Cultural Mandate - Compared To "Dominion Mandate"

Compared To "Dominion Mandate"

The cultural mandate is fundamental to the theocratic ideal of Dominionism and Christian Reconstructionism (where it is often called "the dominion mandate"), but it does not by itself imply that ideal. Christian Reconstructionism seeks to establish Old Testament law as modern civil law; but the cultural mandate, per se, seeks only to discover the biblical principles which relate to the human stewardship of the earth, and of society including civil law. The connection is even more remote, between this theological motive and those who see themselves as "creating God's kingdom on earth now," as Kingdom Now theology seeks to do. Unlike Kingdom Now theology, the cultural mandate does not try to establish the kingdom of God on this earth, but rather presents a holistic, biblical world view that proponents believe lead to liberty and happiness.

Calvinism in general acknowledges that public life is addressable by faith, based on the assertion that all human rule has its authority from God. Theologian Anthony A. Hoekema, for example, writes from the perspective of Amillennialism to speak of the public character of Christian faith. The cultural mandate is most elaborately developed by Neo-Calvinism, which explores the implications for modern, pluralistic society, of this Calvinistic assertion. Although this concept is fundamental to theonomy ((the rule of) the law of God), the Theonomy movement is a distinct and minority branch of this Christian approach to the structures of society and moral philosophy. Theonomy is distinctive, for example, that while affirming common grace, denies that biblical principles are compatible with pluralism.