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Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices Audiobook
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(3.02) - 1,134 listener ratings
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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. Co-authors 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. Many Christians take for granted that their churches practices are rooted in Scripture. Yet those practices look very different from those of the first-century church. The New Testament is not silent on how the early church freely expressed the reality of Christ’s indwelling in ways that rocked the first-century world. Times have changed. Pagan Christianity leads us on a fascinating tour through church history, revealing this startling and unsettling truth: Many cherished church traditions embraced today originated not out of the New Testament, but out of pagan practices. One of the most troubling outcomes has been the effect on average believers: turning them from living expressions of Christs glory and power to passive observers. If you want to see that trend reversed, turn to Pagan Christianity...a book that examines and challenges every aspect of our contemporary church experience.
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"Not exactly an easy read, not because the material is difficult, but because you have to think through so much of it. It is very well researched and documented. I think every believer should read this book, but definitely every pastor, church planter, small group leader and missionary."
— Shiloh (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Most contemporary Christians are massively ignorant as to how the church got to where it is today and of how much current church practice is due simply to accumulated tradition, with little or no roots in scripture. This book provides a useful service in peeling back the layers of tradition, showing the origins of much that we today call ‘church.’ Christians who want to be biblically faithful, regardless of their particular tradition or church form, can learn and benefit from the book.”
— Howard Snyder, professor of history and theology of mission, Asbury Theological Seminary; author of The Problem of Wineskins and The Community of the King -
“Pagan Christianity? is a landmark, a true milestone in the overall task of bringing in a new style of responsible, interactive Christianity to replace the old, severely paganized ecclesiastical forms. Frank has done us a great favor, drawing together revealing tidbits from hundreds of sources to create a continuous picture of the formation of today’s institutional church. There’s nothing like it in print. It is now the book on church history from the point of view of the underground, open church.”
— James Rutz, author of Megashift and The Open Church -
“Pagan Christianity? contains a wide variety of interesting and helpful historical information of which most Christians—or non-Christians—will be completely unaware. The book identifies—in part or in whole—the pagan roots of many of our current church practices, as well as indicates some borrowed from earlier Jewish or, occasionally, more recent customs.”
— Robert Banks, New Testament scholar and author of Paul’s Idea of Community and The Church Comes Home -
“This feisty book attacks the incipient paganism that has been absorbed into historic Christianity over the years. It exposes the syncretistic weak spots in what we assume to be basic in our way of doing church. Thoroughly iconoclastic, it is also at the same time a good apologetic for the house church movement which has strong restorationist impulses. My guess is that it will anger some readers and thrill others. I am one of the latter. Whatever, it won’t be too easy to dismiss as it is really well researched and substantiated…Definitely worth the read…Just don’t drop it—it is likely to explode.”
— Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things to Come
Pagan Christianity Listener Reviews
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Tim Sanford, 10/18/2024
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spark eastwood, 3/30/2024
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" Great exploration for the modern church. "Every member functioning." Kudos to @FrankViola "
— Huggiworld, 2/19/2014 -
" Excellent! Really helps you understand why "church" is falling so short of changing people's lives on a continual basis. Warning: don't read this book if you don't want some deep seated beliefs to be challenged. "
— Brock, 2/16/2014 -
" Fatally flawed in the realm of ecclesiology. One of the biggest problems the authors have is a lack of biblical understanding in regard to the difference between gift, office and maturity status. I don't think they have ever seen a fully functioning bible church with all the permanent church age gifts being equipped and applied and believers operating within their priesthood and the boundaries of their ministries. "
— Dan, 2/8/2014 -
" Pretty meh. There's nothing ground breaking here. If you've read anything else recently about organic house churches and why they work or are relevant you've hard this all before. The author makes she reasonable points but comes off as so angry and ideologically driven at times that its hard to take the rest seriously. I don't age with much of his historical facts, but his conclusions are far from logically binding. "
