Seven Mountain Mandate
The Seven Mountain Mandate, also Seven Mountains Mandate, 7M,[1] or Seven Mountains Dominionism,[2] is a dominionist conservative Christian movement within Pentecostal and evangelical Christianity.[1][3] It espouses there are seven aspects of society which believers seek to control: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.
History
The movement is believed by its followers to have begun in 1975 with a purported message from God delivered to evangelicals Loren Cunningham, Bill Bright, and Francis Schaeffer ordering them to invade the "seven spheres" of society identified as family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government. The idea was not seriously considered until 2000 during a meeting between Cunningham and Lance Wallnau. The movement came to prominence after the 2013 publication of Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson's Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate.[4]
The movement was generally supportive of the Presidency of Donald Trump with member Paula White becoming the president's spiritual advisor. White claimed that Trump "will play a critical role in Armageddon as the United States stands alongside Israel in the battle against Islam." In 2020 Charlie Kirk said "finally we have a president that understands the seven mountains of cultural influence" during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.[4]
Theory
The Seven Mountain Mandate is part of dominionism.[5]
The biblical base for the movement is derived from Revelation 17:1–18, wherein verse 9 reads, "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains".[5] The seven areas which the movement believe control society and which they seek to control are family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.[5] They believe that their mission to take over the world is justified by Isaiah 2:2 "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains."[4]
Followers believe that by fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate they can bring about the end times.[4]
Organizations
7M Films
7M Films is a talent management agency.[6]
Followers
- Rafael Cruz, pastor and father of Senator Ted Cruz[2]
- Paula White, spiritual advisor to Donald Trump[3]
- Andrew Wommack, evangelical leader[7][8]
- Lauren Boebert, US House member[9]
Publications
- Wallnau, Lance; Johnson, Bill (2013). Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate. Destiny Image Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7684-8566-0.
See also
References
- Hare, Julie (28 January 2022). "How Pentecostalism is reshaping America and the world". Australian Financial Review.
- Brockman, David R. (2 June 2016). "The Radical Theology That Could Make Religious Freedom a Thing of the Past". The Texas Observer.
- Vermes, Jason (15 January 2021). "How a conservative Christian movement became an important part of Trump's political strategy". CBC Radio.
- Hardy, Elle (19 March 2020). "The 'modern apostles' who want to reshape America ahead of the end times". The Outline.
- Seidel, Jamie. "The 'Seven Mountains' conspiracy". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- Hurley, Bevan (11 March 2022). "TikTok star's family says she's being held hostage in a dance cult". The Independent.
- Rabey, Steve (1 June 2021). "Andrew Wommack urges Christians to 'take over' Woodland Park, Teller County". Colorado Springs Gazette.
- Rosenberg, Paul (19 December 2021). "Theocrats are coming for the school board — but parents are starting to fight back". Salon.
- "Lauren Boebert is part of a dangerous religious movement that threatens democracy, experts say". Greeley Tribune. 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
Further reading
- O'Reggio, Trevor (2012). "The Rise of the New Apostolic Reformation and Its Implications for Adventist Eschatology". Journal of the Adventist Theological Society. 23 (2).
- Chetty, Irvin G. (2014). "The New Apostolic Reformation and Christian Zionism". Journal for the Study of Religion. 27 (2): 297–312. JSTOR 24799454. ProQuest 1736623655.
- Berry, Damon (2020). "Voting in the Kingdom: Prophecy Voters, the New Apostolic Reformation, and Christian Support for Trump". Nova Religio. 23 (4): 69–93. doi:10.1525/nr.2020.23.4.69. S2CID 219665484. Project MUSE 755978.
- Sharp, David (4 May 2022). Hijacked Christianity: How An Aberrant Eschatology Enables A Grievance Culture That Supplants Christian Grace For An Extremist Meritocracy (Thesis). doi:10.57709/28912982.
- Garrard, Virginia (3 December 2020). "Hidden in Plain Sight: Dominion Theology, Spiritual Warfare, and Violence in Latin America". Religions. 11 (12): 648. doi:10.3390/rel11120648. ProQuest 2467774776.
- Willenbrink, Hank (November 2021). "Vessel, Messiah, Warrior: Donald Trump in Evangelical Christian Narratives". Ecumenica. 14 (2): 221–247. doi:10.5325/ecumenica.14.2.0221. S2CID 243967165.
- Barrett-Fox, Rebecca (November 2018). "A King Cyrus President: How Donald Trump's Presidency Reasserts Conservative Christians' Right to Hegemony". Humanity & Society. 42 (4): 502–522. doi:10.1177/0160597618802644. S2CID 150231701.
- Marshall, Ruth (2 January 2016). "Destroying arguments and captivating thoughts: Spiritual warfare prayer as global praxis". Journal of Religious and Political Practice. 2 (1): 92–113. doi:10.1080/20566093.2016.1085243. S2CID 155841692.
- Perez, Adam A. (4 January 2022). "'It's Your Breath in Our Lungs': Sean Feucht's Praise and Worship Music Protests and the Theological Problem of Pandemic Response in the U.S." Religions. 13 (1): 47. doi:10.3390/rel13010047. ProQuest 2621350452.
- Nelson, Anne (22 January 2021). "Jesus is just all Right? Christian fundamentalists have taken over the Republican Party". Times Literary Supplement (6147): 8–10. Gale A650247088.
- Besa, Andrew (May 2012). Faith, Rhetoric, and Dominion: How Shared Literacy Lures Latinos (Thesis). hdl:10877/2460.