Pagan Christianity

Pagan Christianity? is provocative and eye-opening, especially for readers who have never questioned why their church does things a certain way. Its value lies in exposing how much of church tradition is cultural rather than biblical, and in pushing believers toward more authentic community. At the same time, its negativity and sweeping generalizations mean it works best as a conversation starter rather than a final word. We use Viola and Barna’s book to push disciples towards Kingdom Mindedness away from flairs, fads, and traditions. We push disciples to think about why we do what we do as we gather together and the impact of practices that do not reflect God’s heart and teaching for the body of Christ. But, equally important, we use this controversial text to increase disciples’ critical thinking skills and discernment of poor argumentation.

We have found this book useful for individuals to evaluate their own faith practices taking the broad sense of the world’s influence on “church” and asking, “How is the secular world impacting or altering your faith and God’s directions?” These times where liberal theology and woke thought are heavily influencing the church and younger Christians make this book even more important. Being a disciple is about following God, adjusting ourselves to God — doing it His way. We use our open review plan with two specific focuses (you can find that at the bottom of this guide-a must read) to guide the group.

This “How We Use It” guide is the lengthiest of all our companion reading guides. It is critical that the leader is equipped to guide the disciples to Biblical conclusions and, with the use of the Socratic method, ask questions to individuals, following individual’s highlights to increase their ability to think critically. Year Three disciples are ready for this, need this, and can handle this challenging work. It will help them rethink church but more importantly improve their “thinking” as they live in a world full of challenges and claims. With that said, we have our leaders do a bit of prep work before guiding the reading and review of this book recommending resources like,

• John Oakes’ review of the book, provides a positive and objective critical review of some of the benefits and dangers of the text. You can find it here.
  John writes, “When I first read Pagan Christianity, my initial reaction was to appreciate its call to primitive, Biblical Christianity and its challenge for Christians to radically turn away from worldly influences which have so thoroughly infiltrated the church.  However, as I read farther my appreciation of the call to return to the basics of Christian living was changed to disappointment.  I felt I was being manipulated.  Let me explain why I felt, and to some extent still feel, this way. The thesis of Pagan Christianity is based on a false premise.  Its authors create a false dilemma.  They rely on straw-man arguments, which do a disservice to their purposes.  The premise of Viola and Barna is that any or virtually any practice which we know was part of what was done in the primitive church, under the influence of the apostles, is binding on Christians today.  Any innovations to primitive Christianity which occurred in the subsequent centuries as the church evolved into Roman Catholicism are, by definition, pagan, wrong, sinful or at the very least unspiritual. Having said quite a bit that is negative about the book Pagan Christianity, my overall analysis of the book is that it deserves a read.  Even if we do not accept the premise of the book, the authors will challenge in a healthy way many of the assumptions we have about how to do church together.”
• Brandon Collins’ personal response (he says not a review but how it affected him) that takes a look at the big picture of the book. You can find it here.
  Brandon writes, “If you were to delete everything that is currently done by most churches (programs and traditions, things like a 1 hour worship service once per week, Sunday School, prayer meeting, singing songs, a 30 minute sermon, youth group, etc.) and then rebuild it to accomplish what the Bible says it should be accomplishing, how different would it look?
  • What is the point of Sunday School? Evangelism? Teaching? Relational discipleship? Whatever your answer, the follow-up question needs to be: How well is it accomplishing that purpose?
  • What is the point of a Prayer Meeting? Why do we have a meeting just for praying, but we don’t have meetings just for praising? Are either of those the best use of our time while meeting together?
  • Why do we sit in a building filled with pews with a pulpit in the front? Why not sit at round tables where people can connect and grow together?
  • Why do our services follow the same pattern week after week? Why not completely rewrite the order of service every other month?
  • Why do sermons have to be 30 or 40 minutes of one person talking and zero minutes of everyone else talking? Why can’t a sermon be 20 minutes of one person talking intermixed with two 10 minute periods of people discussing what is being said? Why can’t a sermon have a dramatic monologue or a personal testimony from someone else in the middle to demonstrate a point?
  • What if the sermon came toward the beginning of the service and praise came toward the end after people had spent time being exposed to who God is?
  • Does the idea of official church membership come from scripture or is it just a good idea?

  Here’s my point: people aren’t asking these kinds of questions in most churches. Part of the problem is that it’s easier to do what we’ve always done. Part of the problem is that it’s just hard to think differently about certain things.”

• James Patrick Holding’s chapter-by-chapter critical (almost as biased as Viola/Barna) evaluation of the book. You can find it here.

Our team is very cognizant of the dangers of the book at it runs from what it sees as the extreme of secularism in the church to wildly grass roots unskilled leadership asking great questions that should be asked while not doing the best job making a solid argument for their conclusions at times. We have found this summary of the positives and negatives helpful as we guide disciples to think critically about the text.

