Post #61 Pagan Christianity, Part 3

Preface: I recently received a “Friend Request” on Facebook from Frank Viola, one of the authors of this book. I suppose I should step up my game now.

Chapter 2: The Church Building: Inheriting the Edifice Complex

Barna and Viola warned us. In the previous chapter, they provided us with a backdoor. This would get hard. This would not be easy to hear. But no…we wouldn’t leave. We just turned the page and continued on. So when it does hurt, we will remember: we did this to ourselves.

In this chapter, the authors critically examine Western Christianity’s obsession with the church building and the creation of other sacred things (also called sacraments). Not only has the institution of “church” corrupted our identity as believers (for we, the body of Christ, not the building, are actually the church), but our theology has been co-opted by consumerism in order to attain material goals. No longer is “the love of money a root of all kinds of evil”, now the love of money is justified by building bigger buildings, parking lots, and stage shows.

The writers point out the New Testament understanding of “church,”

Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the terms church (ekklesia), temple, or house of God used to refer to a building. To the ears of a first-century Christian, calling an ekklesia (church) a building would have been like calling your wife a condominium or your mother a skyscraper! – page 11

They continue,

Throughout the New Testament, ekklesia always refers to an assembly of people, not a place. Ekklesia, in every one of its 114 appearances in the New Testament, refers to an assembly of people. – page 12

Interestingly, the “house church movement” is not a modern (or postmodern) concept. As Barna and Viola point out, Clement of Alexandria (150-215) referred to “going to church.” However,

Clement’s reference to “going to church”…refers to a private home that the second-century Christians used for the meetings. Christians did not erect special buildings for worship until the Constantinian era in the fourth century. – page 12

They continue this train of thought,

Neither did they have a special priestly caste that was set apart to serve God. Instead, every believer recognized that he or she was a priest unto God. The early Christians also did away with sacrifices. For they understood that the true and final sacrifice (Christ) had come….
When Roman Catholicism evolved in the fourth to the sixth centuries, it absorbed many of the religious practices of both paganism and Judaism. It set up a professional priesthood. It erected sacred buildings. And it turned the Lord’s Supper into a mysterious sacrifice….
Following the path of the pagans, early Catholicism adopted the practice of burning incense and having vestal (sacred) virgins. Pages 12-13
sidenote: In the foot note to the comment on sacred virgins, the authors point out that “there are more than 1.6 million adults vowed to virginity. They are called nuns and priests.”

I will continue commenting on this chapter, but there is much to cover. So for now, I will end here. It should be noted, that I do not believe that it is neither Barna’s nor Viola’s intent to condemn or demean Catholicism, however, considering that the majority of Christianity (whether Catholic or Protestant) has its roots in that heritage it is important to understand where such practices and traditions began. Subsequently, my focus is merely to comment on their thoughts.