Editor’s Note: In part two of this excerpt from Theology with Spirit, Dr. Lederle continues his examination of the major streams of the Third Wave, what he has renamed New Independent Charismatic Churches. The Pneuma Review editorial committee hopes you will be encouraged as you read this chapter and will purchase this excellent book for yourself.

Dominion (Postmillennial)

The second major group of Independent Charismatics is also characterized by its view of the kingdom of God. The distinctive teaching is known as Dominion theology and has been described by its pre-millennialist detractors as “Kingdom Now.” The recently deceased Earl Paulk, perhaps the most significant representative of this new thrust, became the Archbishop of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, a global network representing at its zenith some 10 million members. The ICCC, however, may not be totally identified with Dominion theology. The ICCC was formed in 1982 by Bishop John Meares of Washington, DC, and Bishop McAlister of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Later, Bishop Idahosa of Benin City, Nigeria, and Bishop Paulk of Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Atlanta, Georgia, joined. They were all part of a global Pentecostal denomination named the International Evangelical Church, which, interestingly enough, joined the Geneva-based World Council of Churches in 1972 and was the first Pentecostal denomination to participate officially in the Roman Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue.

The origins of Dominion theology, however, do not lie within the Pentecostal-Charismatic arena but outside it in classically Reformed theology. (This is illustrated in the ICCC Handbook, which lists the Presbyterian Westminster Confession in its creedal statements that provide the proper interpretation of the Bible.) Dominion theology is the product of the Christian reconstructionist movement, which developed in the 1960s and ’70s around the publications of scholar Rousas John Rushdoony. In order to understand their influence on the Dominion movement some reconstructionist views will be now outlined briefly. Rushdoony, an Armenian American, established the Chalcedon Foundation in Vallecito, California, in 1965. Another center is the Institute for Christian Economics in Tyler, Texas, founded by Gary North, who has also published widely. Central to the reconstructionist vision is the acknowledgement of the all-embracing cosmic headship of Christ, who has dominion over every dimension of reality, and the ensuing ideal of transforming society in accordance with God’s divine laws. Rushdoony had studied presuppositional apologetics with Cornelius van Til, who taught for many years at Westminster Theological Seminary. It is widely believed that in his book Theonomy in Christian Ethics, Christian reconstructionist theologian Greg Bahnsen argues that the laws of Moses should be applied directly to contemporary public life. The vision is, first, to reclaim the United States as a Christian nation and then to work in a gradual postmillennial strategy to establish the kingdom rule of God over all the earth. This would, in fact, be theocratic rule, with obvious parallels to Puritan thinking. The moral decline in the Western world is seen as the direct result of forsaking the eternal laws of God.

This vision is radical and goes far beyond a mainstream Reformed understanding of the transformation of culture under the Lordship of Christ. Christian reconstructionists hold to a theonomy (law of God) which considers Old Testament laws to be normative for all times. That would entail such extremes as capital punishment for adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, and even for incorrigible children! Critics of this movement go so far as to allege that some reconstructionists condone slavery, and exhibit racist tendencies.

Editor’s Note: In this excerpt from his latest book, Professor Lederle says the “third wave” should perhaps be called the rise of the new independent charismatic churches. The Pneuma Review editorial committee hopes you will be encouraged as you read this chapter and will purchase this excellent book for yourself.

The third major movement of the Pentecostal-Charismatic segment of Protestantism distinguishes itself from the First and Second Waves in two important ways. First, as we have just seen, it led to new structures being formed. Although the word “denomination” has remained suspect in these circles, and the idea of tradition is usually also viewed rather negatively, these new Christian groups are, in fact, already new denominations in the making, rapidly forming their own traditional patterns of organization and church life. It has been estimated that over 3,000 of these new independent Charismatic groups or denominations have been established globally. Second, in the teaching of these Independent Charismatic Churches, a whole spectrum of innovative doctrinal emphases emerged. There has been much debate about some of these teachings. Usually there is some continuity to be found within the Pentecostal-Charismatic heritage with these new teachings. Some of their teachings have remained contentious, especially in the wider circles of Christianity. The fact is, however, that most of these innovations had their roots in the classic spiritual writers of the nineteenth century. This fact will be pursued later.

The term “Third Wave” will now be used as synonymous with the Independent Charismatic Churches. Here the primary slogans and metaphors were not “Hang in there,” “Be salt and light,” “Renew from within,” as in the Second Wave, but rather, “Go out from among them,” avoid “unequal yoking,” seek “new wineskins” for the new wine. The universally pervasive conviction was that “the Cloud has moved on” and God’s pilgrim people need to launch out and chart a new course. The people who make up this new move include both converts to the Christian faith and many believers who transferred from other churches. A significant number of the latter group came from both the First and the Second Waves. Classical Pentecostalism provided a large number of leaders in the Independent Charismatic movement.

Some believed that the Pentecostals had themselves fallen prey to denominationalism and had become too formal or traditional. The Latter Rain movement expressed this in a scathing critique of Pentecostal churches that led to an equally swift denouncing of the Latter Rain as a heretical movement. Although the Classical Pentecostal denominations continued to experience growth, some of their members left to join the new Independent Charismatic ministries. The same applied to the Second Wave. It has been estimated that at least 50% of mainline denominational Charismatics gave up on their program to renew their churches from within and left for what they considered to be greener pastures. They had a hunger for a church where Spirit-empowerment and Charismatic gifts and ministry could be more visible or regular. Some naturally found a home in major Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God. A larger section of the discontented, however, pursued the pathway of the non-denominational or Independent Charismatic Churches.

First a word needs to be said about the term “Third Wave.” It was, I believe, first coined by C. Peter Wagner, at that time from the School of World Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He believed that the “Second Wave,” or denominational Charismatic movement, influenced the larger mainline Protestant churches that were of a more liberal background theologically. I disagree with this analysis and maintain that more conservative and evangelical Protestants were also deeply involved in this movement from the very beginning. Wagner further stated that the Second Wave writers, who preferred to identify themselves as Charismatics rather than as being of a Neo-Pentecostal persuasion, nevertheless still remained within the theological tradition of a theology of subsequence with a heavy emphasis on glossolalia. The more integrative understandings of Spirit-baptism, as developed in the global Charismatic awakening, especially in England and Germany, were less prominent in the United States than in Europe, and their unique contribution may have escaped his notice. As a result, the awakening of charismatic gifts—especially of healing and prophecy—among more conservative Protestant groups was heralded by Wagner as constituting a “Third Wave,” while others, like myself, still considered them as an integral part of the whole denominational Charismatic Renewal, or Second Wave.