pagan_christianity_fviola_2008_summary.html

Viola, Frank and George Barna. PaganChristianity: Exploring the roots of our church practices.
Tyndale, 2008. xxxiii+291 pp. ISBN-10 1-4143-1485-X.  ISBN-13 978-1-4143-1485-X.

 

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SUMMARY OF ORIGINS

 

“Whathistory teaches us is that men have never learned anything from it.” —G. W. F. HEGEL, NINETEENTH-CENTURY GERMAN PHILOSOPHER

 

The following summary is neither complete nordetailed. Note that all of the practices covered are post-biblical,post-apostolic, and mostly influenced by pagan culture.

 

CHAPTER 2:THE CHURCH BUILDING

 

The Church Building — Firstconstructed under Constantine around AD 327. The earliest church buildings werepatterned after the Roman basilicas, which were modeled after Greek temples.

The Sacred Space — Christians borrowedthis idea from the pagans in the second and third centuries. The burial placesof the martyrs were regarded as “sacred.” In the fourth century,church buildings were erected on these burial places, thus creating”sacred” buildings.

The Pastor’sChair Derived from the cathedra, which was the bishop’s chair or throne. Thischair replaced the seat of the judge in the Roman basilica.

Tax-Exempt Status for Churches and ChristianClergy — Emperor Constantine gave churches tax-exempt status in AD 323.He made clergy exempt from paying taxes in AD 313, a privilege that paganpriests enjoyed.

Stained-Glass Windows — Firstintroduced by Gregory of Tours and brought to perfection by Suger (1081-1151),abbot of St. Denis.

Gothic Cathedrals —Twelfth century. These edifices were built according to the pagan philosophy ofPlato.

The Steeple — Rooted in ancientBabylonian and Egyptian architecture and philosophy, the steeple was a medievalinvention that was popularized and modernized by Sir Christopher Wren in Londonaround 1666.

The Pulpit — Used in the Christian churchas early as AD 250. It came from the Greek ambo, which was a pulpit used byboth Greeks and Jews for delivering monologues.

 

CHAPTER 3: THE ORDER OF WORSHIP

 

The Sunday Morning Order of Worship —Evolved from Gregory’s Mass in the sixth century and the revisions made byLuther, Calvin, the Puritans, the Free Church tradition, the Methodists, theFrontier-Revivalists, and the Pentecostals.

The Pew — Evolved from the thirteenththrough the eighteenth centuries in England.

The Centrality ofthe Pulpit in the Order of Worship —Martin Luther in 152 3.

Two CandlesPlaced on Top of the “Communion Table” and IncenseBurning  —Candles were used in the ceremonial court of Roman emperors in the fourthcentury. The Communion table was introduced by Ulrich Zwingli in the sixteenthcentury.

Taking the Lord’s Supper Quarterly —Ulrich Zwingli in the sixteenth century.

The Congregation Standing and Singing When theClergy Enters — Borrowed from the ceremonial court of Romanemperors in the fourth century. Brought into the Protestant liturgy by JohnCalvin.

Coming to Church with a Somber/Reverent Attitude — Basedon the medieval view of piety. Brought into the Protestant service by JohnCalvin and Martin Bucer.

Condemnation and Guilt over Missing a SundayService — Seventeenth-century New England Puritans.

The Long “Pastoral Prayer” Preceding theSermon — Seventeenth-century Puritans.

The Pastoral Prayer Uttered in Elizabethan English —Eighteenth-century Methodists.

The Goal of All Preaching to Win Individual Souls — Eighteenth-century Frontier Revivalists.

The AltarCall — Instituted byseventeenth-century Methodists andpopularized by Charles Finney.

The Church Bulletin (written liturgy) —Originated in 1884 with Albert Blake Dick’s stencil duplicating machine.

The “Solo”Salvation Hymn, Door-to-DoorWitnessing, and Evangelistic Advertising Campaigning — D. L.Moody.

The Decision Card —Invented by Absalom B. Earle (1812-1895) and popularized by

Bowing Headswith Eyes Closed and Raising the Hand in Response to a Salvation Message — BillyGraham in the twentieth century.

“TheEvangelization of the World in One Generation” Slogan — JohnMott around 1888.

Solo orChoral Music Playedduring the Offering — Twentieth-century Pentecostals.

 

CHAPTER 4:THE SERMON

 

The Contemporary Sermon —Borrowed from the Greek sophists, who were masters at oratory and rhetoric.John Chrysostom and Augustine popularized the Greco-Roman homily (sermon) andmade it a central part of the Christian faith.

The One-Hour Sermon, Sermon Crib Notes, and theFour-Part Sermon Outline — Seventeenth-century Puritans.

 

CHAPTER 5:THE PASTOR

 

The Single Bishop (predecessor of the contemporary pastor} — Ignatius of.Antioch in early second century. Ignatius’s model of one-bishop rule did notprevail in the churches until the third century.

