Books that I read this past year that I recommend:
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas: An outstanding work on the German pastor and theologian who stood up to Hitler and paid with his life. Metaxas shows Bonhoeffer's deep faith in Jesus and the Bible and how, trying to save the Jews in Nazi Germany, he put his faith into action.
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent: Burpo's four-year-old son Colby, during a near-death experience, is shown heaven, later describing what he saw to his family in a way only a child could relate details. A book that is sure to encourage your faith.
The Shack by William P. Young: A novel about a man who endures a gruesome tragedy in his family, who is invited by God to revisit the place of his daughter's apparent murder. The meeting transforms the man's life--and will transform your thinking about God's overwhelming love and grace.
Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna: Notwithstanding Viola's simplistic "solutions" to returning to true early church worship, and fuzziness about a few historic facts, this book is still an eye-opener about common church practices that are accepted as "Christian"--but which are not rooted in the New Testament at all. A clarion call for discerning what church practices and teachings are mere adaptations from non-Christian culture.
Showing posts with label Pagan Christianity?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pagan Christianity?. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Adventures in Reading ... "Pagan Christianity" by Viola and Barna (more thoughts)
A note to Brothers Viola and Barna, on returning to a "first century organic church":
So when do we turn in our Bibles?
The New Testament tells us that Paul's letters were read aloud in the church meetings (for example, 1 Timothy 4:13). As you surely know, it was very difficult for individual believers in those times to possess any type of manuscripts (for starters, paper manufacturing would not be imported from China until centuries later). Even when paper and movable printing became available to print books, Bibles had to be chained to the front of English sanctuaries in the 1500s (even then, a problem arose when believers, overjoyed at having a Bible to read, would read them aloud during the church services!).
So if you REALLY want to go back to the "organic" church, you should only have ONE PERSON reading out of the ONE Bible available in those meetings.
A side note: underground churches around the world may only get a page or two at a time of God's precious Word to read. Guess they are not reading the NT "panoramically" enough?
So when do we turn in our Bibles?
The New Testament tells us that Paul's letters were read aloud in the church meetings (for example, 1 Timothy 4:13). As you surely know, it was very difficult for individual believers in those times to possess any type of manuscripts (for starters, paper manufacturing would not be imported from China until centuries later). Even when paper and movable printing became available to print books, Bibles had to be chained to the front of English sanctuaries in the 1500s (even then, a problem arose when believers, overjoyed at having a Bible to read, would read them aloud during the church services!).
So if you REALLY want to go back to the "organic" church, you should only have ONE PERSON reading out of the ONE Bible available in those meetings.
A side note: underground churches around the world may only get a page or two at a time of God's precious Word to read. Guess they are not reading the NT "panoramically" enough?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Adventures in Reading ... "Pagan Christianity" by Viola and Barna
My initial thoughts about a book I recently read, Pagan Christianity? By Frank Viola and George Barna:
On the whole, I found the book well researched, about the origin of practices adopted by Christian churches from the “pagan” (non-New Testament) culture. During the reading, I found myself saying, “Okay, I knew that,” “Er, I sort of suspected that,” or “Yeeks!”
During most of the reading, I found the book challenging, And it raises questions about how much we rely on unquestioned traditions instead of pure New Testament teachings.
Then I got to the first of Viola’s “solutions”: Christians need to read the New Testament, and especially Paul’s letters, “panoramically,” instead of “proof-texting”. This is where Viola lost me.
In one major chapter, he showed how pagan academia infiltrated the churches, turning the Christian faith for millions from a living relationship with Jesus to a mere scholarly pursuit of knowledge.
So his solution to ending this and other “manmade” traditions, in pursuing an “organic” living church: get a “panoramic” reading of the NT, studying the NT books in chronological order and with understanding their background—by relying on that same “scholarship” that he claims has been wrecking Christianity!
Viola also gives a “black or white” view of studying scriptures, juxtaposing the panoramic approach against a variety of other methods he broad-brushes as “proof-texting.” You may be surprised that studying about one topic—carefully making sure that the verses or sections being studied are in their proper context—is proof-texting still, as bad as opening up a page of the Bible and blindly pointing to a verse.
Please don’t get me wrong—we DO need to understand that the NT books in many Bibles are listed according to length, and understand the historical background of the times the NT was written.
What’s disturbing about Viola's view is this question it raises: is God THAT limited in speaking to His people (through the logos He inspired), that He could only REALLY speak to us through panoramic scripture reading? If that is the case, I can only tell Brother Viola, in the words of J.B. Phillips, “You God is too small.”
On the whole, I found the book well researched, about the origin of practices adopted by Christian churches from the “pagan” (non-New Testament) culture. During the reading, I found myself saying, “Okay, I knew that,” “Er, I sort of suspected that,” or “Yeeks!”
During most of the reading, I found the book challenging, And it raises questions about how much we rely on unquestioned traditions instead of pure New Testament teachings.
Then I got to the first of Viola’s “solutions”: Christians need to read the New Testament, and especially Paul’s letters, “panoramically,” instead of “proof-texting”. This is where Viola lost me.
In one major chapter, he showed how pagan academia infiltrated the churches, turning the Christian faith for millions from a living relationship with Jesus to a mere scholarly pursuit of knowledge.
So his solution to ending this and other “manmade” traditions, in pursuing an “organic” living church: get a “panoramic” reading of the NT, studying the NT books in chronological order and with understanding their background—by relying on that same “scholarship” that he claims has been wrecking Christianity!
Viola also gives a “black or white” view of studying scriptures, juxtaposing the panoramic approach against a variety of other methods he broad-brushes as “proof-texting.” You may be surprised that studying about one topic—carefully making sure that the verses or sections being studied are in their proper context—is proof-texting still, as bad as opening up a page of the Bible and blindly pointing to a verse.
Please don’t get me wrong—we DO need to understand that the NT books in many Bibles are listed according to length, and understand the historical background of the times the NT was written.
What’s disturbing about Viola's view is this question it raises: is God THAT limited in speaking to His people (through the logos He inspired), that He could only REALLY speak to us through panoramic scripture reading? If that is the case, I can only tell Brother Viola, in the words of J.B. Phillips, “You God is too small.”
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