pagan christianity
May 21, 2008
Because I’ve been writing papers and statements of faith, blah blah blah, I’ll give this book the short treatment. Dr. Maxie Burch says that history is the result of the unintended. Noone wakes up thinking, “you know, today I think I’ll do something with long lasting historic significance.” And yet, Barna’s Pagan Christianity?: Eploring the Roots of our Church Practices seems to affirm that kind of statement on every page. Pagan Christianity makes it seem like Christian tradition is the result of some secret diabolical conspiracy, in which men, over time, created the spiritual prison that keeps us in lock down up to this day. The rituals of the church hide in plain historical sight on millions of pages of literature: fiction, non and texbook. Pagan Christianity simply lacks the generosity that historical perspective provides. I didn’t read every word, admittedly, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t figure out what the angle was. Was the thesis of the book an interrogative: Is it too late? If you want a crash course in church history, I guess this book will do, but you have to dismiss the tone of it. Christian history is not an episode of The X-Files, it’s the product of tens of centuries of response. If you are looking for real history, check out this podcast or start reading the primary sources. Did you know that those nasty historical people that stuck us with our impotent rituals actually wrote themselves…it’s still all there for you with far less footnotes.
Next up Pagan Automotives: The Conspiracy Behind the Shape of Cars.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 am
I’d be curious as to the motives and backgrounds of the authors. Looks like Mr. Viola is a pretty prolific writer. It’s certainly true that many Christian traditions evolved or were co-opted versions of Pagan ones and that many Christians don’t realize that. However — it’s been a LONG time for the most part.
Based on the books these guys write, they definitely have a strong agenda and particular view on what “true Christianity” is.
Oh! Here’s a book I think I mentioned to you that you might actually dig: http://tinyurl.com/5apc8s
the book is “In the Beginning: a short history of the Hebrew Language” It’s a good read and an interesting look into how the language and scriptures evolved.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
when I read your review, I thought of this video, http://youtube.com/watch?v=hslswIal9u4
May 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the comments!
Carly – No denying Christianity was an amateur ball club nicking plays from the pros. This simply shouldn’t come as a shock. The way Voila and Barna tell it, the Vatican has been suppressing this information for centuries and the man has messed up worship. The book itself isn’t bad: full of facts, and dates and names that ride the tide of history. I just think that we have to give humans the benefit of the doubt as we look backwards.
For instance, the church was going great until people started to get involved. Now that people had to be managed and orthodoxy needed to be transmitted and communicated you have an organization. Since the new church had never had that kind of need or experience, they looked to the most successful organization in the history of the world: Rome. With some modifications and scripture it should have worked better, but like I said before…the church was going great til people got involved.
I”ll check out the book!
Hope all is well out there in D.C land. Peace to you and Art.
TG – thanks for the link. Funny in an ominous, big brother sort of way. It’s not a bad book. Useful for teaching, if one can sift the history from the hype.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:19 am
You can hear interviews with Barna and Viola where they explain the background to the book at http://www.paganchristianity.org
There are some pretty impressive endorsements on that site too.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:20 am
The sequel to “Pagan Christianity?” is out now. It’s called “Reimagining Church”. It picks up where “Pagan Christianity” left off and continues the conversation. (“Pagan Christianity” was never meant to be a stand alone book; it’s part one of the conversation.) “Reimagining Church” is endorsed by Leonard Sweet, Shane Claiborne, Alan Hirsch, and many others. You can read a sample chapter at http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org. It’s also available on Amazon.com. Frank is also blogging now at http://frankviola.wordpress.com/
July 12th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I don’t think the book really ever mentions the Catholic Church. The problem is with all Churches. Someone earlier in the comments said it the best although, I dont think they meant it that way. They said it was based off Rome. Another words, it was based off something that man did. That is not how God wanted. While I don’t agree with Viola on a ton of stuff, he is right that all this junk is now in the church because things are being done based off the work of man not the way God ordered.