My own personal belief is that any gameable model of Malkionism should above all else be accessible to players, and that differences between sects should function at "peasants'n'knights" level, rather than being centred on obscure wizardly scientific, philosophical, legalistic and/or doctrinal issues. Most Westerners' understanding of their religion is "popular" rather than "intellectual": we've written our Malkioni sources primarily at the "popular" level, as it gives us something that's more useful, for more players, in more games, than quibbling or hairsplitting over obscure dogmas would be.
On this front, I'd play down both Paul Reilly's desire for Malkioni sects to split along philosophical lines (Epicureans vs. Stoics, for example), and Martin Crim's desire for them to split along legalistic lines (with rival interpretations of common "Holy Scriptures" being the main focus of sectarian belief), as neither of these has any obvious "popular" appeal. I'm sure that there are valid arguments for these as models of Malkioni practice for wizard/scholars to discuss and dispute; they just seem less accessible to gamers working "on the ground" at normal RQ-playing levels, where such questions of technical theology will hardly be encountered.
Since, for better or for worse, the Malkioni paradigm we have is already profoundly influenced by mediaeval Christianity (with its Saints, Popes, Cathedrals, Reformations, Crusades, Heresies, Knights, Chivalry, etc.: a familiar fantasy setting to most game-players), and since Greg is still keen to retain this image, I don't see the harm in allowing players to game at what Mike Dawson has apparently called an "Errol Flynn level": this would, after all, be an enjoyable romantic/heroic model for most of our role-playing games to adopt, adapt and abuse.
To this end, we've tried to define how Malkionism evolves, what its key doctrines mean, and how the differences between the sects arise through their history and interpretations. We've explored this primarily through the lives of the Prophets and Saints, by examining how their actions and teachings are variously understood by the modern sects of Malkioni.
I chose to include player-friendly aspects like Conscience and Faith, since these will be parts of the "pious" mindset people will bring to their gaming: I'm trying to make them acceptable parts of core Malkioni belief, rather than branding them as "not approved for use in Gloranthan gaming" (and alienating potential players thereby). Adding a level of religious irrationality like this is intended to allow players to face moral rather than legal/interpretative dilemmas in their Western game settings: a purely legal/prescriptive Malkionism, OTOH, would limit the gamemaster's scope for setting up fun, playable situations. If the first reaction of Malkioni characters to a problem is "What does the Book say?" or "What does my Lord say?", rather than "What's the right thing to do?", then scenario options and role-playing dilemmas dwindle away: a whole society becomes more tedious and difficult to play in (and marginalised as a result).
While there is more to our Malkionism than another reheated form of D&D "Fantasy Christianity" (I truly hope!), we're trying to build a bridge between on the one hand our Gloranthan sources, and on the other the majority of gamers who (I hope) have the time and inclination for more interesting things than theological disputation in most of their gaming sessions.
I see nothing wrong with giving Gloranthan gamers a mediaeval model for Bishops and Knights who act like they'd expect them to, and whose beliefs and behaviour are supported by and reinforce the mythical and historical resources of Glorantha (such as PB:G's "What My Father Told Me" and its supporting article; Greg's oldest writings; the various hints about the roots of Western religion which exist in our RQ2-era sources; our recent discoveries for HtWwO; etc).
Exploring Glorantha through gaming is something I do for fun. When I was an ancient and mediaeval historian, I greatly enjoyed research into the evolution of Christian doctrine. It comes naturally for me to stick ideas which are similar to or derived from those real-world interests into my Gloranthan work. They are intended to create enjoyable and entertaining, easily-useable, player-friendly resources, and to multiply the number of realistic scenarios, sources of inspiration, and valid interpretations of Malkionism that can take their place within our commonly-enjoyed world. Are Gloranthan interpretations of Faith, Conscience and Martyrdom really too high a "price" to pay for this framework of playable beliefs? IMHO, no.
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