Seven Mountain Mandate Explained

The Seven Mountain Mandate, also Seven Mountains Mandate, 7M,[1] or Seven Mountains Dominionism, is a dominionist conservative Christian movement within Pentecostal and evangelical Christianity. It holds that there are seven aspects of society that believers seek to influence: family, religion, education, media, arts and 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 Wallnau's and Bill Johnson's Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate.[2] [3]

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.

Some scholars have stated that "most if not all of the [Seven Mountain Mandate] leaders can be found within the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement." Christianity Today has called the Seven Mountain Mandate an "ideological feature" of the NAR and Independent Network Charismatic Christianity parts of the Neo-charismatic movement.[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 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 "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."

Followers believe that by fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate they can bring about the end times.

Organizations

7M Films

7M Films is a talent management agency accused of cult-like behaviour.[6] [7]

Ziklag

Ziklag is a Christian nonprofit organization named after the biblical city of Ziklag which subscribes to the Seven Mountain Mandate. Its membership is exclusively for high-net-worth individuals with a net worth of over $25 million as well as faith-based interests.[8]

Prominent followers

Criticism

In 2018, Richard Tanksley and Marlin Schaich argued that primary aspects of the Seven Mountain Mandate are "nearly identical to the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) developed by Louis Althusser...on the basis of the theories of Karl Marx...Antonio Gramsci, and others".

Publications

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Hare . Julie . How Pentecostalism is reshaping America and the world . Australian Financial Review . 28 January 2022 .
  2. News: Hardy . Elle . 19 March 2020 . The 'modern apostles' who want to reshape America ahead of the end times . The Outline.
  3. Web site: Silliman . Daniel . 9 October 2023 . Died: Loren Cunningham, Who Launched Millions on Short-Term Missions . August 9, 2024 . Christianity Today.
  4. McDade . Stefani . July–August 2021 . Prophetic Reckoning . . . 65 . 5.
  5. Web site: Seidel . Jamie . The 'Seven Mountains' conspiracy . Adelaide Now . 12 March 2022.
  6. News: Hurley . Bevan . TikTok star's family says she's being held hostage in a dance cult . The Independent . 11 March 2022 .
  7. News: Horton . Adrian . 2024-05-28 . ‘I feel like my sister died’: inside the shocking TikTok dance cult . 2024-05-29 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  8. Web site: Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country . Andy Kroll . Nick Surgey . ProPublica . 13 July 2024 . 14 July 2024 . EagleAI .
  9. Web site: Posner . Sarah. 2011-07-12. God's Law is the Only Law: The Genesis of Michele Bachmann. 2011-07-12 . Religion Dispatches . en-US.
  10. Web site: 2022-09-15 . Lauren Boebert is part of a dangerous religious movement that threatens democracy, experts say . 2023-02-05 . Greeley Tribune . en-US.
  11. News: Brockman . David R. . The Radical Theology That Could Make Religious Freedom a Thing of the Past . The Texas Observer . 2 June 2016 .
  12. Web site: Hixenbaugh . Mike . Alabama justice who ruled embryos are people says American law should be rooted in the Bible . . 23 February 2024 . en . 23 February 2024.
  13. News: Rosenzweig-Ziff . Dan . February 24, 2024 . Alabama justice who quoted Bible in IVF case often invokes religion . Washington Post.
  14. News: Vermes . Jason . How a conservative Christian movement became an important part of Trump's political strategy . CBC Radio . 15 January 2021 .
  15. News: Rabey . Steve . Andrew Wommack urges Christians to 'take over' Woodland Park, Teller County . Colorado Springs Gazette . 1 June 2021 .
  16. News: Rosenberg . Paul . Theocrats are coming for the school board — but parents are starting to fight back . Salon . 19 December 2021 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seven Mountain Mandate".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.