The “Covering” Doctrine —Cyprian of Carthave, a former payan orator. Revived under Juan Carlos Ortizfrom Argentina and the “Fort Lauderdale Five” from the United States,creating the so-called “Shepherding-Discipleship Movement” in the1970s.

Hierarchical Leadership  — Brought into the church byConstantine in the fourth century. This was the leadership style of theBabylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

Clergy and Laity — Theword laity first appears in the writings of Clement of Rome (d. 100). Clergyfirst appears in Tertullian. By the third century, Christian leaders wereuniversally called clergy.

Contemporary Ordination —Evolved from the second century to the fourth. It was taken from the Romancustom of appointing men to civil office. The idea of the ordained minister asthe “holy man of God” can be traced to Augustine, Gregory of NazianzusandChrysostom.

The Title “Pastor” — Catholicpriests who became Protestant ministers were not universally called pastorsuntil the eighteenth century under the influence of Lutheran Pietists.

 

CHAPTER 6:SUNDAY MORNING COSTUMES

 

Christians Wearing Their “Sunday Best”for Church — Began in the late-eighteenth century with theIndustrial Revolution and became widespread in the mid-nineteenth century. Thepractice is rooted in the emerging middle-class effort to become like theirwealthy aristocrat contemporaries.

Clergy Attire — Began in AD 330 whenChristian clergy started wearing the garb of Roman officials. By the twelfthcentury, the clergy began wearing everyday street clothes that distinguishedthem from the people.

The Evangelical Pastor’s Suit  —  A descendant of the blackscholar’s gown worn by Reformation ministers, the black lounge suit of thetwentieth century became the typical costume of the contemporary pastor.

The Clerical (Backwards) Collar —Invented by Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod of Glasgow in 1865.

 

CHAPTER 7:MINISTERS OF MUSIC

 

The Choir  — Provoked byConstantine’s desire to mimic the professional music used in Roman imperialceremonies. In the fourth century, the Christians borrowed the choir idea fromthe choirs used in Greek dramas and Greek temples.

The Boys Choir  — Began in the fourth century, borrowed from the boyschoirs used by the pagans.

Funeral Processions and Orations —Borrowed from Greco-Roman paganism in the third century.

The Worship Team — Calvary Chapel in1965, patterned after the secular rock concert.

 

CHAPTER 8:TITHING AND CLERGY SALARIES

 

Tithing — Did not become a widespreadChristian practice until the eighth century. The tithe was taken from the 10percent rent charge used in the Roman Empire and later justified using the OldTestament.

Clergy Salaries — Instituted byConstantine in the fourth century.

The Collection Plate — Thealms dish appeared in the fourteenth century: Passing a collection plate beganin 1662.

The Usher — Began with Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603). The predecessorof the usher is the church porter, a position that can be traced back to thethird century.

 

CHAPTER 9:BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

 

Infant Baptism  — Rooted in the superstitious beliefs that pervadedthe Greco-Roman culture, it was brought into the Christian faith in the late secondcentury. By the fifth century, it replaced adult baptism.

SprinklingReplacing Immersion — Began in the late Middle Ages in the Westernchurches.

Baptism Separated from Conversion — Beganin the early second century as a result of the legalistic view that baptism wasthe only medium for the forgiveness of sins.

The “Sinner’s Prayer” —Originated with D. L. Moody and made popular in the 1950s through BillyGraham’s Peace with God tract andlater with Campus Crusade for Christ’s FourSpiritual Laws.

Use of the Term”Personal Savior” — Spawned in the mid-1800s by theFrontier-Revivalist influence and popularized by Charles Fuller (1887-1968).

TheLord’s Supper Condensed from a Full “Agape”Meal to Only theCup and the Bread  —  The late second century as a result of pagan ritualinfluences.

 

CHAPTER 10:CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

 

The Catholic Seminary — Thefirst seminary began as a result of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Thecurriculum was based on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, which was a blendingof Aristotle’s philosophy, Neoplatonic philosophy, and Christian doctrine.

The Protestant Seminary — Beganin Andover, Massachusetts, in 1808. Its curriculum, too, was built on theteachings of Thomas Aquinas.

The Bible College —Influenced by the revivalism of D. L. Moody, the first two Bible colleges werethe Missionary Training Institute (Nyack College, New York) in 1882 and MoodyBible Institute (Chicago) in 1886.

The Sunday School —Created by Robert Raikes from Britain in 1780. Raikes did not found the Sundayschool for the purpose of religious instruction. He founded it to teach poorchildren the basics of education.

The Youth Pastor  — Developed in urban churches inthe late 1930s and 1940s as a result of seeking to meet the needs of a newsociological class called “teenagers.”

 

CHAPTER 11:REAPPROACHING THE NEW TESTAMENT

 

Paul’s Letters Combined into a Canon and Arrangedaccording to Descending Length Early secondcentury.

Chapter Numbers Placed in the New Testament —University of Paris professor Stephen Langton in 1227.

Verses Added to New Testament Chapters —Printer Robert Stephanus in 1551.

 

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