Should We have a Pagan Christianity?
(see my earlier related post here)
I just found out that there will be a sequel to the new book Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna coming out this summer. I’m thrilled. From what I hear, it will focus on some of the topics discussed below. I’d love your feedback!
First off, Pagan Christianity is a bold book that uncovers the Greco-Roman influences of many of the origins of today’s current church practices and beliefs. The first edition of the book (2002) also called for a specific response - return to the original impulses of the early church.
The 2008 edition (as I understand from an interview with Viola here [props to Nick and Josh]) eases off the prescription, and instead asks the question, “Do these Greco-Roman influences hinder today’s church from being the Bride of Christ she truly is?” Another way to ask the question is:
“Must the church look/act exactly as it did when it first began, or does acculturation over the last 2,000 years also refine what it means to be God’s Church in the world?”
Is tradition okay? What impulses in the DNA of the Church are immutable?
Jarislov Pelikan: “Tradition is the living tradition of dead men, traditionalism is the dead religion of living men.”
The religious heritage I grew up in had a goal: ‘To restore the ancient order of the church to its original form.’ I am not naive enough to think that this is a obtainable goal. But like many in the Reformed Movement that helped seed the Restoration Movement,
“Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda: The church; reformed and always reforming.”
If I catch what Viola and Barna are tossing us in their book, it means that the church is an organic reality that has both adaptability and integrity in its structure. We are sinners that don’t truly understand God’s vision of what his people look like, and God throughout time is always revealing more of himself to us as his Church. With humility, we learn that there is a moldable, shapable quality to the church, no matter what the age. And there is also a core DNA that most purely points to God and his purposes in the world.
This is just another reminder that the Church is not the Kingdom. The Church, through the ages points to the Kingdom of God. It shapes and changes, and its influences must continually be discerned. Are we following the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the age?
I believe that Viola and Barna are asserting that there has long been dead traditionalism and pagan spirits leeching off of Christ’s Bride, and the authors are begging God’s people to open their eyes to it. Some of these influences are okay - I don’t want to “go back to the good ole days” of earliest Christianity, nor can we - but we can all agree that Easter has just as many connections with Pan as it does Christ. And that the term “laity” only keeps God’s people paralyzed. And that Church as described by Christ looked more like a family than an 2oth Century American business. And…the list goes on.
The million dollar question for Barna and Viola is this: will people change once they know the truth?
Last 5 posts by Mark
- Chicago Spiritual Map: Hyde Park - August 28th, 2008
- Off the Blogger Bench - August 27th, 2008
January 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Great thoughts here and thank you for linking to the interview!
I love that Jarislov Pelikan quote as well, I will be lifting it very soon.
January 13th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
[...] 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 – Daryl Dash review here and here with more to come. – God Grown review. – iMonk’s humorous review. – Joe Thorn has four reviews so far: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 [...]
January 14th, 2008 at 12:23 am
after reading your and Nic’s reviews, i’m hungry to read this book. i think i may be smelling sola scriptura, which would be a common Restoration impulse. i’ll have to check it out…
January 14th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the recommendation. I will add these books to my reading list.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Sounds really good.
I think a good question is that I hope is addressed in the book is: Can paganism be “redeemed” by Christ? Sort of a different spin on syncretism, if the ancient pagan traditions are subsumed and altered so much that the original intent is lost and only Jesus remains, is that really so bad? Nobody cares about Pan anymore. 99.999% of people associate Easter with Jesus.
January 25th, 2008 at 7:31 am
The scope of the book isn’t toward trying to redeem pagan practices. Other books do that (they tackle things like Christmas, Easter). This book instead shows that our very understanding and practice of “church” and “Christianity” that we all draw from the New Testament have been shaped by pagan practices as far back as the third and fourth century. The argument is that what Jesus and Paul taught regarding the church were hijacked later by pagan influences and what we call church today has very few connections with what God had in mind in the beginning or what Jesus taught us. I feel that that question need to be addressed first before we can go on to discuss what things from paganism can be redeemed and used for God. The book is great and every Christian should read it, if nothing else but for the lesson in history.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I agree that it is not trying to offer a solution or intending to redeem pagan practices. It shows the evidence of a mired Christianity, one that Jesus Christ never really saw in his paradigm, in my opinion.
But you have to agree that Viola is pretty prescriptive when it comes to what the church IS and what it should be. My fear is that we can be anachronistic in thinking that ALL pagan, Greco-Roman, etc influences are all together bad.
J, keep it up - I’d like to think through this some more…
January 25th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
His next book is supposed to be prescriptive. I didn’t see too much that was prescriptive in Pagan Christianity? except a plea for the organic church which is pretty general. This book is virtually all deconstructive.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:22 am
J,
yeah, i guess i just didn’t see the point in making his plea for a church model in a book that was all about deconstruction. i really do look forward to what he has to say in his next book - I do happen to think that some prescriptions are healthier than others!
February 17th, 2008 at 3:16 am
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.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
[...] Bonus: Read a continuation of this progressive book review here: Should we Have a Pagan Christianity? Church Traditions, Early Christianity, Ecclesiology, History, Religions [...]