1. The Good / Strengths
   Challenges Assumptions About Church Practices
   The book asks hard questions about traditions most Christians take for granted (e.g., Sunday services, sermons, pulpits, buildings, clergy/laity divides).
   It forces readers to consider whether certain customs are Biblically grounded or simply inherited from culture and history.
   Historical Research
   Viola and Barna trace the roots of many church practices back to Greco-Roman, pagan, or medieval influences.
   This historical sweep helps readers see that not everything in church life comes straight from the New Testament.
   Call to Authentic Christian Community
   The authors emphasize relational, Spirit-led gatherings modeled after the early church.
   They remind readers that Christianity is meant to be about shared life in Christ, not just rituals or structures.
   Provokes Dialogue
   Even for those who disagree, the book gets people talking seriously about what church is, why it exists, and how it could be more faithful to Jesus’ example.
2. The Bad / Weaknesses
   Overly Negative Tone
   Critics argue the book sometimes paints institutional church practices as entirely corrupt without acknowledging their potential benefits.
   This tone can alienate pastors and church leaders who might otherwise be open to reform.
   Selective Use of History
   While the research is stimulating, some historians note that the book oversimplifies or overstates the “pagan” origins of certain practices.
   Not all historical connections are as direct or damning as the authors suggest.
   Lack of Practical Alternatives
   The book deconstructs traditional church life but offers little concrete guidance on how to rebuild something healthier.
   Readers can be left with a sense of “tearing down” without a clear blueprint for moving forward.
   Generalizations About “the Church”
   The book tends to lump all churches together, ignoring the diversity among congregations and traditions.
   Many churches already practice forms of community, participation, and simplicity that the authors call for.

Here is our reading plan with some sample discussion starters if needed,

Week 1 : Rethinking Church Origins : Introduction + Chapters 1–3
Main Ideas:
The book’s core claim: much of what modern churches do is not rooted in the New Testament but in later history.
How church buildings and structured worship developed from Greco-Roman and medieval patterns rather than apostolic practice.
Discussion Questions:
What assumptions about “church” have you always taken for granted?
What might be the strengths of structured services and dedicated buildings?
How can we discern what is cultural versus Biblical without becoming overly critical?

Week 2 : Leadership and Practices : Chapters 4–7
Main Ideas:
Critiques of the clergy/laity divide, pulpit-centered preaching, and professionalized ministry roles.
The argument that these roles often suppress participation and Spirit-led community.
Discussion Questions:
What is valuable about sermons and pastoral leadership as we know them?
Where do you see room for more shared participation in your own church setting?
Is the authors’ critique fair, or do they overstate the “pagan” roots of these practices?

Week 3 : Money, Sacraments, and Moving Forward : Chapters 8–Conclusion
Main Ideas:
Examination of financial practices, ritual sacraments, and education programs in light of history and Scripture.
The book ends by calling for a radical rethinking of church around relational, Spirit-led community.
Discussion Questions:
How do we balance historical traditions (like sacraments) with Biblical simplicity?
What role should money and resources play in church life?
After reading this book, what should change about how we “do church”? What should stay the same?

Our open review plan is simple. We actually let the room speak and talk as a room for the first time in two and a half years! Why? As you move closer to the end of Year Three, you should be focused on preparing the disciples to leave the process of discipleship and move to the daily practice of discipleship. You are preparing for release and moving the relationship from a leader to a peer relationship slowly over time. The open review plan works best for this read. However, we have two specific focuses as we ask, “So what did you guys think about this week’s reading?”

1. Biblical Defensibility
   Everything about Sustainable Discipleship is based on scripture always asking, “What does the Bible say about this?” We constantly ask disciples to defend/deny the authors statements based on the truths, topics, and text of God’s Word. In this review, we are prone to ask, again and again, “This is a good challenge but are the conclusions Biblical?”
2. Principle not Practice
   We focus and refocus disciples on evaluating the principles asserted by the authors not the specific practices and we are looking for those principles to come solely from the Bible. For example, “Does the Bible prescribe that the gathering in Acts 2 is the model for all churches in all times?” In other words, is the text a historical record or is it prescriptive? In this case, we would focus on the principles: we are called to gather (Hebrews 11), we are called to worship, we are called to prayer, we are called to be generous. These are all valid Biblical principles but how they get done is not prescribed in the Bible. Another example would be to address the authors’ view that preaching as we know it is unbiblical when it is clear in the Bible that preaching and lead teachers existed. Every believer is a saint and equal but God has placed elders who help the younger mature spiritually as exhibited in the Great Commission.