The Middle Way is a widely used expression describing the Buddhist--not Christian--tenet of steering away from extremes of both desire and resistance. It also appears in the Taoist tradition.

To characterize a Christian sect as being a "middle way" is ironic, in respect of the many arbitrary and authoritarian icons and precepts with which such sects tend to garnishee their teachings.

While I understand this is not the literal meaning of the context as written, I can scarcely credit that the use of that phrase was wholly accidental.

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