[awareness]

I can't believe this didn't come to mind but I think I've found the point where Christianity went wrong.

And I think we're all familiar with it. It had to do with the authority of God on the earth.

I ran into this in The Gnostic Gospels by Dr. Elaine Pagels. Never mind the merits of the Gnostics and the proto-orthodox, differences, or lack thereof. This example is the matter of spiritual authority. I think for us LCer's this is an important read :

For when gnostic and orthodox Christians discussed the nature of God, they were at the same time debating the issue of spiritual authority.

This issue dominates one of the earliest writings we have from the church at Rome—a letter attributed to Clement, called Bishop of Rome (c. 90-100). As spokesman for the Roman church, Clement wrote to the Christian community in Corinth at a time of crisis: certain leaders of the Corinthian church had been divested of power. Clement says that "a few rash and self-willed people" drove them out of office: "those of no reputation [rose up] against those with reputation, the fools against the wise, the young against the old."25

Using political language, he calls this "a rebellion"26 and insists that the deposed leaders be restored to their authority: he warns that they must be feared, respected, and obeyed. On what grounds? Clement argues that God, the God of Israel, alone rules all things:27 he is the lord and master whom all must obey; he is the judge who lays down the law, punishing rebels and rewarding the obedient.

But how is God's rule actually administered? Here Clement's theology becomes practical: God, he says, delegates his "authority of reign" to "rulers and leaders on earth."28 Who are these designated rulers? Clement answers that they are bishops, priests, and deacons. Whoever refuses to "bow the neck"29 and obey the church leaders is guilty of insubordination against the divine master himself. Carried away with his argument, Clement warns that whoever disobeys the divinely ordained authorities "receives the death penalty! "30

This letter marks a dramatic moment in the history of Christianity. For the first time, we find here an argument for dividing the Christian community between "the clergy" and "the laity." The church is to be organized in terms of a strict [34] "One God, One Bishop" order of superiors and subordinates. Even within the clergy, Clement insists on ranking each member, whether bishop, priest, or deacon, "in his own order":31 each must observe "the rules and commandments" of his position at all times. Many historians are puzzled by this letter.32 What, they ask, was the basis for the dispute in Corinth? What religious issues were at stake? The letter does not tell us that directly. But this does not mean that the author ignores such issues. I suggest that he makes his own point—his religious point—entirely clear: he intended to establish the Corinthian church on the model of the divine authority. As God reigns in heaven as master, lord, commander, judge, and king, so on earth he delegates his rule to members of the church hierarchy, who serve as generals who command an army of subordinates; kings who rule over "the people"; judges who preside in God's place.
-- Elaine Pagels. The Gnostic Gospels (Kindle Locations 1052-1076). Kindle Edition.