In Part I we examined the roots of today's Kingdom Theology, and defined the movement in terms of its theological and eschatological doctrines as well as some of its historic proponents. We delineated the basic premise of the movement which, simply stated, is that before Jesus can return, the Church must establish the Kingdom of God on earth by taking control over every aspect of life through the establishment of a theocratic government.

Before we proceed further, I feel it necessary to point out that there is a legitimate "Kingdom Theology" based upon proper exegesis of Scriptural prophecy. Jesus will return at the end of this age to establish God's authority over the nations of the earth. Until then, the Kingdom of God continues to operate through the administration of the Holy Spirit resident in the hearts of God's people. The Kingdom of God already exists therefore, and will one day be manifested throughout the earth during Jesus' millennial reign.

To differentiate between God's legitimate "Kingdom Theology" and man's attempt to bring it into existence through his own efforts before Jesus' Second Coming, we'll call man's attempt "Kingdom Now Theology," or "Dominion Theology" (using these terms interchangeably). This will help us separate the error from the truth.

To accomplish the monumental task of taking dominion, a significant number in the Church must come into "unity" of thought and purpose to that end. While the goal of the Kingdom builders is total unity, they realize that partial unity may be all they can attain. Whatever the case, the realization of any significant degree of unity necessitates a single voice of authority: a hierarchical structure through which individual believers will receive the necessary pronouncements to exercise dominion.

The voice of authority, it is believed, will reside in certain latter-day apostles and prophets operating in conformity to their own peculiar interpretation of Ephesians 4:11-12:

In order for the saints to be perfected (made sinless) there must be a restoration of the offices of apostles and prophets. It is a major prerequisite, therefore, that the apostles and prophets be recognized by the Church at large. (It's interesting that we are currently seeing certain well-known Christian leaders referring to one another as "apostles" and "prophets".)   [See, for example: Paul Cain, Bob Jones, and Rick Joyner]

Once they are acknowledged, these apostles and prophets will bring forth new revelations from God, which will be the guiding principles in establishing the Kingdom. These revelations will be given to the Church through the evangelists, pastors, and teachers who accept the hierarchy's authority.

One manner in which the apostles and prophets will receive these new revelations will be through communication with heavenly beings (angels and departed saints), as well as with God - and specifically Jesus. It's expected that many of these "new revelations" will be authenticated through demonstrations of power in the working of miracles, signs and wonders.

Some also believe that for dominion to be effected the world's wealth must be under the control of the Church. Hence the emphasis on prosperity and "divine health" as well as the ability to speak into existence things that are not as though they are (God-likeness).   [See: Word-Faith Movement]

After the Church has taken dominion, its task will be to purge the earth of evil, which is defined as lawlessness against God's moral laws and against the established authority of the apostles and prophets. This accomplished, the earth will be ready to be turned over to Jesus when He returns (some say 'if' He returns).

We will find as we continue our study that at the heart of Dominion Theology is the belief that man is a god and, as such, must exercise his godhood through dominion. The current teaching that man is a god is essentially a theosophic concept which can be traced to the beginning of man's history.