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 Pagan Christianity? - Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices

Are we really doing church "by the Book?"

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 does the congregation sit passively in pews? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? Why do our church services seem so similar week after week?

Not sure? The vast majority of Christians have no idea why they do what they do on a typical Sunday. Many Christians take for granted that their church's 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.

Pagan Christianity makes an unsettling proposal: Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Authors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of our modern Christian church practices.

In the process, the authors uncover the problems that emerge when the church functions like a business organization rather than the living organism it was created to be. As you reconsider Christ's revolutionary plan for His church - to be the head of a fully functioning body in which all believers play an active role - you’ll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again.

Hardcover: 336 page