New Book called Pagan Christianity?

[cardw]

There is a new book being published by a major Christian publisher called Pagan Christianity?

Here is a review

I Can't Believe This Book is Getting Published

[carolaa]

Wow, that sounds like a really interesting book! I think they are right about many things, and I see a few that I might have to take issue with, but it's all stuff we ought to think about.

[Liz]

I agree, I think I will be reading it.

[Amelia]

Quote:

-- The "church building" concept is foreign to Jesus's idea of what the church is for. It has "stalemated the functioning of God's people since the 4th century," and "There does not exist a shred of biblical support for the church building." And -- oh yeah -- buildings cost American churches $50-60 billion annually. There's that.

Maybe not a "church" building but what about the Jewish temples? Jesus did not reject them in fact he activly participated in the activities of the temple. Then as the apostles went out to preach the people gathered where they could because there was no "formal" gathering place for the followers of Jesus. Oh, and what about this quote from Jesus:

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Mt 16:18 Of course the bible is silent on just how Jesus' church was to be.

Quote:

-- Pulpits, altars, clergy vestments (shoot: clergy, for that matter), nuns, stages, sermons, performance-oriented worship, "sacred relics", buildings named after saints, and such are borrowed from pagan traditions, not from the church of the New Testament.

Jesus spoke many sermons. All the apostles were ordained by Jesus. And Jesus is our High Priest. see Hebrews 5:1-9. That Jesus was always the focus/center of attention could be likened to a pulpit. Church garb by Christians could have morphed from the outfits the priests of the Jewish temple were required to wear. After all, it was something they were use to seeing (the Jewish followers at least). I don't recall the bible speaking to anything constructive about the new testiment church, so it's all speculative.

Quote:

-- Making preaching the center of church gatherings has no biblical precedent. Christianity "still has not recovered" from John Calvin's insistence on leading worship services, himself, from a stage. Luther and Calvin believed each believer had access to God, not through the Eucharist, but through "the preached Word" -- something the writers say is not a biblical idea.

Again I think Jesus defined this with His own actions. People gathered and He spoke. Or He spoke and the people gathered. I concede all the other falderall.

Quote:

-- "Tithing and Clergy: Sore Spots on the Wallet" is a fun follow-up chapter. They don't see a biblical basis for tithing to an instutional church, or "tithing" at all, for the Christian.

Hummmm there is tithe in the OT yet the NT doesn't speak to it. How does that make it non-biblical?

Quote:

-- Most modern church-people misunderstand how to read the Bible. They impart qualities to it that aren't biblical. They don't pay attention to context, and miss the point, and widely apply particular verses that were written for specific situations in a specific context.

Well DUH

Quote:

It's footnoted out the wazoo, but it's readable for high-schoolers. It's written to be accessible, which means, instead of saying it's "painstakingly documented", I can say it's "footnoted out the wazoo." Of course, this doesn't make it true, but some people care about quoting other people.

I love the term "out the wazoo". teehe

Quote:

(By the way: Before reacting to my bullet-point summaries, read the book. They make arguments I don't have space to repeat here.)

Too late. Hahaha this should have been up front.

Quote:

The church Jesus envisioned was never about sacred buildings, sacred relics, sacred preaching, special clergy, spectator events, great orations, musical stars, non-stop knowledge accrual, and theological sophistication. The church is a people, called out for God's purposes, mystically bound together by Christ, and led by Christ.

I say a BIG AMEN to this. (not so much the mystical part though)

I think I will be reading this when I can get my hands on it.