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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 262.0017
EAN num: 9781414314853
ISBN number: 141431485X
Label: BarnaBooks
Manufacturer: BarnaBooks
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: 2008-01
Publishing house: BarnaBooks
Sale Popularity Level: 2255
Studio: BarnaBooks
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Product Description:
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.
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Rated by buyers 
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My very first thoughts along the lines of this book's message were about 30 years ago. I went year by year to churches and a lot of Christian gatherings feeling kind of like a porkchop at a Kosher wedding. I met very few people who thought like I did. Last year, I read Revolution by George Barna and had all my "knowing" validated. What joy to know I am not alone. Now, here is Pagan Christianity, with these ol' boys (Frank Viloa and George Barna) forevermore shuckin' the corn!!! Everything that I have believed about the institutional church is confirmed, documented historically, backed up by Scripture and written in a style/language that anybody can understand. It is a truth that needs to be realized and reckoned with. To every person who is sitting or ever has sat through "church" and wondered "is this all there is to it?" and "shouldn't there be more?", I say, please get this book. It has the answers to your questions.
Rated by buyers -
I read the book as someone who is a strong believer. But I've always felt intuitively that much of what we do and practice in 'church' is perhaps somewhat peculiar or off base in some way.
I thank these men for this book, written not to tear down but to clarify.
I found it exciting to see anew the original intentions of the gospels and the clarity of the early church.
This is a book that every Christian should read and absolutely not be threatened by!
Rated by buyers -
I was sitting in a restaurant reading this book when a guy who worked there started talking with me about his conversion, then adding "it's ok if you're a pagan..." I got a good laugh at that one.
In all actuality, this book was very refreshing for me. I come from a very heavy tradition of church involvement but more in the way of the institution being such a dominant force that somehow I had lost my way even as to what the point of it all was.
I do believe in the larger presence that is the Church and I look around at all the "churches" and wonder how in the world it got to be like this...not just the way they work, but the attitude behind the way they work. This has been a question of mine for a while and I feel thankful for the time/energy put in to researching all this for us as it really has propelled me down the road of research on this.
I look forward to more!
Rated by buyers 
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There are many good and strong points in this book a few of which are
1. Many Christian practices come from paganism
2. The Apostles belonged to no set church
3. Churches are actually modeled on pagan temples
And many others
4. The Romans used already established Pagan holidays as Christian ones
5. Mega churches are in effect dumbing down Christianity confusing the need of people for a close and personal relationship with God by offering them entertainment.
The author spends too much of his time describing in great detail what is wrong with the established church and really providing no clear goal or agenda on how to fix those problems. When you cite a list of things that are problems according to your own point and not based on any particular scriptural guidelines then eventually your argument however well intentioned is going to fall apart.
Organized Christianity may in many respects be a flawed creation but it's the only one we've got. The author means well but he has in effect thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
Overall-It is impossible as the author maintains to "get back to the roots" of Christianity because Christians can't even agree on what those roots were and speaking for myself my alarm bells go off when I hear people talking about it. The important thing is Christ the Lord not weather or not churches or church organizations have some creeping vestiges of Paganism regardless of weather or not you think it's the Sabbath day or the vestments or the incense or the liturgy or baptism. The victory is already won in Jesus Christ what does it matter?
Rated by buyers -
Got a lot of good insights in the book.
As with many such books, it's better at critiquing the current state of affairs than it is at offering an alternative.
I found the critique to be very helpful; although my tendencies in favor of primitive Christianity may have biased me. I like the critique of the institution of the clergy and of the idolatry surrounding church buildings.
As for its weaker "how we should really do church" side; the book fails to distinguish the basic nuances and tension between whether the New Testament is talking about the early church in descriptive or prescriptive terms.
The book is also too hard on music leaders. A group of people sitting in a circle where a few people might break out in song spontaneously (and others encouraged to follow) is no nearer to the heart of God than the skilled song leaders in the Old Testament (who also had heavy instrumentation) singing the songs of Zion.
The book tends toward a repristination model of church where a dozen or two people meet on the Lord's day and a few (uninhibited extroverts) control things. Extroverts always end up controlling things in groups when there is no structure.
I am a church planter in California (www.RobinwoodChurch.com) and am also self employed (www.ThornHeart.com).
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