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 holds that there are seven aspects of society that believers seek to influence: family, religion, education, media, arts & entertainment, business, and government.
History[edit]
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 Wallnau's 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 Trump'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[edit]
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 that the movement believe influence society and that they seek to influence are family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.[5] They believe that their mission to influence the world through these seven spheres 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[edit]
7M Films[edit]
7M Films is a talent management agency accused of cult-like behaviour.[6][7]
Prominent followers[edit]
- Michele Bachmann, 2012 Republican presidential primary candidate & U.S. representative for Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 2007 until 2015.[8]
- Lauren Boebert, Republican U.S. representative for Colorado's 3rd congressional district[9]
- Rafael Cruz, pastor and father of Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas[2]
- Mike Johnson, Republican U.S. representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district & Speaker of the House[10]
- Tom Parker, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court[10]
- Paula White, spiritual advisor to Donald Trump[3]
- Andrew Wommack, evangelical leader[11][12]
- Butch Hartman, American animator
Publications[edit]
- Wallnau, Lance; Johnson, Bill (2013). Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate. Destiny Image Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7684-8566-0.
See also[edit]
- Christian nationalism
- Christian reconstructionism
- Moral Majority
- Sociological classifications of religious movements
- New Apostolic Reformation
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hare, Julie (28 January 2022). "How Pentecostalism is reshaping America and the world". Australian Financial Review.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Brockman, David R. (2 June 2016). "The Radical Theology That Could Make Religious Freedom a Thing of the Past". The Texas Observer.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Vermes, Jason (15 January 2021). "How a conservative Christian movement became an important part of Trump's political strategy". CBC Radio.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hardy, Elle (19 March 2020). "The 'modern apostles' who want to reshape America ahead of the end times". The Outline.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c 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.
- ^ Horton, Adrian (2024-05-28). "'I feel like my sister died': inside the shocking TikTok dance cult". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
- ^ Posner, Sarah (2011-07-12). "God's Law is the Only Law: The Genesis of Michele Bachmann". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
- ^ "Lauren Boebert is part of a dangerous religious movement that threatens democracy, experts say". Greeley Tribune. 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hixenbaugh, Mike (23 February 2024). "Alabama justice who ruled embryos are people says American law should be rooted in the Bible". NBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ 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.
Further reading[edit]
- 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.