I finished reading Pagan Christianity today and I mourn for what this book could have been.

The basic argument of the book is that most of what the church does today was borrowed from paganism. Things like buildings, the order of worship, the sermon, the pastor, tithing and clergy salaries, baptism and the Lord’s Supper all have their roots in pagan religious practices. Therefore, the authors strongly suggest that such things should be done away with, and we should all become house churches.

Though they don’t say it, I imagine the authors are against Christmas and Easter as well, since both of these holidays are steeped in pagan cultic worship practices.

What people who argue this way don’t seem to understand is that everything about Christianity is rooted somewhere/somehow in paganism. For example, did you know that the Genesis creation account is nearly identical in form and language to Egyptian creation myths which predate Moses? Moses almost plagiarized Egyptian creation myths, and changed the names from Egyptians gods to the Israelite God. So if Viola and Barna have their way, we better toss out Genesis. Oh, and Deuteronomy as well, since it is based on a the pagan Suzerain-Vassal treaty system of that day.

Furthermore, most of the Psalms are similar in style and language to pagan songs sung to pagan deities. Solomon “borrowed” many of his proverbs from other pagan kings. So rip Psalms and Proverbs out of your Bible too.

How about the Gospels? Have you ever wondered why there are four? One reason is that in the First Century, “Gospel accounts” was a popular genre of religious literature designed to celebrate the birth of a new Roman emperor. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are borrowing a pagan practice of writing “gospels” about the emperor, and use it to write about Jesus. So, down with the Gospels!

While we’re at it, we might as well just chuck out the whole Bible. Writing, after all, is a pagan invention, and if you’ve ever opened a Bible, you may be shocked to find that it is filled with writing! Oh, the horror.

And someone better come knock me off too. After all, I was once a pagan, and in many ways (as you can tell from this post), I still live and operate like one.

The bottom line is that Viola and Barna, though their research is excellent, have come to the absolute wrong conclusions. Yes, it is true, most of what we call “Christianity” today has it’s roots in paganism. But that doesn’t mean we jettison it! Instead, we celebrate it. Why? Because that’s what Christianity is all about: Redemption.

Christianity is about taking what is in the world (the kingdom of darkness) and redeeming it through Jesus Christ, bringing it into the kingdom of light. I mean, look at most of the things Viola and Barna talk about in their book, and most of the things I mentioned above. Almost nobody knows or remembers that these things were originally pagan. Instead, almost everybody, even people who are not Christians, equate such things with Christianity. Why? Redemption!

The truth is that rather than looking at what “pagans” are doing around us and running the other direction screaming “Run for your lives!” we should be watching, learning, and asking “How can Christ redeem that?” Personally, I believe that nothing and nobody is beyond redemption. We may need to get creative, and we will need to dump some of the sinful elements, but everything and everybody can be redeemed.

That’s what Pagan Christianity should have been about. They should have celebrated what changes have occurred over time; not criticized them. Sure, some (even most) of the things Viola and Barna criticize have become outdated, ineffective, wasteful, and maybe even sinful. But if so, then that is why we should stop using them, not because “they were once pagan.”

After reading this book, I have half a mind to go out and find the most pagan thing I can, just to see if I can redeem it and adopt it into my church. Any suggestions?