is literally one of the fruits of the spirit! Check the key verses if you are unsure! Fast forward to Lakeland Florida and the ministry of the aforementioned Todd Bentley. His entire routine was punching and kicking people to allegedly impart healing from the Holy Spirit. He claimed to have a personal angel named Emma. This was someone you guys anointed a prophet! He is still in ministry today despite newer allegations off cheating on his second wife, who was his secretary from the initial infidelity. Remind me again why we should be jealous of this? Just because your music is popular does not mean it is biblical or even remotely "good" for Christians. Generations ago we sang about how great thou art and today we sing about how much God loves us. One of those is not worship. Comparing this to the jealousy of the Pharisees only further cements that Daniel Kolenda does not understand scripture. If anything, Kolenda's critique here is more akin to the Pharisees delivering up Jesus because He threatened their power and money-making schemes, you know like discernment ministers doing the same to the NAR folk today? Whatever fruit resides in your camp it is rotten, but you cannot see it. I will give you the energy and excitement but people have always been excitable about their sin. For the record, I do not hate Charismatics and I still fancy myself one. I just hate bible twisting and abusing the gifts of the spirit. If you trusted the bible you would see this.
What's more, the charismatics expose the complete spiritual bankruptcy of these critics. If what the charismatics experience is indeed authentic, what does it say about their critics? Of course, it makes them look bad. It makes it look like they're missing out on something really importantand they are! But rather than repent and seek God, it's a lot easier just to attack charismatics, accuse them of heresy and claim everything they're doing is counterfeit Christianity. That way they can feel better about themselves and save face in front of their friends without having to change the very attitudes and doctrines that keep them unfruitful, miserable and critical. The NAR narrative was the devil's gift to the critics for their help in His divide-and-conquer plan.
