Origins - A Mythohistory of the Holy Lazarite Faith

 

(Above: The prototypical form of the Lazarite cross)

(Note: The following is a mythic history constructed for a spiritual movement. It is rooted in historical religious trends, but it contains fictional elements and its central conceit does not belong to the realm of empirical, verified history. Please consult this website only as a source of personal amusement and/or spiritual reflection, not as a history textbook)

The Lazarite faith is a branch of the Christian religion which has infused various Christian sects throughout history, yet also exists beyond them in its most undiluted form. It is a tradition centered around the heart-teachings of Jesus Christ given to his disciple, friend and lover, Lazarus. Its teachings and perspective on Christianity are scattered throughout the canonical Scriptures, as well as in other writings and discourses which form their own canon.

On the road from Bethany to Jerusalem, and again after the resurrection but before the ascension, Christ gave various teachings to Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, John the Evangelist, Mary the Mother of God, the Holy Apostle Photini of Samaria, and James the Brother of the Lord, among others. Though these teachings each at one time or another had their own band of practitioners, the Marian, Photinian, and Jacobean streams were eventually subsumed into the Lazarite stream. The Johannine stream continued in exoteric form until the slow absorption of Johannine Christians into the larger Christian church.

After Jesus' ascension, the aforementioned leaders of the faith gathered and made an agreement to disseminate these heart-teachings in both hidden and revealed forms, via two different oral lineages. Later, as the Gospels and Epistles began to be written, the exoteric oral lineage became effectively the written lineage, while the esoteric Lazarite teachings remained orally transmitted. Though Lazarite Christianity was kept secret, the early Lazarites did not see their faith as superior or in conflict with mainstream Christianity, as they built upon the same core theological truths and ethical teachings of their Lord.

St. Lazarus traveled extensively across Syria, Anatolia, Arabia, Persia and Armenia. After fleeing Judea due to persecution of the early Christians, he instructed several disciples from Persia and Arabia, teaching them the rituals, doctrines and ideas relayed to him by Jesus. After becoming bishop of the Church in Cyprus, he reposed in peace 30 years after his initial resurrection.

In the second century, a Lazarite monastic named Solomon composed the Odes of Solomon, a series of poetic hymns in the Lazarite tradition.

Lazarites generally abstained from the ecumenical councils, content to let the majority church discern core doctrines while the Lazarites pursued mystical interpretations.