Incite (to stir up)  

How Deep Is The Rabbit Hole?

Book review by Paul Sue

Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola and George Barna, Tyndale House, 2008.

The hard-hitting (though certainly not shrill) preface by Viola sets the tone for the rest of the book: "Contemporary Christianity has fallen into the errors of both the Pharisees and the Saducees. ... We break the Scripture just as much by burying it under a mountain of human tradition as by ignoring its principles." Barna follows on this note in his Introduction with these questions: "Does it surprise you that most of what we do in religious circles has no precedent in Scripture? ... Does it really matter how we practice our faith, as long as the activities enable people to love God and obey Him?"

After an opening chapter to set the stage, they then devote a chapter each to "deconstructing" the sacred cows that characterize modern Christian church life. The authors have certainly done their homework, as evidenced by the copious footnotes on each page and the extensive bibliography at the back of the book.

The book does a good job of tracing the historical origins of many contemporary church practices (sermons, tithing, clergy, etc.). I believe the evidence is incontrovertible that the origins of our modern day church practices do not find their basis in scripture. Whether or not this is sufficient to convince most churches to jettison their current practices and structures remains to be seen. Part of the reason is that this book is NOT a "how-to manual.

On this note, it is important to keep in mind the book's scope and aim before criticizing it.

First of all, the book is not meant to be academic: "This is not a work for scholars, so it is by no means exhaustive". Having said that, the book is saturated with footnotes and concludes with a fairly extensive bibliography should one wish to delve deeper. Furthermore, the book is endorsed by a number of professors, if that matters to you.

Also, one should keep in mind that the book does not attempt to say all there is to say about church life. Indeed, in many ways, this is largely a "negative" book, given its topic, i.e. debunking traditional church practices. In particular, this book is NOT a manual for "how to do church". However, Frank Viola has written a number of other books relating to church life, such as The Untold Story of the New Testament Church and God's Ultimate Passion that sets forth his views and vision of church in positive ways. In fact, Frank has a new book in the wings that will will nicely complement this one: Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity, which is due out this August.

Secondly, the authors are not out to bash churches or to encourage you to leave your present church. I grow weary of critics leveling such baseless attacks, especially when some of them probably haven't even read the book! We are all responsible for how we respond to teaching that is presented to us, no matter who's teaching.

Thirdly, much of what the authors write here in challenging traditional church practices is not new. Indeed, on my bookshelf are dozens of books (as well as a number of academic journal articles), both popular and academic, that are saying essentially the same thing. So don't accuse the authors of trying to introduce some wild and novel ideas with regards to being and doing church.

Lastly, please read the book before giving your opinions about it. In particular, do not misrepresent what they are saying; if you have any doubts at all, contact them for clarification. They have a web page that answers some common objections, so please be sure to read that first before blogging about the book.

My own advice to readers: if you find yourself getting frustrated and angry as you read, pause and put the book down. Take a few deep breaths and ask yourself, "Why am I so worked up? What exactly am I disagreeing with?" I can understand that this book will bother many who have a vested interested in traditional church life; it's not easy when someone comes and demolishes all your sacred cows!

Of particular interest for readers of this blog are the chapters on "The Pastor" and "Tithing and Clergy Salaries", for these two unbiblical practices are often at the root of much church abuse, namely Power and Mammon. If you understand just these two concepts, you will understand why the modern church is in such a mess today. As such, these two chapters should prove especially helpful to Battered Sheep readers.

Highly recommended!