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  • Pagan Christianity

  • Written by: Frank Viola
  • Narrated by: Lloyd James
  • Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (20 ratings)

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Pagan Christianity

Written by: Frank Viola
Narrated by: Lloyd James
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Publisher's Summary

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 do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles.

Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices. Many Christians take for granted that their churchs 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 Christs indwelling in ways that rocked the first-century world.Times have changed.

Pagan Christianity leads us on a fascinating tour through church history, revealing this startling and unsettling truth: Many cherished church traditions embraced today originated not out of the New Testament, but out of pagan practices. One of the most troubling outcomes has been the effect on average believers: turning them from living expressions of Christs glory and power to passive observers. If you want to see that trend reversed, turn to Pagan Christianity...a book that examines and challenges every aspect of our contemporary church experience.

©2008 Frank Viola and George Barna (P)2008 christianaudio.com

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The practice of paganism

This book is well researched and structured. While It doesn’t deal with the pagan beliefs that have corrupted the churches of Christianity. That would need to be an entire book on it’s own.
It does expertly detail their practices, rituals, arrangements and inner workings that have been adopted from paganism.
The first and greatest commandment, you must love the true God above all else. Paganism is all about false gods. Open your eyes and see.

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  • Overall
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what a bizarre story

I wanted to know what elements of the various streams of Christianity came from the Greco-Roman world, as the title would suggest. However, it spent more time talking about similarities between Catholicism and Protestantism and contrasting those traditions with what the author believes is the true form of Christianity. One he finds in the letters of Paul. I'm not going to speak at length on the Herodian / Flavian connections and the convenient "conversion" of Paul, but I will say that the tradition was corrupted earlier than the author believes. Since there is no connection between the failed Jewish messiah named Jesus and the title anointed one in Greek, how is Christ supposed to lead a church meeting without anyone presiding over the congregation? I personally connect more with ritual, than I ever will with song and testimony. Although, I think bringing back the Agape would be a beautiful bonding opportunity going forward.

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