The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation
at
Question
"What
is Dominion Theology?"
Answer
Have you heard
about that? Dominion Theology, that's a
new label, for a new kind of theology, and there are always new
theologies. Dominion Theology comes in a
lot of forms, but I think what you are probably talking about is John Wimber, who is now advocating a new kind of Dominion. Let me give you this very simply, ok?
Dominion
Theology, espoused primarily by John Wimber, who is
networked through a group of churches called "The Vineyard Churches,"
basically is saying, "That as believers, we are to take power over Satan
and demons, we are to exercise dominion over them." There is another kind of theology, that is existing today, that is called "Liberation
Theology." It is a form of
theology that says, "That the Church is to take dominion over the
institutions of the world." That's
another form of Dominion Theology, or Kingdom Theology.
And what it
basically says is that the Church's mandate is to take over the institutions of
the world, that's the Liberation Theology side.
What Dominion Theology says is that we are to take over the Powers of
Darkness; we are to take over the demons; and we are to take over the spirits;
and we are to dominate Satan. We are to
take dominion, and that's why they talk about "Power Evangelism" and
"Power Healing." In other words,
he trains people, supposedly, to invade the Satanic World and take dominion
over demons.
That we
as Christians, by living in the natural world, and by just moving around in the
visible world, have failed to exercise the power that we have, to literally
take over the Satanic World. You hear
them talk about, "Binding Satan," have you heard that? "Binding demons; Pleading the Blood on
demons; Pleading the Blood on Satan; Taking dominion over, not only demons, but
all of the institutions of the world, that are infiltrated and influenced by
demons.
And they
believe that whatever people's problems are, tend to
be demon induced. And it gets extreme,
no matter what it is, it’s a demon, and you have to take dominion over these
demons. And that is why they talk about
Power Evangelism. They say that you
cannot evangelize without signs and wonders.
You have to overpower the demonic world, and demonstrate your divine
power to the lost, in order for them to be saved. Power Healing, break the bondage of demons
and so forth.
It is unbiblical. We are never told, never told, to take
dominion over demons. We are told by James, "Resist the devil
and he will" what? "Flee from
you." We are never told to bind
Satan. We are never told to bind
demons. We are never told to plead the
Blood on Satan and demons. Listen to
Jude 9, "Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued
about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment,
but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'"
Even Michael, who is "superangel,"
did not dare rebuke Satan. But rather
said, "Lord, you take care of him."
And if Michael, as a holy angel, does not take to himself the exercise
of authority over fallen angels, where would we find a mandate to do that?
The Bible
simply tells us, that if you want to deal with the enemy, you put on the whole
armor of God, right? You put on the
whole armor of God, and you'll be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We are not called to take dominion over the
institutions of this world. We are not
called to take dominion over demons and over the devil. We are called to get on our spiritual armor,
to resist that demonic world and trust in the power of God, who does take care
of them.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's
"MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986