The Establishment of Christian Hegemony through the Doctrine of Discovery
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/jcreor.v7i1.262Keywords:
Christian hegemony, Dominion Theology, Colonialism, religion, and lawAbstract
This essay examines the establishment of Christian hegemony through the theological and legal framework of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD), tracing its roots from medieval Europe to its application in the Americas. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial theorists, the work interrogates how Christian identity was formed in opposition to the “proximal” and “distal” other—Jews, Muslims, pagans, and later Indigenous peoples—through a dominion theology that fused religious exclusivity with political supremacy. Historical case studies from Ireland, Iberia, the Baltics, and the Canary Islands demonstrate how conquest, conversion, and legal codification operated as laboratories for colonial domination. Particular attention is given to papal bulls such as Dum Diversas, Romanus Pontifex, and Inter Caetera, highlighting a key linguistic shift from conversion to “bringing them back to the faith,” reframing colonization as restoration rather than invasion. The analysis also highlights the Canary Islands’ role in shaping the DoCD. It offers a critical reading of the 1513 Requerimiento, situating it as both a ritual of possession and a theological performance of atonement and absolution. Integrating the insights of Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape), Frantz Fanon, Audre Lorde, and Gil Anidjar, the essay argues that Christian dominion theology is rooted in enslavement, exploitation, and extraction, and is structurally embedded in international law and modern governance. Ultimately, it contends that the legacy of Christian hegemony persists in contemporary settler-colonial systems, where religiously infused legal frameworks continue to rationalize dispossession and subjugation. By tracing this genealogy, the essay seeks to expose and dismantle the theological underpinnings of domination.
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