Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices
Frank Viola
Number of quotes: 78
Book ID: 168 Page: 39
Section: 2A2
Footnote 10 The story of the origin of the Mass is far beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say that the Mass was essentially a blending together of a resurgence of Gentile interest in synagogue worship and pagan influence that dates back to the fourth century (Frank Senn, Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997, p. 54; The Early Liturgy, pp. 123, 130-144).
Quote ID: 3521
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 39/40
Section: 3F
Gregory the Great (540-604) is the man responsible for shaping the medieval Mass. {12} Gregory was an incredibly superstitious man whose thinking was influenced by magical paganistic concepts. He embodied the medieval mind, which was a cross between heathenism, magic, and Christianity. It is no accident that Durant calls Gregory “the first completely medieval man.” {13}
Quote ID: 3522
Time Periods: 67
Book ID: 168 Page: 40
Section: 1A,2A4
He writes, “The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass.” {16}2A
Quote ID: 3523
Time Periods: 147
Book ID: 168 Page: 40
Section: 2A6
In effect, the Catholic Mass that developed out of the fourth through sixth centuries was essentially pagan. The Christians stole from the pagans the vestments of the pagan priests, the use of the incense and holy water in purification rites, the burning of candles in worship, the architecture of the Roman basilica for their church buildings, the law of Rome as the basis of “canon law,” the title Pontifex Maximus for the head bishop, and the pagan rituals for the Catholic Mass. {17}
Quote ID: 3524
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 42
Section: 2A2
So in 1523, Luther set forth his own revisions to the Catholic Mass. {25} These revisions are the foundation for all Protestant worship. {26} The heart of them is this: Luther made preaching, rather than the Eucharist, the center of the gathering. {27}Accordingly, in the modern Protestant worship service it is the pulpit, rather than the alter-table, that is the central element. {28}
Quote ID: 3525
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 43
Section: 2A5
Consequently, if you compare Luther’s order of worship with Gregory’s liturgy, it is virtually the same! {37}
Quote ID: 3526
Time Periods: 26
Book ID: 168 Page: 45
Section: 2A5,2D
At no time did Luther (or any of the other mainstream Reformers) demonstrate a desire to return to the practices of the first-century church. These men set out merely to reform the theology of the Catholic church.
Quote ID: 3527
Time Periods: 6
Book ID: 168 Page: 45
Section: 2A5,2C
Under Luther’s influence, the Protestant pastor simply replaced the Catholic priest.
Quote ID: 3528
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 48
Section: 2A4
They merely made a few adjustments to Luther’s liturgy. Most notably was the collection of money which followed the sermon. {63}
Quote ID: 3529
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 50
Section: 2A4
One further practice that the Reformers retained from the Mass was the practice of the clergy walking to their allotted seats at the beginning of the service while the people stood singing.
Quote ID: 3530
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 51
Section: 2A5
It is no wonder that the so-called “Reformation” brought very little reform in the way of church practice. {84}
Quote ID: 3531
Time Periods: 6
Book ID: 168 Page: 52/53
Section: 3A2A
The sermon reached its zenith with the American Puritans. They felt it was almost supernatural. And they punished church members who missed the Sunday morning sermon! {91} New England residents who failed to attend Sunday worship were fined or put in stocks! {91}
Quote ID: 3532
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 57/58
Section: 2A4
Third, the Methodists and the Frontier-Revivalists gave birth to the “altar call.” This novelty began with the Methodists in the 18th century. {121} The practice of inviting people who wanted prayer to stand to their feet and walk to the front to receive prayer was given to us by a Methodist evangelist named Lorenzo Dow. {122}
Quote ID: 3533
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 59
Section: 2A6
Finney believed that the NT did not teach any prescribed forms of worship. {130}
Quote ID: 3534
Time Periods: ?
Book ID: 168 Page: 62
Section: 2A4
In addition, Moody was the first to ask those who wanted to be saved to stand up from their seats and be led in a “Sinner’s Prayer.” {147} Some 50 years later, Billy Graham upgraded Moody’s technique. He introduced the practice of asking the audience to bow their heads, close their eyes (“with no one looking around”), and raise their hands in response to the salvation message. {148}
Quote ID: 3535
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 70
Section: 2A4
The NT never links sitting through an ossified ritual that we mislabel “church” as having anything to do with spiritual transformation.
