Connecting Christian Nationalism and Dominion Theology

Clint Heacock
15 min readJul 8, 2020

What exactly is “Christian nationalism”?

How is it connected to “dominion theology”?

Many different authors researching the subject have defined Christian nationalism in multiple ways. The basic core of this belief can be seen in the following Christian nationalist narrative: America’s founding fathers were staunch believers — basically like evangelical Christians are today. As devout Christians, they imbued America’s Constitution and legal system with Christian/biblical principles.

Moreover, they fully intended to found America as an expressly “Christian nation,” with Christianity as the preferred religion of America. This program was built on the notion that America enjoyed a special covenant relationship to God, just as the Old Testament (OT) nation of Israel did. The Puritans saw themselves as the “New Israel” fleeing the “persecution of Egypt” (Europe), coming to the “Promised Land” of America. God, in his providence, had led them to occupy the land — just like Israel occupied the land of Canaan.

Ancient Israel lived under a theocracy whereby the law of God became the religious, civil and moral laws of the land. It was a conditional covenant: obedience to the terms of the covenant would bring God’s blessing, whereas disobedience and sin would bring cursing and judgement…

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Clint Heacock
Clint Heacock

Written by Clint Heacock

I’m an ex-evangelical speaking out about the dangers posed by the Christian Right, dominion theology, and Christian nationalism. Host of the MindShift podcast.