Pagan Christianity – Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
Pagan Christianity Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star Zero Credibility
Very little to say here that could add to the others that found this book wanting. All I can say is this: having decided to turn their backs on the institutional church, the authors now feel the need to justify that decision to the rest of us. Mr. Viola and Mr. Barna: we know you have your reasons for making the move to house churches. That is your choice to make, and we wish you well. But to then turn about and presume to stick out your tongues at the rest of us who haven't given up, trumping up arguments as to why you are right and we are wrong? Very bad form. Perhaps you haven't realized this yet, so let me just clue you in here–you've left the institutional church behind. The rubicon has been crossed. From here forward, you may as well leave your advice for the institutional church behind as well. You have no credibility in doing so.
2 Stars stringing pearls
Despite some good thoughts on tradition vs scriptural dirrectives, this book is clearly written to support a house-church agenda. The authors site verses that support their line of thinking while ignoring verses that do not.
Also, this new brand of Christianity focuses only on the NT and forgets that Jesus himself taught that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them.
5 Stars Never Be The Same
Look at all the other reviews. Look at the book. Look at God's word! It's obvious what need to happen. Th Living Christ needs His rightful place in our midst. His complete headship. Why do so many local bodies of believers look crippled spiritually? They are not crippled, they just think we are a small business and those concepts will apply to us. So many people have so many gifts and we accept the way we do it on Sunday and it has no New Testament basis. Christ The Revolutionary wants His bride to himself. A new believer as of 2000 I am. A heart for orphans and widows. A heart for my wife and sons. A heart for The Living God. This book has shown me how to pursue God, show others to pursue Him and to never settle for man's tradition over The Manifested Jesus Christ. This facts and history in this book shook every thing to pieces in my faith except the thing that holds all things together…My Foundation… The Risen Christ! Thanks Frank. **mArC**
5 Stars Pulling down Strongholds
This book was suggested for me to read. I thought i'd give a shot.Even though i was half believing because of the title.Warning!if you are cozy in your theology and traditional beliefs.This book is not for you.As a matter of fact the author says this at the beginning of the book.If you are a intrepid soul that would like to know the origin of things done in churches,every Sunday for the last 500 years.(By the way, things God never initiated)Then this book is a must read.The footnotes by themselves are fascinating.It is a read then put it down and think then read and put it down and think some more book.This book changed my life and how i look at God forever.Which for me was a Godsend.
5 Stars Finally an answer to my nagging questions
I'm in the process of reading this book still but I thought I would share my overall opinion of it so far. It seems one can actually review a book WITHOUT reading it, so I see no harm in reviewing it while only being partially through it. I LOVE this book. Being only in my 20s, I have been a lifelong attendee of an institutional church and then later I went to bible college a few years ago. Even though I have been raised in the church, something has always been lacking for me and I've had questions that I felt too scared to voice. But thankfully, this book has shed some light for me on some of the ideas that were lingering in my head.
I think it's so interesting that some would criticize this book while not reading it. It confirms its necessity though because by in large, the institutional church is afraid to question its own practices. I come from a Pentecostal background and I bring this up because for several decades the Pentecostal movement was widely thought of as having church services that were very lively and "spirit-filled." Sadly, even these type of churches house bored souls week after week today. As I sit in my comfortable pew every Sunday it becomes so obvious that what the institutional church is doing is just not working. People are sleeping, texting, eating food, balancing their checkbook, doodling, filing their nails, etc. I have seen it all. But people are not engaging with God while being in church, and I believe much of the reason for this lies in what PG discusses.
As for the book's agenda, perhaps I'm just dumb but I don't think it's painfully obvious as some others have pointed out. Sure, the author shares his idea on a solution but wouldn't we accuse him of not doing that if he hadn't chose to offer at least one? So what if he picked the one that he has personally experienced and knows it can work well as a model for being the church? As much as I like the idea of a home church, I do not have any plans to leave my institutional church right now, so it IS possible to read this book and not be "brain-washed" into hating the IC as some people seem to think. The IC is not bringing in many new converts, it's losing old ones, and the ones who stick around do it because they're loyal enough to do what they've always been taught to do. But for many, outside of Sunday church services, their lives are nothing like what God envisions for His people. They go home and watch tv all night, they refuse to help their neighbors or family, and they exclusively rely on church outreaches or events as a way to evangelize. We are just severely ill-equipped to BE God's community and extend ourselves to the lost. Maybe that's because we're still just as lost too.
I recently asked my mother who has been a christian for 40+ years to read this book and she simply won't. I asked her why and she said "My grandmother was a wonderful God-fearing woman and she taught me everything I know about my faith and I will never question anything she ever taught me." Her answer scares me but I think it's so representative of many of this book's critics. People have learned their faith by it being passed down to them and have no desire to make sure that it actually lines up with the Word of God. Yet, they're so bored with God and do very little that He commands.After talking to my mom, I couldn't help but think to myself,"She would have been one crying 'Crucify Him!'" I encourage everyone to read this book. It is filled with biblical and historical facts to support its claims and it leaves room for the reader to discern what to personally do with the information.
Thanks to the writer for taking the courageous leap to write this book. It is certainly controversial, but then again, so was our Savior.
Related posts:
- Pagan Christianity – Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
- Christianity's Egyptian Roots
- Counterfeit Christianity – How Ancient Paganism Mixed with Christianity
- Christless Christianity The Alternative Gospel of the American Church
- Saving Paradise How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire
- Christian No More | On Leaving Christianity – Debunking Christianity and Embracing Atheism and Freethinking
- Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century – The Classic That Woke Up the Church
- The Roots of Reconstruction
- Celebrating The Pagan Soul
- What Did Jesus Really Say – How Christianity Went Astray – What To Say To A Born Again Christian Fundamentalist But Never Had The Information
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