The Long Tail of Christianity

Here's the subtext of Lucifer Jones. Coming as I do from the model society of secularity which is slightly overwhelmed by a cloying blonde meritocracy, I'm trying to open up that which is heresy to a more open debate. But it's not so much a debate as an expanded conversation. There is nothing quite so petty as fundamentalism and having been an active participant in a decent number of Christian sects, it's simply a pain in the butt for me to have to deal with various didactics. So why not have more? Simply more Christian lore.

So if Christianity could be reduced to the machinations of the Alter Call and the profession of faith then it is reductive indeed. The Golden Rule is comprehensive enough, the message of Christ's sacrifice is universal enough but what does this do to our ethics? It flattens it if everything in Christianity is reduced to songs about those two things. So while a number of folks have felt threatened by the Gnostics, I'm wide open to them. Is it so difficult to imagine that Christianity is much richer than most Christians experience? I think not.

It seems that our culprit is Athanasius. He's the dude responsible for taking Iranaeus seriously, and as Bishop ordered the throwdown.

Many of these secret writings, however, were still read and revered by Christians 200 years later when Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, an admirer of Irenaeus, wrote an Easter letter to Christians in Egypt. He ordered them to reject what he called those "secret, illegitimate books" and keep only 27 approved ones. The 27 he named constitute the earliest known list of the New Testament canon, which Athanasius intended above all to be a guideline for books to be read publicly in church. The New Testament Gospels, which contain much that Jesus taught in public, were the most obvious books to put on that list. The secret books, which contained paradox and mystery akin to the mystical teachings of kabbalah, were not considered suitable for beginners.

Not suitable for beginners. OK makes sense in a world where maybe five percent of the population was literate. We've got a little more bandwidth than that. So I'm excited about secret knowledge as much as the next guy, not because it is hidden, but because it requires work and discipline. What else would you expect of a programmer and writer? Let's ratchet up the complexity and depth of the Christian message and practice beyond the realm of 'broadcast ministry'.