Quote ID: 3536
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 168 Page: 70
Section: 1A,2A4
Face it. The Protestant order of worship is unscriptural, impractical, and unspiritual. It has no analog in the NT. Rather, it finds its roots in the culture of fallen man. {178} It rips at the heart of primitive Christianity which was informal and free of ritual. Five centuries after the Reformation, the Protestant order of worship still varies little from the Catholic Mass—a religious ritual which is a fusion of pagan and Judaistic elements.
Quote ID: 3537
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 81
Section: 2C
To fill his absence, the clergy-caste began to emerge.
Quote ID: 3539
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 83/84
Section: 1A,2A4
In a word, the Greco-Roman sermon replaced prophesying, open sharing, and Spirit-inspired teaching. {58} The sermon became the elitist privilege of church officials, particularly the bishops. {59} Such people had to be educated in the schools of rhetoric to learn how to speak. {60} Without such education, a Christian was not permitted to speak to God’s people.As early as the third century, Christians called their sermons by the same name that Greek orators called their discourses. They called them homilies. {61} Today, one can take a seminary course called homiletics to learn how to preach. Homiletics is considered a “science, applying rules of rhetoric, which go back to Greece and Rome.” {62}
Put another way, neither homilies (sermons) nor homiletics (the art of sermonizing) have a Christian origin. They were stolen from the pagans.
Quote ID: 3540
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 168 Page: 85/86
Section: 2A4
We can credit both Chrysostom and Augustine (354-430), a former professor of rhetoric, {70} for making pulpit oratory part and parcel of the Christian faith. {71} In Chrysostom, the Greek sermon reached its zenith. The Greek sermon style indulged in rhetorical brilliance, the quoting of poems, and focused on impressing the audience. Chrysostom emphasized that “the preacher must toil long on his sermons in order to gain the power of eloquence.” {72}In Augustine, the Latin sermon reached its heights. {73} The Latin sermon style was more down to earth than the Greek style. It focused on the “common man” and was directed to a simpler moral point. Zwingli took John Chrysostom as his model in preaching, while Luther took Augustine as his model. {74} Both Latin and Greek styles included a verse-by-verse commentary form as well as a paraphrasing form. {75}
Even so, Chrysostom and Augustine stood in the lineage of the Greek sophists. They gave us polished Christian rhetoric. They gave us the “Christian” sermon. Biblical in content, but Greek in style. {76}
Quote ID: 3541
Time Periods: 45
Book ID: 168 Page: 88
Section: 1A,2A4
As one Catholic scholar readily admits, with the coming of Constantine “various customs of ancient Roman culture flowed into the Christian liturgy . . . even the ceremonies involved in the ancient worship of the Emperor as a deity found their way into the church’s worship, only in their secularized form.” {141}
Quote ID: 3542
Time Periods: 24
Book ID: 168 Page: 92
Section: 1A,4A
The sermon is a sacred cow that was conceived in the womb of Greek rhetoric. It was born into the Christian community when ex-pagans-now-turned-Christians began to bring their oratorical styles of speaking into the church. By the third century, it became common for Christian leaders to deliver a sermon. By the fourth century it became the norm. {115}Christianity has absorbed its surrounding culture. {116} When your pastor mounts his pulpit wearing his clerical costume and delivers his sacred sermon, he is playing out the role of the ancient Greek orator.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that the sermon does not have a shred of Biblical merit to support its existence, it continues to be uncritically admired in the eyes of most modern Christians. It has become so entrenched in the Christian mind that most Bible-believing pastors and “laymen” fail to see that they are affirming and perpetuating an unscriptural practice out of sheer tradition.
