A Pagan Christianity?
Reading this book was a wake up call for me. While somewhat purist in his pursuit of New Testament Christianity (I feel for the guy, me being a Restorationist and all), its an absolute gem. Piece by piece, Frank Viola uncovers the pagan roots to traditional Christianity – and asks his readers and the Church for an explanation. From choirs, to pulpits to Easter itself – Viola helps uncover the competing religious impulses that pushed the ancient (or not so ancient) church to adopt foreign tenets and practices.
But here’s a worthy question: is Christianity, if it changes gradually, or even fundamentally in content, structure and style over the course of 2,000 years, still to be considered “Christianity”? Is the Christian faith allowed pagan influence? Thoughts?
Bonus: read a sample chapter here.
Double Bonus: Read a continuation of this progressive book review here: Should we Have a Pagan Christianity?
we have a podcast with the guy tomorrow. so i’m looking forward to talking about these questions with the author. i haven’t read the book yet which is driving me crazy. honestly, the only reason i haven’t picked it up is because the cover is so god-awful ugly.
there is another, older version of this book (a green cover). unfortunately, the cover design is even worse. maybe in the podcast, you could set yourself up for the design on the third edition! what is the url for the podcast?
mark – frank is coming to springfield soon to hang out with some friends of mine. i might go spend an evening or two with them.
great – let me know how the conversation goes. wishing i could be a fly on the wall!
Hey Mark,
1) I have the old green-cover version, the one without barna’s name or assumed input. Is the red & black one a new edition? Did barna simply write an intro?
2) That book was one of the more influential reads for me 5 years ago. And I think it proves that christ never created nor endorsed christianity. He lived a crazy life and invited others to follow. I think that book shows clearly that man created christianity, the religion.
B,
0) Welcome back from the big trip! Let’s get some beer sometime soon.
1) I’ve got the green one too – the red one (new edition) comes out early Feb. Barna’s added an intro, and tons of new research into the new addition. It’s like “With our powers combined…we are Captain Pontificate!” Or something like that.
2) Totally – Christ seemed more interested in fulfilling the Jewish religion if he had any connection to religion at all. He was free-range…pesticide free! The spirit of religion is part of what he came to overturn, and set up a life to be lived instead. Most of my life thus far in the journey outside of religion has been waking up to this Good News: that Jesus isn’t a Christian.
the new edition is out and is shipping from http://www.paganchristianity.org
[...] (see my earlier related post here) [...]
Hi, an excellent alternative to Viola’s book is “The Ancient Church As Family” by Dr. Joe Hellerman. His work is well researched and addresses many of the “pagan” influences on our faith. Dr. Hellerman’s contribution is a blend of good history AND respectful discourse.
Thanks for the suggestion Joe! And I like your site. I figure the more perspectives on this concept of the shifting nature of Christianity, the better. Here’s a sweet quote on the matter by Pricilla Shirer,
In the first century in Palestine,” she noted, “Christianity was a community of believers. Then Christianity moved to Greece and became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome and became an institution. Then it moved to Europe and became a culture. And then it moved to America and became a business. We need to get back to being a healthy, vibrant community of true followers of Jesus.”
Are we really following Christ if we are doing anything but what he called us to do in the first place? The next question for me then is: did he call us to organized religion, or to a family?
Hi. Found your review at the Pagan Christianity website. Just thought you and your readers might enjoy reading a new interview with George Barna and Frank Viola. I just posted it today: The Thin Edge hosts joint interview with Barna & Viola.
[...] what field he’s playing in. I love the brother and read his Pagan Christianity TWICE before reviewing it (to help make up for everybody else preferring to review first and read later). So he’s [...]