Pagan Christianity? - Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
by Frank Viola, George Barna
2002

Have you ever wondered why Christians do what they do for church every Sunday morning? Why do they “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do they 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. You'll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again.