— Ben, 2/2/2014 -
" This is a master work for those interested in Church history. These days lots of young people are turning to Catholicism and Orathadox in their search for authenticity. This book could answer a lot of those questions in a way that is both scholarly and easy to read. "
— Andy, 1/19/2014 -
" He has some valid points, but presents them in a tone of condescending criticism. "
— Leslie, 1/9/2014 -
" Great eye-opener. This book will help you open your eyes and critically examine the practices of your church. Where did these practices come from? Are they biblical or where they tacked on to Christianity at a later date? "
— Patrik, 12/28/2013 -
" These guys really rake many Christian traditions over the coals to find the gold among the dross. "
— Jim, 12/4/2013 -
" Great book that challenges the structure of Christianity today. Frank Viola recommends house churches which eliminate paid ministers, large buildings that sit mostly empty 6 days a week, and attendees who just come to watch "the show." "
— Bryan, 11/28/2013 -
" A horrible, God-dishonoring book! "
— Dr., 5/15/2013 -
" Content is great but the repetitive writing style is more than a little off-putting. "
— Cg, 4/28/2013 -
" Very informative!!! "
— Nikki, 8/13/2012 -
" Dangerous...life-changing... "
— Kevin, 3/11/2012 -
" Very well written and easy to read. Still mulling this one over and wondering "So where do we go from here?" "
— Loretta, 3/1/2012 -
" Eye opening as to many of the beginnings in RELIGION. "
— Wayne, 7/23/2011 -
" If only I could give this zero stars. Junk history. "
— Job, 7/11/2011 -
" Modern churches use plastic utensils at picnics. Plastic utensils are nowhere to be found in the New Testament. If these words upset you, you will love this book. "
— Michael, 5/7/2011 -
" Great exploration for the modern church. "Every member functioning." Kudos to @FrankViola "
— Huggiworld, 4/26/2011 -
" Dry. Interesting backgrounds of religious practices. Strains at a gnat "
— Lee, 3/28/2011 -
" A life-changing and eye-opening book. It blew my mind in regards to the practice of our modern churches. The end result: I feel as if I'm becoming a better follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ.<br/> "
— M., 2/23/2011 -
" Book makes great points and backs them up well. Kind of belabors the point towards the middle/end. I like he ideas but think it could have been shorter. "
— Steven, 2/12/2011 -
" I like Frank Viola's writing, this is a good book to understand history of the church and it's practices. <br/> <br/>Thanks for the research <br/> "
— Steve, 1/5/2011 -
" This is an interesting read. It asks excellent questions, but the research is weak and the logic to many of the arguments is faulty. Everyone should read this book, but no one should come to a final conclusion based on this book alone. "
— Jayce, 12/31/2010 -
" Must read for all Christians. Only read it if you know your faith and trust God enough that if you find out the emperor doesn't have any clothes you will not question your faith. At the same time if you can't challenge your faith, is it real? "
— Scott, 12/17/2010 -
" A great book- A must read for anyone who is a "church" goer! I find Barna and Viola take things a bit far at times and can be quite irritating with their extreme views on certain topics, but a must read none the less. "
— Jacques, 11/30/2010 -
" Very enlightening and confusing. "
— A, 11/14/2010 -
" Great eye-opener. This book will help you open your eyes and critically examine the practices of your church. Where did these practices come from? Are they biblical or where they tacked on to Christianity at a later date? "
— Patrik, 10/11/2010 -
" A big challenge to paradigms of Church "
— James, 9/21/2010
About the Authors
Frank Viola is a bestselling author and popular conference speaker. He writes and speaks on the uniqueness, beauty, and supremacy of Jesus Christ, the deeper Christian life, and the changing shape of Christianity today. His blog, Beyond Evangelical, is one of the most popular Christian blogs today. He has written for or contributed interviews to many popular publications, including Time, Christianity Today, Charisma, Ministry Today, Relevant, and CBN.
George Barna is the bestselling author of more than forty books, which have won a variety of awards and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Founder of the Barna Group, a leading research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture, he currently leads the faith development ministry Metaformation and is also a founding director of the Strategenius Group, a business development and marketing firm. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Ventura, California.
About Lloyd James
Lloyd James (a.k.a. Sean Pratt) has been a working professional actor in theater, film, television, and voice-overs for more than thirty years. He has narrated over one thousand audiobooks and won numerous Earphones Awards and nominations for the Audie Award and the Voice Arts Award. He holds a BFA degree in acting from Santa Fe University, New Mexico.