A little joke on myself

Whether the taint of Patriarchy ought to be removed from the world?

Objection 1: As was proven in a previous question, Patriarchy is a very serious error and as all the wise know one bad apple ruins the whole bushel (as argued here for example), therefore this error must be entirely removed.

Objection 2: Further this error has been so prevalent that even the hint of its presence would cause the weak to stumble, which is expressly forbidden in the Apostle's teaching as found in the Letter to the Romans.

On the contrary, as the Apostle says elsewhere in Romans "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God."

I answer that, while Patriarchy is a very serious error, God's working in every age still shines through the words of those entrapped by this error. Therefore, while the error of Patriarchy must always be opposed, writings tainted by Patriarchy, even those so thoroughly tainted as to be beyond purification without the destruction of the texts, should be mined by those who would see the God who is for the hidden gems of wisdom they contain. Especially since some wisdom can only been seen by taking on the assumptions of Patriarchy.

Reply to Objection 1: As the Apostles have taught all fall short of the glory of God. One thing this indicates is that no one can entirely avoid corruption by ones own power. God, on the other hand can forgive one for errors committed and assist in the return to the proper path. In short, God's grace is already required to avoid the spoiling of the bushel and God's grace is always sufficient for the faithful, even if the dangers besetting the apples are multiplied.

Reply to Objection 2: While those who are weak must be protected, they must also be assisted to grow strong. A part of this required growth for a Christian is the confrontation of errors such as Patriarchy with the support of those who are already strong enough to deal with the error on their own. Thus a balance is maintained between protection and growth in faith, and for this reason many errors are to be tolerated to a limited extent.



I hope you found this interesting and a little amusing. If you missed the joke follow the link in Objection 1 and look at the formatting and the title at the top of the page. Sometime over the next couple days I'll talk about why I wrote this little joke on myself.

Jon