Lord S Dominion

Semple covers virtually every aspect of Canadian Methodism. He examines early nineteenth-century efforts to evangelize pioneer British North America and the revivalistic activities so important to the mid-nineteenth-century years. He documents Methodists' missionary work both overseas and in Canada among aboriginal peoples and immigrants. He analyses the Methodist contribution to Canadian education and the leadership the church provided for the expansion of the role of women in society. He also assesses the spiritual and social dimensions of evangelical religion in the personal lives of Methodists, addressing such social issues as prohibition, prostitution, the importance of the family, and changing attitudes toward children in Methodist doctrine and Canada in general. Semple argues that Methodism evolved into the most Canadian of all the churches, helping to break down the geographic, political, economic, ethnic, and social divisions that confounded national unity. Although the Methodist Church did not achieve the universality it aspired to, he concludes that it succeeded in defining the religious, political, and social agenda for the Protestant component of Canada, providing a powerful legacy of service to humanity and to God.

Brett Whalen explores the compelling belief that Christendom would spread to every corner of the earth before the end of time. During the High Middle Ages—an era of crusade, mission, and European expansion—the Western followers of Rome imagined the future conversion of Jews, Muslims, pagans, and Eastern Christians into one fold of God’s people, assembled under the authority of the Roman Church. Starting with the eleventh-century papal reform, Whalen shows how theological readings of history, prophecies, and apocalyptic scenarios enabled medieval churchmen to project the authority of Rome over the world. Looking to Byzantium, the Islamic world, and beyond, Western Christians claimed their special place in the divine plan for salvation, whether they were battling for Jerusalem or preaching to unbelievers. For those who knew how to read the signs, history pointed toward the triumph and spread of Roman Christianity. Yet this dream of Christendom raised troublesome questions about the problem of sin within the body of the faithful. By the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, radical apocalyptic thinkers numbered among the papacy’s most outspoken critics, who associated present-day ecclesiastical institutions with the evil of Antichrist—a subversive reading of the future. For such critics, the conversion of the world would happen only after the purgation of the Roman Church and a time of suffering for the true followers of God. This engaging and beautifully written book offers an important window onto Western religious views in the past that continue to haunt modern times.

The Lord's Dominion describes the development of mainstream Canadian Methodism, from its earliest days to its incorporation into the United Church of Canada in 1925. Neil Semple looks at the ways in which the church evolved to take its part in the crusade to Christianize the world and meet the complex needs of Canadian Protestants, especially in the face of the challenges of the twentieth century.

And God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Gen. 1:28). The Lord said to me, Harrison, I have given you dominion. I did not say I will give you dominion, but I said I have given you dominion. Dominion! What is dominion? The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines it as authority to rule; control (the right of directing or of giving orders; power or authority) over something. So dominion is the same word as authority, power to reign on this earth over every situation. I therefore announce it to the whole world, God has given me authority, power to reign on this earth over every situations. I do not doubt it because God said it to me verbatim. No man can reign on earth without dominion or authority. Just like no king can rule without authority or power; where the word of a king is, there is power. A king that has no dominion over his kingdom is no more a king, the same way a believer that has no dominion on earth cannot reign as a king.

“People everywhere are struggling to fine the true meaning to their lives in this world. It seems like everything is getting out of control; countries, governments, societies, economies, families, organizations, and in many instances, our faith. The human family seems to be in a perpetual crisis that they cannot pull themselves from. This crisis has made mankind vulnerable to his environment and the natural creation of the earth; and the more we try to solve these problems, the worse the problems seem to get. Who has the authority and ability to bring stability in the earth to solve these problems we are faced with and maintain peaceful and stable environment by which all creation can thrive? Why are we not breaking through? What is it we are doing wrong? Why do we constantly struggle with these questions? Why can’t we find the answers that addressed these questions? In the midst of all of these experiences, the number one question in the heart of many people is: Can there be solutions to these problems we are face?” And the answer is YES! Principles for Living in Dominion (The answers to all mankind dilemmas) was written to answer these fundamental questions and to also take you into the mind of the Creator about who we are and how we were designed to function on the earth. There are 41 principles identified from the word of God that reveal the secret solution to all of our dilemmas. As you read and learn these principles and apply them to your daily living, you will grow and flourish, finding the joy and fulfillment that only life in the purpose of God can bring.”

When God Almighty created the earth, the sea, and all the living creatures, man was the last to be created. And when God created man, he said to him to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowls of the air, and over all the living things that move upon the earth. In other words, God handed over the earth to the man to be in charge. The man, Adam, understood the authority, and that is why he exercised the authority by naming all the animals. Lion, monkey, elephant, etc. were named by Adam, and the names still stand up till now. The man, Adam, was fully in control of the earth, until he disobeyed God’s order. His disobedience to God’s order made him lose his dominion to the devil. The devil kept man under bondage, and that is why God sent his son, Jesus, to rescue man from the bondage of Satan and restore dominion to man. Christ Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has restored dominion to those who believe in him. So those who believe and accept the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord have dominion and authority restored to them. Everyone in Christ Jesus has dominion over the devil and cohorts. The Lord Jesus said to those to believe in him and that in his name, they shall cast out devils. So in this book, you will understand how authority was given man, Adam, and how Adam lost the authority to the devil and how Christ has restored the authority to those that believe in him and how to exercise the authority through the name of Jesus. Do not forget that God has given Jesus a name that is above every other name. That at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.

Drawn from the eponymous blog essays on faith, culture, and lives of Christian discipleship by young Jesuit priests and seminarians for young adult seekers.