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The Role of Women in the Church An Acolyte’s Antithesis _____________________________________________________ The establishing notion. _____________________________________________________ I have found through my studies of the Holy Scrolls that there is no standing precedent for a woman to be made a Priest of our most Holy Church, and in fact it goes against our sacred traditions, and therefore I present my thesis to enter the ranks of the Clergy with a thesis on a topic I find myself impassioned by. This Antithesis is written in response to “The Role of Women in the Church" by Mother Cecylia, a woman ordained as a Priest of God for her views on the matter. This should not be considered an attack on her as a person, but instead, a disagreement on matters of theology; and an opinion of mine which I believe has not been fairly treated by the mainstream views of the Church, cast aside in a rather arbitrary decision some centuries ago which has not resurfaced due to a lack of dissenting voices. When I had tried to present my idea for thesis to the Cardinal Alaric, I was denied; stating that it was a position which would not find agreement within the Church, and that he would refuse to endorse such a thesis, despite endorsing a thesis to the opposite effect, one which I am writing this antithesis in regards to. His Eminence ended by telling me that in order to propose one I would need the endorsement of a Bishop or Proctored Priest. I traveled to Mt. Lemon, and spoke to Cardinal Elim, who agreed to sponsor the idea, on the basis of a renewed theological fervour. Whilst this thesis may go against what is currently taught as Church doctrine, what innovation would happen within our realms of theology if we were too timid to look beyond what is currently taught? Our faith is one of constant evolution, and interpretation. For what is the purpose of the Church if not to teach, and to further understand the will of God? _____________________________________________________ The claims. _____________________________________________________ The establishment of the Church. “Owyn obeyed the command of GOD and anointed the brothers Evaristus and Clement, who jostled in the same womb, as joint bearers of the laurel of Horen.” The Scroll of Gospel, 5:3 And so the Lord had anointed the twins, Evaristus and Clement, to be His Holy missionaries; to spread the message of His word, and to guard the word of the Holy Exalted that he sent to our mortal plane. As the Clergy of the day are the successors of this Holy Temple which these two men ruled and guided the flock of, should it not stand to reason that the Clergy of the day should follow in the footsteps of their message? That they should follow their model to guide their own life, as their Holiness was considered so great that they were honoured by our Lord, and by our Exalted Owyn (Peace be upon him)? But with this great honour came a great responsibility, the responsibility of Man to carry the burden inherited by Evaristus and Clement, the burden of guidance and of spiritual dedication. To completely surrender themselves to the virtue of God, and so the Priesthood was born. Therefore, as Men of the cloth, their successors must also be Men of the cloth. _____________________________________________________ The First Coupling. “ So the Lord was pleased to lay His favor upon the sons of His first man and woman, and He called the pair forth to reside in the Sixth Sky and give the World over to the dominion of the Sons.” The Scroll of Gospel, 1:42 I would like to direct your attention further back than the first of our Priests, I would like to direct your attention to the first coupling; the first man, and the first woman. Through the Scroll of Gospel, revealed to the Ex. Godfrey, we know that they had sired four Sons, and had not been blessed with any daughters, and I would raise that this was a deliberate act; for all that is, was elected by the Lord. And furthermore, we understand that the relationship the first coupling shared with the Lord was a special one, and when the time for them to be given a place in the skies had came, it was the choice of our Lord that the dominion of the World be given to the Sons, for he had considered them to be worthy of His creation, and so they were His spiritual successors. Therefore, as Men of the world, their successors must also be Men of the world. _____________________________________________________ The Holy Precedent: Exalted of the Faith. “Lo, in the name of the Lord GOD the Most Merciful, Singular, and Omnipotent, listen and attend with pious heed to this inspired text.” The Scroll of Gospel, 1:1 As I have brought forth the evidentiary point of the First Coupling, and I have brought forth the evidentiary point of the first of the Priests, I shall now bring forth our Holy Prophets. Ex. Horen, Ex. Owyn, Ex. Godfrey. By the Grace of GOD, all of our Holy Exalted have been blessed with the power of rulership. Horen, born of the First Coupling, was blessed with the Laurel; crowned as His Prophet, he led his people as a wise King. The Ex. Owyn was spoken to by God himself, our Father, who had blessed him with His message and His commands. The Ex. Godfrey, blessed yet again as a Holy Prophet, and what I believe we see as a recurring theme with all of these is the emphasis on the Son. Therefore, as Men of the world, chosen to guide, their successors must also be Men of the world. _____________________________________________________ The established disagreement: a rebuttal. _____________________________________________________ With regards to the issue of modern equality. Perhaps some of those who read this thesis may believe my points to be falling prey to the trap of misogyny, they may claim that I believe the Lord favours men to women, and to this. I would say the exact opposite. The Lord holds no biases, Julia is mentioned as a wise woman, she was not blessed to be a Prophet; she was to bask in her innocence, in her serenity as a woman by virtue of womanhood, and to be faithful and loyal. I must disagree on the most severe level. Women are the very reason for our existence. They are the Mothers that perpetuate creation, it is not for our sake that Man is called to be Leader, King, Priest, Prophet, but