Religion via Blog
Pauline Kilar writes (in a very good article, by the way):
I don't know why she's suprised. Gnosticism was always spread by individuals to others, often through the use of letters. It was never preached from the pulpits, rather discussed in the tea shops and libraries of Alexandria, Antioch, Anatolia, Rome.
Since we, as Americans, are often so disconnected, it makes sense that we use a disconnected form of medium to get our thoughts across, much as the Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers did when widely separated by oceans and provinces. And it also makes sense that we use publicly available blogs, for the letters of antiquity were not read only by the author and recipent, but often by a community. Even the Orthodox learned their religion, in the beginning, from the Epistles, which are nothing but letters anyway.
The major difference is speed. The 12 readers of my blog can get an instant update of my writings, instead of having to wait years for a letter to cross the mediterranean.
A general pronouncement, such as a book or sermon, often gets us into trouble, as things are taken out of context. One can witness the problem with the Templars, the Cathars, Albert Pike, and by reading Ignatius' indictments of the sect among the early Christians.
(I’m grinning as I write this because it seems ridiculous on the one hand to get religion from a blog, but on the other it seems like the perfect modus operandum for a sect that traces its lineage to what Philip K. Dick called “the secret grey-robed Christians.”)
I don't know why she's suprised. Gnosticism was always spread by individuals to others, often through the use of letters. It was never preached from the pulpits, rather discussed in the tea shops and libraries of Alexandria, Antioch, Anatolia, Rome.
Since we, as Americans, are often so disconnected, it makes sense that we use a disconnected form of medium to get our thoughts across, much as the Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers did when widely separated by oceans and provinces. And it also makes sense that we use publicly available blogs, for the letters of antiquity were not read only by the author and recipent, but often by a community. Even the Orthodox learned their religion, in the beginning, from the Epistles, which are nothing but letters anyway.
The major difference is speed. The 12 readers of my blog can get an instant update of my writings, instead of having to wait years for a letter to cross the mediterranean.
A general pronouncement, such as a book or sermon, often gets us into trouble, as things are taken out of context. One can witness the problem with the Templars, the Cathars, Albert Pike, and by reading Ignatius' indictments of the sect among the early Christians.
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