Quote ID: 3543
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 168 Page: 99/100
Section: 2E3
Strikingly, nowhere in the NT 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 a building an ekklesia (church) would be like calling a woman a skyscraper! {14}The first recorded use of the word ekklesia (church) to refer to a Christian meeting place was penned around A.D. 190 by Clement of Alexandria (150-215). {15} Clement is the first person to use the phrase “go to church”—which was a foreign thought to first century believers. {16}
Pastor John’s Note: Oh no! (in reference to not finding the term “church” in the NT)
Quote ID: 3544
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 168 Page: 100
Section: 2E3
Footnote 19 Graydon F. Snyder, Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine (Mercer University Press/Seedsowers, 1985), p. 67. Snyder states, “There is no literary evidence nor archaeological indication that any such home was converted into an extant church building. Nor is there any extant church that certainly was built prior to Constantine.” In another work Snyder writes, “The first churches consistently met in homes. Until the year 300 we know of no buildings first built as churches (First Corinthians: A Faith Community Commentary, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1991, p. 3).
Quote ID: 3545
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 168 Page: 101
Section: 2A5
Following the path of the pagans, Christians adopted the practice of burning incense and having vestal (sacred) virgins. {22} Thankfully, the Protestants dropped the sacrificial use of the Lord’s Supper, the burning of incense, and the vestal virgins. But they retained the priestly caste (the clergy) as well as the sacred building.Pastor John’s note: But… Jesus mentioned eunuchs for God.
Quote ID: 3546
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 168 Page: 102
Section: 2E1,2E3
When Christianity was born, it was the only religion on earth that had no sacred objects, no sacred persons, and no sacred spaces. {28} Although surrounded by Jewish synagogues and pagan temples, the early Christians were the only religious people on earth that did not erect sacred buildings for their worship. {29} The Christian faith was born in homes, out in courtyards, along roadsides, and in living rooms. {30}
Quote ID: 3548
Time Periods: 123
Book ID: 168 Page: 103
Section: 2E3
As Christian congregations grew in size, they began to remodel their homes to accommodate their growing numbers. {35} One of the most outstanding finds of archeology is the house of Dura-Europos in modern Syria. This is the earliest identifiable Christian meeting place. {36} It was simply a private home remodeled as a Christian gathering place around A.D. 232. {37}The house at Dura-Europos was essentially a house with a wall torn out between two bedrooms to create a large living room. {38}
PJ Note:
FN 35 quote taken from
FN 36 quote taken from Everette Ferguson, Early Christians Speak: Faith and Life in the First Three Centuries, 46, 74.
FN 37 quote taken from
Quote ID: 3549
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 168 Page: 104
Section: 2A3
In the late second and third centuries a shift occurred. The Christians began to adopt the pagan view of reverencing the dead. {42} Their focus was the memory of the martyrs. {43} So prayers for the saints (which later devolved into prayers to them) began. {44}The Christians picked up from the pagans the practice of having meals in honor of the dead. {45} Both the Christian funeral and the funeral dirge came straight out of paganism in the third century. {46}
Quote ID: 3550
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 168 Page: 104
Section: 2A3,2A5
Footnote 46 Music and Worship in Pagan & Christian Antiquity, pp. 162-168. Tertullian (160-225) demonstrates the relentless efforts of the Christians to do away with the pagan custom of the funeral procession. Yet the Christians succumbed to it. Christian funeral rites, which drew heavily from pagan forms, begin to appear in the third century (David W. Bercot, ed., A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Peabody: Hendrickson, 1998, p 80; ….
Quote ID: 3551
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 168 Page: 105
Section: 2E3
Third-century Christians had two places for their meetings: Their private homes and the cemetery. {47} They met in the cemetery because they wished to be close to their dead brethren. {48} It was their belief that to share a meal at a cemetery of a martyr was to commemorate him and to worship his company. {49}Since the bodies of the “holy” martyrs resided there, Christian burial places came to be viewed as “holy spaces.” {50} The Christians then began to build small monuments over these spaces—especially over the graves of famous saints. {51} Building a shrine over a burial place and calling it “holy” was also a pagan practice. {52}
Quote ID: 3552
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 168 Page: 106
Section: 2A3
At about the second century, the Christians began to venerate the bones of the saints, regarding them as holy and sacred. This eventually gave birth to relic collecting. {58} Reverence for the dead was the most powerful community-forming force in the Roman Empire. {59} Now the Christians were absorbing it into their own faith. {60}
Quote ID: 3553
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 168 Page: 107/108
Section: 2E3
The story of Constantine (285-337) fills a dark page in the history of Christianity. Church buildings began with him. {67} The story is astonishing.. . . .
