This is Biblical
(Everything in TBP that is undoubtedly endorsed in the Bible)
God is the eternal Father and the eternal Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is a male. (1)
Both man and woman are made in God’s image and they are both called to exercise dominion over the earth. They share an equal worth as persons before God in creation and redemption.(2) Although sin has distorted their relationship, redemption enables them to make substantial progress in achieving God’s ideal for their relationship.(4)
Authority should be exercised with gentleness, grace, and love as a servant-leader. (6) Authority is limited by the law of God and the lawful authority of church and state. Christians cannot escape the jurisdiction of church and state and must be subject to both. (7)
Family, church, and each has real but limited authority in its ordained sphere. The church is the keeper of the keys of Christ’s kingdom. (8)
Every Christian ought to be a submitted and committed part of a local church, subject to the authority and discipline of the church through its elders. (9)
The woman’s calling may well involve activity in the marketplace and larger community. (13)
God commanded some Old Testament people to “be fruitful and multiply.” It is a blessing to have children, if He so ordains. (15)
Christian parents must provide their children with a thoroughly Christian education, one that teaches the Bible and a biblical view of God and the world. (16) Biblical education is discipleship, a process designed to reach the heart. The aim is a transformed person who exhibits godly character and a trained mind, both of which arise from faith. (18)
It is prudent to take advantage of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and enjoy the help and support that comes with being part of a larger community with a common purpose. (19) Grouping children exclusively with their age mates for educational and social purposes is contrary to scriptural example. (20) The Bible presents a long-term, multi-generational vision of the progress of God’s kingdom in the world. Christians need to adopt this perspective. (21)
Even after leaving their father’s house, children should honor their parents. (22)
Christians must believe and obey whatever the Bible teaches and commands. (24) There is a need for care and discernment and not going with the cultural tide. The values of society are often at odds with those that accompany a biblical worldview. The world will cheer many choices that are detrimental to family sanctification. (25) Those that are further along in sanctification will see some issues more clearly than those who are less mature. For these reasons great charity must be maintained between believers who have differences of application, and liberty of application must be respected. However, an appeal to the doctrine of Christian liberty must never be used in an effort simply to avoid submitting to what Scripture plainly teaches. Believers should also bear in mind that things which are lawful may not be expedient if the goal is personal holiness. The biblical rule in judging behavior is charity toward others, strictness toward oneself. (26)
This is patriarchy – Things not in the Bible,
but believed by patriarchists
(These includes things not defended from scripture, things which can be interpreted differently by those who keep to the authority of scripture, things for which scripture say the opposite, and even rational statements that cannot be backed up from the Bible.)
God reveals Himself as masculine, not feminine. The Holy Spirit is addressed as “He.” (1)
Being made in God’s image mean human characteristics enable them to reflect His character. The man is also the image and glory of God in terms of authority, while the woman is the glory of man. (2) God ordained distinct gender roles for man and woman as part of the created order. Adam’s headship over Eve was established at the beginning, before sin entered the world. (3) God has an order of authority for husbands and wives, and that has not changed. (4)
A husband and father is the head of his household, a family leader, provider, and protector, with the authority and mandate to direct his household in paths of obedience to God. (5) A man has authority in the home. Leadership is a stewardship from God. (6) Fathers have authority, and cannot escape the jurisdiction of church and state.(7) Family, church, and state are parallel institutions. The church is the central and defining institution of history. As the primary social group, the family is the foundational institution of society. (8) Fathers and families ought to be part of a local church. (9)
The church is defined by its orthodox confession and faithful teaching of God’s word; by the presence of the Holy Spirit; by the rule of qualified elders; by the biblical administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; by regular meetings for worship, instruction, breaking bread, and fellowship; and by the exercise of discipleship and discipline. (10) Male leadership in the home carries over into the church: only men are permitted to hold the ruling office in the church. A God-honoring society will likewise prefer male leadership in civil and other spheres as an application of and support for God’s order in the formative institutions of family and church. (11)
While men are called to public spheres of dominion beyond the home, their dominion begins within the home, and a man’s qualification to lead and ability to lead well in the public square is based upon his prior success in ruling his household. (12) Since the woman was created as a helper to her husband, the bearer of children, and a “keeper at home,” the God-ordained and proper sphere of dominion for a wife is the household and that which is connected with the home. (13) While unmarried women may have more flexibility in applying the principle that women were created for a domestic calling, it is not the ordinary and fitting role of women to work alongside men as their functional equals in public spheres of dominion (industry, commerce, civil government, the military, etc.). The exceptional circumstance (singleness) ought not redefine the ordinary, God-ordained social roles of men and women as created. (14)
