Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
by Frank Viola, George Barna
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank Viola, George BarnaEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-01
ISBN: 141431485X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: BarnaBooks
Book Reviews of Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
Book Review: Makes Christians Think!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book in many ways. It answers the question as to why Christians do things, epsecially traditions, the way they do. Why is communion done the way it is? Why do we have church buildings? Why do many dress up on Sunday? etc. It answers these questions by giving factual, historical evidence of the Christian church, from Jesus, through Constatine, the dark ages, the reformation, etc, right up to present day. For example, even the term 'personal relationship' used by many preachers, was popularized by a radio preach in the 1950's and is not in the Bible.
The shocking part is, many of the traditions and things Christians do are not based on the Bible. I think this in itself is shocking to most Christians, and that one point alone is well worth the read. The book does imply that doing things that aren't in the Bible is wrong, although it doesn't come out and say it. Instead they give examples of how the non Biblical things Christians and Churces do actually hurt the true mission of the Gospel. For example, spending so much on a huge, grandiose church building, that is not used except a few times a week, instead of using the money in more effective ministry ways that directly spread the Gospel (missions, etc.).
While the book is great and explains and makes a strong argument that muc of what we do isn't in the Bible, it does not do a great job of giving the solution of what to do about it. In fact it doesn't give any real solutions. I found myself saying, "OK, now what?". I'm not sure what the book wants us to do with this information. Shall we return communion to be a real meal where we worship together instead of a solemn sacrament? Shall we sell our churh buildings and move into house churces? Should we not dress up on Sunday? It doesn't really say.
Apparently there is another book coming out soon by the same Authors that will explain and recommend what Christians should do based on this information. I was only going to give it 4 stars because of this lack of a solution, however, the fact that it really makes you THINK - I had to give it 5 stars on that point alone. There aren't many books that really do that!
Summary of 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.Church History Books
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