Reconstructionism

[ ree-kuhn-struhk-shuh-niz-uhm ]

noun

1. a 20th-century movement among U.S. Jews, founded by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, advocating that Judaism, being a culture and way of life as well as a religion, is in sum a religious civilization requiring constant adaptation to contemporary conditions so that Jews can identify more readily and meaningfully with the Jewish community.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Reconstructionism¹

1940–45; reconstruction ( def ) + -ism

Example Sentences

NAR is one of “two significant sources of dominionism,” having cross-pollinated with Christian reconstructionism, whose founders “produced thousands upon thousands of pages of blueprints for reconstructing the U.S. in accordance with biblical law,” Tabachnick continued.

From Salon

There are two major forms of dominionism in America today: Christian Reconstructionism and the New Apostolic Reformation.

From Salon

Christian reconstructionism: A theocratic movement founded by R.J.

From Salon

It can function as a verbal tic of sorts, implying that the speaker is drawing on a theological or philosophical system built on Christian Reconstructionism and dominionism.

From Salon

This topic pulls together the Reformation, pro-slavery Presbyterianism and Christian Reconstructionism.

From Salon