By 324, he became Emperor of the entire Roman Empire. {68} Shortly afterward, he began ordering the construction of church buildings. He did so to promote the popularity and acceptance of Christianity. If the Christians had their own sacred buildings—as did the Jews and pagans—their faith would be regarded as legitimate.
Quote ID: 3554
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 108/109
Section: 2B
In A.D. 321, Constantine decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest—a legal holiday. {74} It appears that Constantine’s intention in doing this was to honor the god Mithras, the Unconquered Sun. {75} (He described Sunday as “the day of the sun.” {76}) To further demonstrate his affinity with sun worship, excavations of St. Peter’s in Rome uncovered a mosaic of Christ as the Unconquered Sun. {77}
Quote ID: 3555
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 109
Section: 2C
Almost to his dying day, Constantine “still functioned as the high priest of paganism.” {78} In fact, he retained the pagan title Pontifex Maximus, which means chief of the pagan priests! {79} (In the 15th century, this same title became the honorific title for the Catholic Pope!) {80}
Quote ID: 3556
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 168 Page: 109
Section: 3C
Constantine used pagan as well as Christian rituals and decorations in dedicating his new capital, Constantinople. {81} And he used pagan magic formulas to protect crops and heal diseases. {82}
Quote ID: 3557
Time Periods: 24
Book ID: 168 Page: 109/110
Section: 2E1,2A3
Constantine also strengthened the pagan notion of the sacredness of objects and places. {86} Largely due to his influence, relic-mongering became common in the church. {87} By the fourth century, obsession with relics got so bad that some Christian leaders spoke out against it saying, “A heathen observance introduced in the churches under the cloak of religion . . . the work of idolaters.”{88}
Quote ID: 3558
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 110
Section: 2E4
Constantine is also noted for bringing to the Christian faith the idea of the “holy site” which was based on the model of the pagan shrine. {89} Because of the aura of “sacredness” that the fourth-century Christians attached to Palestine, it became known as “the Holy Land” by the sixth century. {90}
Quote ID: 3559
Time Periods: 456
Book ID: 168 Page: 110/111
Section: 2E1,2A3
At this point, a word should be said about Constantine’s mother, Helena. This woman was most noted for her obsession with relics. In A.D. 326, Helena made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. {93} In A.D. 327 in Jerusalem, she reportedly found the cross and nails that were used to crucify Jesus. {94} It is reported that Constantine promoted the idea that the bits of wood that came from Christ’s cross possessed spiritual powers! {95}
Quote ID: 3560
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 111
Section: 2E3
Truly, a pagan magical mind was at work in Emperor Constantine. Behold, the father of the church building.
Quote ID: 3561
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 111
Section: 2E5
Following Helena’s trip to Jerusalem in A.D. 327, Constantine began erecting the first church buildings throughout the Roman Empire. {96} In so doing, he followed the path of the pagans in constructing temples to honor God. {97}
Quote ID: 3562
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 111
Section: 2E3,2E5
Interestingly, he named his church buildings after saints—just as the pagans named their temples after gods. Constantine built his first church buildings upon the cemeteries where the Christians held meals for the dead saints. {98} That is, he built them over the bodies of dead saints. {99} Why? Because for at least a century beforehand, the burial places of the saints were considered “holy spaces.” {100}Many of the largest buildings were built over the tombs of the martyrs. {101} This practice was based on the idea that the martyrs had the same powers that they had once ascribed to the gods of paganism. {102} Although pagan, the Christians adopted this view hook, line, and sinker.