for their sake; for the sake of the tribe, and if you distil it further and further, to the most rudimentary components holding out society onward; for the sake of the Woman. We see from the very first woman that when the Lord called for the First Coupling to take their place in the Skies, it was the Woman who wept, and who refused; for she loved her own sons more than she loved God. And for whilst she wept, the First Man; in his superb piety, as perhaps the first man of such a Holiness, obeyed, for naught could come between him and the Lord. We understand from our interpretations of scripture that everything the Lord hath revealed was shown to us for a purpose. If the Lord showed that the man was more obedient than the woman to Him, then I do believe it is only a matter of finding out why. The solution which I find to be the most reasonable, is that this was the very Primeval, and original sin, that we have all come to inherit. That the Lord "uncovered the imperfections of the Sons, so that she would know her Folly." as revealed in the Scroll of Gospel, 1:45. And whilst women are called to be the Mother, to nurture the tribe and to continue the existence of the Sons of God as the very first women denied our Lord in order to do, it is the Men who are called to the impossible burden of guiding. It is not the choice of the Man that they are to be ordained, but ultimately the choice of God. It is a pull, a desire so great that it can make a man forego any other. It is they who are burdened with being the successors of the first priests, of the Holy Prophets, and of the blessed first man who obeyed our Lord in His entirety. _____________________________________________________ With regards to the Pontificates of the past. it is also important to understand that we do not have the authority to replace divine precedence. The arguments for which our prior generations saw fit enough to allow for female Priesthood were shoddy at best, an act made at a whim without a foundation. “Throughout the Holy Scrolls are instances of women being equal to men, and we have seen this reflected in secular life. Empresses ruling in their own right, successions being reformed to include women, etcetera. Yet, the Church remains in the past, permitting only men to become ordained clergy, to spread the word of God and perform sacrament” -His Holiness, Everard VI “Currently women are treated equally in this world too. If we look at Hyspia, a respected Canonist state, we see that it is currently reigned by her Sovereign Highness Xiomara I. None would even doubt her legitimacy. Men, women, it does not matter what gender, all Hyspians follow her guidance, and trust her wisdom to lead them to prosperity, safety, and health.” -An excerpt from An Acolyte's Thesis: The Role of Women In The Church I believe it is a grievous misassumption that the Church must progress; that the word of God’s needs the correction of a mortal man. It is not the place of a Secular argument to guide the principles and the dogma of the Church, for by the separation of Church and State we find that the ruler may progress with their own needs, but the needs of God should always be the foremost thought of the Church. “ Though the spring flower withers and the fruit of the tree falls to the ground, My Word lasts into the eve of the world, and the fruit of virtue cannot rot.” The Scroll of Virtue, 1:2 The word of Our Lord is everlasting. It shall never wilt, it shall never decay, it shall never fall behind the times. Every word divinely inspired or revealed was chosen by a force greater than any of us could understand. It is not our place, I dare say, to disregard the words of the Holy Scrolls. _____________________________________________________ With regards to the Saints, and the modern service of women in non-ordained roles. “But Julia was wise and recalled her husband’s warning. She revealed Iblees, and the Denier was cast out of the camp, and he was very wroth.” The Scroll of Gosepl, 2:22-23 Is all of this to say that women have no place in serving our Lord? That they must content themselves to subsidiary roles? Of course not. The Lord accepts the service of women, and there have been many women who are superbly superior to men in their piety and virtue, and the saints of yore come into mind; and the women canonized, two, and not for lack of virtue or merit. It is the free choice of any woman, in her desire to serve God, to become a Nun, a Holy Servant of God, or to serve as a warrior, a Holy Knight. Both of these roles have plenty of precedent, and neither are touched upon in the scripture in a way which would exclude the female gender. And what, you may ask, is the difference between a woman serving in an abbey as a Nun, and a woman serving as a Priest in the Church? The difference is precedent. Sacred tradition. The dogma which guides our lives. Whilst a Nun serves, and maintains her virtue through service and Holy vows, a Priest is an ambassador. It is through the Priests that the Church relay their message, and it is through the Church that the Lord’s word is maintained, and so we must look to who the Lord selected to maintain his word, so that we may better follow in His footsteps. A woman need not embrace the role of a Priest in order to serve God, for it is not the burden of a woman to tend to a flock, for that is not her Holy inheritance. Instead, she need only maintain her virtue, and maintain her oaths to God. For by her gentleness, and by her innocence and womanhood and her nurturing nature, a woman is far more sanctified than a man. _____________________________________________________ In conclusion _____________________________________________________ With all of the arguments I have laid forth in this thesis, I do hope that the Church considers my views on this matter, and potentially start an internal discourse if any merit is to be found contrary to the standing decision held by the Church. This thesis has also been the culmination of my studies under Father Rossano, and although I know he may find disagreement with my topic, and we may disagree on certain matters of theology, I thank him for his tutelage, and the chance he has given me within the Holy Church to take me on as his acolyte. God Bless, and may the Flame Guide you. -Acolyte Owyn