God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” still applies to married couples, and He “seeks godly offspring” (which mean he want offspring to be godly, not that he commands the godly to have offspring). He is sovereign over the opening and closing of the womb. Children (, like strength, riches, land, peace or rest, are a gift of God) and it is a blessing to have many of them, if He so ordains. Christian parents are bound to look to Scripture as their authoritative guide concerning issues of procreation. They should welcome with thanksgiving the children God gives them. The failure of believers to reject the anti-life mindset of the age has resulted in the murder of possibly millions of unborn babies through the use of abortifacient birth control. (15)
Education is not a neutral enterprise. Christians should not send their children to public schools since education is not a God-ordained function of civil government (nor of parents, beyond the training and admonition of the Lord) and since these schools are sub-Christian at best and anti-Christian at worst. (16) Fathers are sovereign over the training of their children, and, with their wives, are the children’s chief teachers. Christian parents are bound to obey the command to personally walk beside and train their children. Any approach to Christian education ought to recognize and facilitate the role of fathers and mothers as the primary teachers of their children. (17) Educational methodology is not neutral. The Christian should build his educational methodology from the word of God and reject methodologies derived from humanism, evolutionism, and other unbiblical systems of thought. The parents are crucial and ordinarily irreplaceable in this heart-level, relational process. (18)
Since the educational mandate belongs to parents and they are commanded personally to walk beside and train their children (in Christianity), they ought not to transfer responsibility for the educational process to others. However, they have the liberty to delegate components of that process. They should exercise great caution and reserve in doing this, and the more so the less mature the child. (19) The age-integrated communities of family and church are the God-ordained institutions for (spiritual) training and socialization and as such provide the preferred pattern for social life and educational endeavors. The modern preference for grouping children exclusively with their age mates for educational and social purposes is contrary to scriptural wisdom. (20) Christian parents need to adopt a long-term, multi-generational vision and be motivated by the generational promises of Scripture, and church shepherds need to promote this outlook within their flocks. By the grace of God, as fathers faithfully turn their hearts toward their sons and daughters and the youths respond in kind, the next generation will build upon the faith and improve upon the faithfulness of their parents. (21)
Both sons and daughters are under the command of their fathers as long as they are under his roof or otherwise the recipients of his provision and protection. Fathers release sons from their jurisdiction to undertake a vocation, prepare a home, and take a wife. Until she is given in marriage, a daughter continues under her father’s authority and protection. Children should honor their parents by seeking their counsel and blessing throughout their lives. (22) Fathers should oversee the process of a son or daughter seeking a spouse. While a father may find a wife for his son, sons are free to take initiative to seek and “take a wife.” A wise son will desire his parents’ involvement, counsel, and blessing in that process. Since daughters are “given in marriage” by their fathers, an obedient daughter will desire her father to guide the process of finding a husband, although the final approval of a husband belongs to her. Upon a Marriage taking place, a new household with new jurisdiction is established, separate from that of the father. (23)
Scripture is the believer’s sufficient guide for all of faith and practice. The Bible provides the Christian — through precept, pattern and principle — all that is necessary to make wise decisions concerning the many ethically complex issues of life. (24) Fathers (like everyone else) need to exercise discernment in the choices they make for their families and not simply drift with the cultural tide. Egalitarian feminism is an enemy of God and of biblical truth. For example, fathers need self-consciously to resist the values of individualism at the expense of community, efficiency at the expense of relationships, and material well-being at the expense of spiritual progress. The worldly church will cheer many choices that are detrimental to family sanctification. (25) The specific application of God’s truth may vary depending on facts and circumstances unique to each believer. Things which are lawful may not be expedient if the goal is family holiness. (26)
Scoring the tenets
So, how Biblical is these tenets? Well, if 1 give it one point for every word undoubtedly biblical (black and light blue in the color coding), ½ point for every word that is partly biblical or possibly biblical (dark red or orange in the coding), zero for the extra-biblical (grey and purple) and negative 1 for the anti-biblical (bright red), these tenets score 583 out of 1603. That is 36.4%. I would call 36% a failing grade.
How gospel-centered is “Christian” Patriarchy? Perhaps I need to do a future post on it, but the short answer is: Not very. The central truths of the gospel are hardly touched, Jesus is hardly mentioned, and the words of Jesus hardly used. Jesus said:
Mat 23:8-11 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Christ founded a system in which everyone- even fathers – are brothers. Extreme reliance on any other father except God the Father is not Christianity as Christ defined it.
