Hi DMB,
Where I was painting with very broad strokes, you've provided much
more accurate detail. I think Weber was likely spot on, although I
have not read him directly. As I mentioned, one could go further and
make a strong argument that the usurption of Christianity by the
Roman Empire, in effect making it a artistocratic-elitist doctrine,
is the roots of the modern situation of the "religion" being divorced
from its primary message. While slaves were encouraged in
post-Constantine Rome to convert (it was an enforced state religion,
paganism was actively pursued and punished), social stratification
was untouched, the downtrodden were passed in the street by autocrats
and elitists who sneered at them with disdain and revulsion. Indeed,
the hierarchy and wealth of the Roman Papacy further establishes the
aristocratic structure which became the capistocratic structure of
modern times (Gnostics, mystics and monks aside, of course). When a
jewel-laden Pope, decked out in velvet robes and fed the best of
foods, is escorted threw crowds of hungry slaves, you have already
pretty much abandoned any leftover meaning of Jesus' teachings.
This reminds me of a joke.
This guy, who is a fanatic supporter of the Pope learns the Pope is
actually coming to deliver a sermon at a local church. He goes out
and buys the finest clothes, gets a haircut, shaves, does everything
he can to look cleancut and proper. When he gets to the church it is
packed, but he manages to work his way to the front. Down the row
from him he notices a man dressed in smelly rags, unshowered, dirty
and looking like the dregs of society. "How insulting," he think,
"that this low-life would insult the Pope with his presence." Shorty
thereafter, the Pope appears and after getting a few sentences into
his sermons he notices the smelly, beragged man, walks over to him,
bends down and whispers in his ear. "How can this be!", think the
fanatic Pope guy, "why would The Holy Father choose to speak to that
abomination rather than a cleancut, upstanding man like myself? Well,
if that's the kind of person he speaks to, then I have a plan." And
so he goes over to the ragged man and say, "Look, obviously the Pope
has a soft-spot for losers, how about I give you $1000 for your rags,
that way the Pope will talk to me too." The smelly man agrees, sells
the man his clothes for $1000 and leaves. "Now the Pope will talk to
me too!", the guy thinks as he changes from his nice clothes into the
rags he just purchased. After donning the ragged, smelly clothes
himself, he sees the Pope coming his way. "Yes! Finally The Holy
Father will have words for me!", he thinks. The Pope gets closer,
leans down, puts a hand on the man's shoulder and whispers in his
ear, "Hey buddy, I thought I told you to get the hell out of here."
Ba da bing.
Anyway, thanks for providing much detail and context, DMB.
Here's what Hall had to say, just as an FYI, about the
exoteric/esoteric divide.
"When confronted with a problem involving the use of the reasoning
faculties, individuals of strong intellect keep their poise, and seek
to reach a solution by obtaining facts bearing upon the question.
Those of immature mentality, on the other hand, when similarly
confronted, are overwhelmed. While the former may be qualified to
solve the riddle of their own destiny, the latter must be led like a
flock of sheep and taught in simple language. They depend almost
entirely upon the ministrations of the shepherd. The Apostle Paul
said that these little ones must be fed with milk, but that meat is
the food of strong men. Thoughtlessness is almost synonymous with
childishness, while thoughtfulness is symbolic of maturity.
There are, however, but few mature minds in the world; and thus it
was that the philosophic-religious doctrines of the pagans were
divided to meet the needs of these two fundamental groups of human
intellect--one philosophic, the other incapable of appreciating the
deeper mysteries of life. To the discerning few were revealed the
esoteric, or spiritual, teachings, while the unqualified many
received only the literal, or exoteric, interpretations. In order to
make simple the great truths of Nature and the abstract principles of
natural law, the vital forces of the universe were personified,
becoming the gods and goddesses of the ancient mythologies. While the
ignorant multitudes brought their offerings to the altars of Priapus
and Pan (deities representing the procreative energies), the wise
recognized in these marble statues only symbolic concretions of great
abstract truths." (Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages)
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