Something to talk about

I have been reading Pagan Christianity? The book was co-authored by Frank Viola and George Barna.

Being a card-carrying member of the Church of Christ, I was struck by the driving impetus of this book. The authors decry the present-day state of Christianity because of having “...added a raft of humanly devised traditions that have suppressed the living, breathing, functional headship of Jesus Christ in his Church.” Furthermore, they state, “...the great bulk of first-century practices have been removed from the Christian landscape.” I thought to myself- these guys sound like Stone-Campbellites! They elaborate, “...in the New Testament we have the genesis of the church.” And finally, this bold statement, “I believe the first-century church was the church in its purest form, before it was tainted and corrupted.”

Statements and sentiments like this are common place for those of us having been raised in the heritage of Churches of Christ. For, as our own Richard T. Hughes has put it, “Churches of Christ have been dedicated since their inception to the restoration of primitive Christianity, that is, to a replication of the beliefs and practices of the church of the apostolic age.”

So there is nothing new (at least for us) about striving for an authentic “New Testament” Christianity. However, it must be noted that a cursory knowledge of Christian history informs us that Churches of Christ have no monopoly on restorationism. I suppose the vast majority of Christian denominations claim to be, in some respect or another, an authentic expression of apostolic Christianity. The major exceptions being those who prize the continuity of tradition, upholding Tradition as a source of authority (e.g. Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican). And in that sense, they, too, believe to be the authentic expression of apostolic Christianity.

Nevertheless, I have enjoyed reading (and considering) the thrust of this little book. Viola and Barna search out the origins of many aspects and practices of contemporary Christianity. They address such things as church buildings, preachers, sermons, choirs, dressing-up, bible school, and more. More often than not, they find the origin of these commonplace aspects and practices in Greco-Roman culture. The recognition that much of our contemporary expression of Christianity was assimilated from ancient Greco-Roman culture explains the title, Pagan Christianity?

I recommend this book. It is easy to read, not requiring any more than the most basic background in church history. I would also like to discuss a few of the topics on this blog. That is, if there is an interest. If you are interested, leave a comment or let me know in some other way.