The church became officially recognized in the early 300s. By 330 CE, it had a creed, an official book of scripture, and evidently had developed rituals.
It was not much later that groups of men and women trekked into the desert wildernesses of Syria and Egypt searching for an alternative to the Church’s reliance on dogma and doctrinal orthodoxy as the means to understanding the depths of God.
These searchers gathered in small groups or went out to a cave alone to meditate and look for God’s presence.
This tradition has continued even until today. Perhaps the rock’n’roll mega churches were a bit of reaction to formal ritual and dogma. But each group develops its own ritual and dogma.
Many are not satisfied with either. We search for a deeper understanding of God. When Jesus spoke of different types of people, the Greek translation of his Aramaic was makarios. But it means more than “blessed” or “happy.” Its deeper meaning refers to a deep relationship with God. It is not a superficial “you will be happy” sort of thing.
If dogma soothes your soul, so be it. That should not be criticized. Some of us long for a deeper spiritual experience of God that can be translated to outer service in pursuit of peace, justice, healing.
Faith Venture 
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