The irony of dogma
John Woolman is not a dogmatic person. In fact, he sees that the Puritans who dislike him and sometimes harrass him about his beliefs are ironically poised against the suggestions of the Bible. He sees the religion as a quest out of legalism and into mystic oneness with God. Dogma is extremely ironic therefore, because dogma is like a list of things that one "has to believe" in order to be "properly" Christian. Woolman comes to see religious dogma as the opposite of truth.
Judgmental Christians
The Christians who judge others are shown in these journal entries to be ironic in a painful way. Whereas Jesus is openminded and transformative, the judgmental Christians oppose well-meaning people for unimportant reasons. They often use shame and fear to manipulate others, and their relationship to power is dubious at best. The irony is that Woolman's Christianity is more similar to the actual scriptures, but that makes him a target for the closed-minded communities around him.
Slave-owning Christians
Christianity celebrates the teachings of Jesus as authoritative, and Jesus was obviously of the opinion that humans are equally important. The New Testament clearly argues that in Christ, there is neither slave nor free man—all are equalized by the theology of Christ. Therefore, the Christians in and around Woolman's community who are slave owners and who use the Bible to defend slavery are ironic. Although he didn't used to care, Woolman starts to realize how horrifying it is that Christians own slaves, because it means that the religion is whatever people make of it. He starts to encourage people to reconsider slavery, especially in his tract Some Considerations.
Materialistic Christians
Christianity is also deeply anti-materialistic, so Woolman realizes that it is terribly ironic that the main narrative in his American community is to find a trade, to work hard, to earn money, and then to spend money on conveniences and material possessions. He starts to change his mind throughout the journal, and eventually, he quits his job and lives his life as a mystic, detached from the business and economy of his community.
Mysticism and life
The irony of mysticism is that, for John Woolman, it is not rooted in what cannot be seen, but in what can be seen. It is life itself that perplexes Woolman. He begins to feel that his fundamental assumptions about human life are baseless. Instead of seeing Christianity as a list of answers, he begins to encounter his own religion as the source of questions, questions that often don't have answers, so that he becomes gradually more mystic until he doesn't adhere much to dogma at all.
