by Frank Viola Author
It’s been rightly observed that if an argument cannot be refuted on its own ground, applying a blow-torch to straw man city is the only option for dismissing it, despite the fact that this technique is deceptive and intellectually dishonest.
(One pastor was fed some of these falsehoods by his leadership team along with some others I didn’t list. As a result, he didn’t read Pagan Christianity for a long time. When he finally did read the book, he told me it changed his life. A remark I’m always humbled and surprised by.)
Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (ESV).
We hope that this list helps to separate fact from fiction.
Myth #1. Barna and Viola believe that if a practice was invented by a pagan, it’s bad and shouldn’t be observed.
Truth: This statement is not only false, but it’s just plain silly. If we believed this, we wouldn’t be using computers or blogs. Barna and I argue against this idea in the beginning of Pagan Christianity, citing pile carpets, chairs, and our Western calendar as examples of things that were created by pagans, but are useful and approved today. What we are arguing in the book is that many practices that countless Christians deem to be biblical did not originate with Jesus or the apostles, but instead, with the Greco-Romans, thus they are not sacrosanct. Secondly, some of these practices contradict the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, thus they should be discarded in favor of what Jesus and the apostles actually taught (much of which is ignored today). See also page xxix in the free sample of Pagan Christianity.
Myth #2. Barna and Viola don’t believe in preaching.
Truth: We not only believe in preaching, but in both books we clearly talk about the importance of preaching, teaching, exhorting, and prophesying. In addition, George and I practice these things. However, in Pagan Christianity, we distinguish New Testament preaching, teaching, exhorting, and prophesying from the modern sermon. They are not the same.
Myth #3. Barna and Viola promote “house church” as the only correct model for church.
Truth: We do not. I’ve stated numerous times in my other books, audios, and my blog, that I’m not an advocate of house church. Instead, I advocate the “organic expression of the church,” which is the church we find in the New Testament. In Pagan Christianity, Barna and I actually state that house church and organic church are not the same. Reimagining Church does the same.