In reading Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna, I have found the background for what has been brewing in me for the past couple of years. As I have mentioned before I left the formal Sunday morning expression of my faith a little over a year ago hoping to find for a more informal and organic expression. Pagan Christianity exposes the contradictory nature of what the church has become from what the early church was. Although some may find the book very disturbing, perhaps even heretical, I found if comforting and informative.The book is set up so that each chapter takes a component of the church and traces it through history. They cover topics including; the use of church buildings, the role of the pastor, tithing, and communion to name a few. Most topics have a similar trajectory in that somewhere between 200 & 400 they begin to take different meanings and expressions from the early church practices. (Consequently, for those who know their history know that this coincides with the rule of Constantine over the Roman Empire.)
What most surprised me was the subtle comments made by Frank Viola about his church expression. As he explains in the book he left the Institutional church several years ago and has been worshiping in an organic church ever sense. Throughout the book he provided glimpses of what his church looks like leaving me with a desire to experience the same.
My only negative comment is that the book can be a little dry at points but over all is a good read not only for what he exposes but for what could be experienced if we are willing to to give up our religion and join in the story of Jesus and his early followers.
2 comments:
Brian,
Interestingly, we are running a series on Pagan Christianity? at our blog. Please, feel free to comment and share your story there. I've set up a link to this entry and I look forward to reading more of My Mystic Self.
Thanks.
I've read "Pagan" also and thought it was insightful and right on target. It is controversial, but sometimes it's necessary to shake things up a bit when the Body of Christ has veered off course. (Think Martin Luther).
I would recommend following "Pagan" up with Viola's new sequel, "Reimagining Church". It picks up where “Pagan Christianity” left off and continues the conversation. (“Pagan Christianity” was never meant to be a stand alone book; it’s part one of the conversation.) “Reimagining Church” is endorsed by Leonard Sweet, Shane Claiborne, Alan Hirsch, and many others. You can read a sample chapter at http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org. It’s also available on Amazon.com. Frank is also blogging now at http://frankviola.wordpress.com/ .
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