grgr (34): "the tower" (747)

[David Morris]

>From: "jbor"
>
>That final hymn is "one They never taught anyone to sing", composed by 
>Slothrop's first American ancestor, William, who "argued holiness" for the 
>Preterite and preached that, as Christians, "we have to love Judas too. 
>Right?".

Roger.

>Like the Gnostic priests his teachings were suppressed (his book *On 
>Preterition* was burnt by the Puritans). Thus, the hymn is a textual 
>fragment from the "Slothropite heresy" (556.15), which was a variant cult 
>*within* the Puritan faith of the Founding Fathers: an interpretation of 
>Christianity which was not permitted to "consolidate and prosper", perhaps 
>even the "wrong ... fork" America took.
>
>SNIP
>
>So, this (suppressed) hymn has been passed down as an oral tradition 
>through the line of Slothrops/(Pynchons) to become part of the current text 
>(cf that self-conscious reference to "The Gospel of Thomas" earlier).

This reference is wonderful.  Thank you, jbor.


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