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“Patriarch” is a pretty loaded term, even a controversial term. Its positive implications are frequently overshadowed by politically correct critiques against the term.

So let’s vet some of the meanings of the word “Patriarch.”

Patriarch literally means: Fatherly Leader. That’s it: Father Leadership.

Let’s address the term “patriarchal” as it is used to describe tyrannical leaders. Now, everyone knows that a tyrant and a dictator are not effective leaders in the long-run, nor are they "good" leaders in the moral sense of the word. In the short run, dictators like Mussolini or Qaddafi might be successful at instilling fear, keeping peace, or even prospering an economy.  However, in the long run and in the eyes of God, tyranny and dictatorship are overthrown in favor of freedom.

Regardless, I think it’s too easy to call a tyrant or a dictator patriarchal, in the pejorative sense of the term.

A tyrant might be a leader to his children, but is he truly fatherly towards them?
Does a tyrant raise his children to become functional and healthy adults?

The term "patriarch" is not synonymous to the term "tyrant".  If a father leads his family to become healthy, functional, strong and virtuous, how can we possibly call that person a tyrant?  Of course, there are bad patriarchs, just as there are good patriarchs, but "patriarch" ≠ "tyrant".

So, what does a good Patriarch look like? What are the qualities of a good father figure? What are the virtues and pitfalls of being a fatherly leader? Is there any reliable source on good fatherly leadership? The goal of Patriarch Men's Groups is for men to become fatherly leaders as they learn from the successes and failures of the Biblical Patriarchs. 
Banner image: "Molnár Ábraham Kiköltözése 1850" by József Molnár" - Own work [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons






