Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, and choirs? This ground-breaking book, now in affordable softcover, makes an unsettling proposal: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is rooted, not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of modern Christian church practices. In the process, the authors uncover the problems that emerge when the church functions more like a business organization than the living organism it was created to be. As you reconsider Christ's revolutionary plan for his church—to be the head of a fully functioning body in which all believers play an active role—you'll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again.
Originally written as a polemic designed to encourage Protestants to return to the original Jewish origins and rules of the Bible, this work provides a thorough and complete overview of how paganism was absorbed into the Christian religion. Starting with an overview of how the scriptural texts were interpreted by pagan Gnostics to reflect their value systems and culture, the author then shows that anti-Semitism caused the first non-Jewish converts to the new religion to reject many of the original rules of Christianity. Next, he shows how most of the outer forms of what became familiar church rites were taken over almost without change from earlier pre-Christian religions and institutions. Included in these pagan-origin rites incorporated into Christianity are the more famous rituals of Easter and Christmas-but a host of others which will astonish the reader-including the sign of the Cross itself, perhaps one of the most used symbols of Christianity; most baptism rituals-including child-naming ceremonies; Sunday observance; the "mother and child" symbolism of Mary and Jesus; the universally-used "Chi-ro" symbol; the use of candles in churches; the structure and prayer rituals of church services of all denominations, and much more. The author points out that although all of these pagan influences entered Christianity through the Roman Catholic Church, most were taken over into Protestantism as well. About the author: Abram Herbert Lewis (1832-1908) was born in Scott, Cortland, New York, and served as Professor of Church History at the Theological Department at Alfred University in his home state. An avowed Seventh Day Baptist, he produced 11 books, 25 pamphlets and tracts, and was editor of 5 periodicals, all dealing with the history of Christianity.
Traditionalist Christians who oppose same-sex marriage and other cultural developments in the United States wonder why they are being forced to bracket their beliefs in order to participate in public life. This situation is not new, says Steven D. Smith: Christians two thousand years ago faced very similar challenges. Picking up poet T. S. Eliot’s World War II–era thesis that the future of the West would be determined by a contest between Christianity and “modern paganism,” Smith argues in this book that today’s culture wars can be seen as a reprise of the basic antagonism that pitted pagans against Christians in the Roman Empire. Smith’s Pagans and Christians in the City looks at that historical conflict and explores how the same competing ideas continue to clash today. All of us, Smith shows, have much to learn by observing how patterns from ancient history are reemerging in today’s most controversial issues.
Deception, witchcraft, and occult practices reign worldwide—and these evils have even infiltrated the Christian church! So, fasten your seatbelt as you read the most provocative book of our time, in which you will learn to recognize: Ministers who use intimidation and fear Controlling power in families Spiritual discernment and its many uses Manipulative media techniques Distractions coming from Satan It's time to take a stand and engage in spiritual warfare. Bishop Bloomer shows how to prevent others from unfairly taking advantage of you.