The People are the Orthodoxy
Ever wonder where Christian Orthodoxy comes from? I read a fascinating article on that over at Emergent Village. It turns out that the pope and his cronies called the Magisterium (who were originally established to protect against gnosticism) had grown so powerful that they could actually broker truth to the masses exchanging loyalty (tithes) for protection (communion, citizenship).
Magisterium essentially withheld Scripture from the masses, thus keeping it out of their control. They taught that the Word of God was too holy to be transcribed or spoken in any language other than Latin, a dying language.
By the 1450’s the Catholic Church needed money, and began selling indulgences (handwritten forgivenesses on pieces of paper). Officiates would travel all throughout Europe selling these tickets out of middle hell by the hundreds. When the printing press was invented they found they could print these indulgences literally by the millions, which was the equivalent of printing money. That is why the printing press succeeded, and why the church became filthy rich, and kept the masses under their control.
Martin Luther, when he tagged his 95 Theses to the door of a Wittenburg church, he was complaining that the Catcholic Church was corrupt, in part because of its selling of indulgences.
We tend to think that the printing press was a noble invention used to advance biblical literacy. Sorry! We entered the golden age of the printed book through the heartless pursuit of filthy money by corrupted power. Thankfully, God used that sorrowful time to print his Bible in German, the language of the people and started a revolution that continues to this day.
So, who will hold the keys to orthodoxy in an age of limitless voice? In a world of blogs, podcasts, and internet watchdogs, Tony Jones suggests that “those committed to the social web will become the new Magisterium.” Now we have access to God’s Word not only in printed form, but check out YouVersion, a collaborative online bible studying community. Or BibleWiki. Now we the people access to the halls of science, technology, medicine, and history like never before! It may mean questioning long-held traditions and assumptions of truth, but the goal is Truth (as in, Way, Truth, Life = Jesus) not truth (being right and being mean about it).
Like the dream of Martin Luther, we can discover the truth on our own – and the people control the Orthodoxy!
very provocative man. If I hear you correctly your saying we should make sure information is free to all people, and the search for truth should be a collaborative effort of the masses not a previllaged few.
yo got it bro! we’re entering the age of the masses. i just read an article on how obama created the most powerful political machine in history through grassroots community organization and influence. not only can we find truth together, but we, as a whole church, can solve the world’s problems.
You’ve got my attention, I see how the internet provides for mass communication and distribution of information, but I lost you about how we can solve the worlds problems. How would you suggest we encourage the church to solve the worlds problems using the internet. I’m interested.