So why divide up the Classes like this?

Well, because I felt that the structure will allow a player to create the character they wanted to play. Penelope didn't want to play the classic healer-priest that Peter did. But she could always multiclass later to learn spells. Aeric the Paladin is more warrior than servant of the church, while the Grey Mouser's class and skill set make him an excellent jack of all trades.

I got rid of the class Cleric class because in many ways it just does not fit into what DnD has become. It was largely a classed based on characters like Bishop Odo, who in some of the tales of Charlemagne "cast" spells such as flamestrike.

But why would a priest of Odin or Zeus have the same abilities? They shouldn't.

Furthermore, I found it silly that you had two types of spellcasting classes, and one was more powerful than the other! Clerics had access to all of their spells, and could trade utility spells for healing spells. Plus they had better hit points, access to armor and decent weapons.

Wizards/Mages/Classic Magic Users were largely dependent on the Dungeon Master allowing them access to spells. Without access to armor or weapons, they were truly a weak sister to the cleric.

My solution finds its origin in the writings of Robert Howard. His character of Conan often found himself fighting priests who also were spell casters. They were more classic DnD Magic User than Cleric though. So I thought, why not make it that way for the game as well?

If you look at the works of Tolkien, you see Elrond and Gandalf also were healers. Did this mean they, if statted up for DnD, would be multi class characters or could they be single class characters with access to healing spells? Indeed, why couldn't a Magic-User heal someone, or a Priest of Zeus cast a lightning bolt at an enemy?

So by taking away the classic Cleric class, and simply allowing a player to pick and choose what spell casting abilities the character has, and using Holy Levels to gain access to certain old school clerical abilities, one can craft a Priest whose powers and spells reflect their deity. Or you can craft a Wizard who can heal. It's your choice!