A religion needs to be able to accomodate differing philosophical traditions within its overall framework (notice I didn’t say *all* philosophical traditions).
One of the really nice strands in early Christianity was the Sayings tradition. These are collections of sayings understood by Jesus’ followers to be in line with the Jesus’ teachings. The entire Gospel of Thomas and the Q source are examples of these. Many of these Sayings have been said by people prior to Jesus (which leads many scholars to conclude that Jesus did not say them . That's odd reasoning, but they're religious scholars, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised).
So you might want to get a collection of Sayings together. They don't all have to be original, but I think many of them ought to be, and they don't need a framework or context, necessarily. They just need to be usable in different contexts.
You probably ought to consider what your theory of the church is. Do you want this to be strictly hierarchical? How would you like it organized? Do you want your religion to have its focus on the individual, the community, or something else? This is important to know because it will affect the way you need to do evangelism. If you have a strong community focus, you might find that you will retain your converts more easily but, as the communities form a cohesion, they may start to be over-cautious about new converts. On the other hand, if you are too individualistic, your converts' children may not stick around, and the project will be short-lived.
Perhaps you want to try another approach. Pick a small number of disciples to be a part of your inner circle, each very good evangelists but each with varying styles and theories-of-the-church. Send them out to spread your message, each in her own way, and see who does the best.
Include "Say Me" memes in your Sayings.
You need some rituals that represent something in particular but do so very symbolically, so that your disciples can find a rich meaning within each of them.
Within a short time after the formation of the religion, you need some brilliant thinkers that can develop a complex and sophisticated theology. This really shouldn't be you. These people will be influential and keep your religion engaged and alive, but you want people to be able to disagree with and engage these theologians. They cannot stand as a foundation for the religion. |