It's an ST signed item, though. Like it was very clearly put out there that it was an Oculus for a Drogokroko, and it was then signed by ST, not once- but twice. So I'm confused as to why you're acting as if it's powergaming to use a Drogokroko as a reanimation, when it's literally story team approved. Necromancy is purposefully free-form, it encourages creativity.

I'd also like to mention that Drogokrokos don't have heavy armour, they have their natural hide - and they are decaying. People just use human-slaying weapons on non-humans, which is silly. Use a warhammer and it's dead in like 2 swings The thing is that it's not rlly casting. You're just giving an order that is magically understood due to the oculus. Smash oculus = it no longer obeys you. Necromancy is a 4 slot magic which also has a PK clause if you die (you need to get revived). The power of necromancy purely lies in the summons, the individual necromancers themself are weak and basically lore-written to not want to do 1v1s

First they came for the Paladins, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Paladin. hello. i am tier 3. this is not a flesh golem, this is an animal undead.

Where would a Necromancer/Blood Mage/Vampyre lay on this poll?

The gatekeeping is about to go HARD.

Nothing ever happens..

https://discord.gg/wcrmGchajs

Can I have all your money irl?

How did it feel pulling those 6 hour VCs with me whilst we cucked F&F?

I played his son a couple years back. He always seemed like a lovely guy. Very kind, and great to RP with Rest in peace

Sakaar stroked his beard.

I'll say it. Remove soul pillars. Why would anybody bother to traverse the big map when they can just warp outside of their city's gates? If you want a big map, then incentivise people to explore that map. Let people stumble into cities because they got lost on the way home. Right now, we have a big map, but nobody on the roads, and nobody going anywhere they don't warp to the closest soul pillar to. "Why are you booing me? I'm right."

I can make you a deranged spook. Final offer.

St, St. Please. Please. Please? I'll beg if I need to.

Sir Enyalius wondered if the brave... Brave, stupid boy that he fought back on the sands made it out alive. He did try to keep him alive.. It'd be such a shame to die so young.

Sir Enyalius read over the part of the missive that mentioned the death of the Darkspawn. And wondered if they had perhaps forgotten about him.

Adrien Blanchet -Knighted for murdering a cripple -Made a lord for slaughtering and terrorising innocents -Left his family when his daughter was two years old, after the death of his sons in battle -Loyal only to himself, and and the memory of two dead men -Dabbled in some tomfoolery some may consider to be "unnatural" and "spook-esque"

Elves should be heightlocked to 5'5 for women and 5'0 for men.

Adrien Blanchet. Developed so hard, God made him an NPC

@Optimus420if I had to kiss a male LOTCer on the mouth.. Well..