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!
Note: For a more detailed review please see: http://radicalreversal.org/weblog/?p=374