Quote ID: 3563
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 168 Page: 112
Section: 2E3
Because the church building was regarded as sacred, congregants had to undergo a purification ritual before entering. So in the fourth century, fountains were erected in the courtyard so the Christians could wash-up before they entered the building. {108}
Quote ID: 3564
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 113
Section: 2E3
Let us explore the inside of the Christian basilica. It was an exact duplicate of the Roman basilica that was used for Roman magistrates and officers.
Quote ID: 3565
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 114
Section: 2A3
(After the fifth century, the presence of a relic in the church alter was essential to make the church legitimate.) {121}
Quote ID: 3566
Time Periods: 567
Book ID: 168 Page: 115
Section: 2E3
Interestingly, most modern church buildings have special chairs for the pastor and his staff situated on the platform behind the pulpit. (Like the bishop’s throne, the pastor’s chair is usually he largest of them all!) All of this is a clear carry over from the pagan basilica.
Quote ID: 3567
Time Periods: 07
Book ID: 168 Page: 116
Section: 2A4,2E1,3C
Under Constantine’s reign, the clergy, who had first worn everyday clothes, began dressing in special garments. What were those special clothes? They were the garments of Roman officials. Further, various gestures of respect toward the clergy were introduced in the church that were comparable to the gestures that were used to honor Roman Officials. {136}
The Roman custom of beginning a service with processional music was adopted as well. For this purpose, choirs were developed and brought into the Christian church. {137} Worship became more professional, dramatic, and ceremonial.
Quote ID: 3568
Time Periods: ?
Book ID: 168 Page: 116
Section: 3C
As one Catholic scholar readily admits, with the coming of Constantine “various customs of ancient Roman culture flowed into the Christian liturgy . . . even the ceremonies involved in the ancient worship of the Emperor as a deity found their way into the church’s worship, only in their secularized form.” {141}
Quote ID: 3569
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 117
Section: 1A,4B
For these reasons, the Christians saw Constantine’s rise to Emperor as an act of God. Here was God’s instrument that had come to their rescue. Christianity and Roman culture were now melded together. {144}The Christian building demonstrates that the church, whether she wanted it or not, had entered into a close alliance with pagan culture. {145}
Quote ID: 3570
Time Periods: 14
Book ID: 168 Page: 117
Section: 2E3
The first-century Christians saw themselves as set over against the world and avoided any contact with paganism. This all changed during the fourth century when the church emerged as a public institution in the world and began to “absorb and Christianize pagan religious ideas and practices.” {147}
Quote ID: 3571
Time Periods: 14
Book ID: 168 Page: 118
Section: 2E3
As with other pagan customs that were absorbed into the Christian faith (the liturgy, the sermon, clerical vestments, the hierarchical leadership structure, etc.), third and fourth-century Christians incorrectly attributed the origin of the church building to the Old Testament. {153} But this was misguided thinking.The church building was borrowed straight from pagan culture as we have seen. “Dignified and sacramental ritual had entered the church services by way of the mysteries [the pagan cults], and was justified, like so many other things, by reference to the Old Testament.” {154}
To use the Old Testament as a justification for the church building is not only inaccurate, but self-defeating. The old Mosaic economy of sacred priests, sacred buildings, sacred rituals, and sacred objects has been forever destroyed by the cross of Christ. In addition, it has been replaced by a non-hierarchical, non-ritualistic, non-liturgical organism called the ekklesia (church). {155}
Pastor John’s note: What????? (In reference to church here)
Quote ID: 3572
Time Periods: 034
Book ID: 168 Page: 119/120
Section: 2E3
The term “cathedral” is derived from cathedra. It is the building that houses the cathedra, the bishop’s chair. {163} It is the church which contains the “throne” of the bishop! {164}Pastor John’s note: the seat of the whore
Quote ID: 3573
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 120/121
Section: 2E3
As is the case with the Constantine basilicas, the root of the Gothic cathedral is completely pagan. Gothic architects relied heavily on the teachings of the pagan Greek philosopher Plato. Plato taught that sound, color, and light have lofty mystical meanings. They can induce moods and help bring one closer to the “Eternal Good.” {170} The Gothic designers took Plato’s teachings and set them to brick and stone. They created awe-inspiring lighting to elicit a sense of overwhelming splendor and worship. {171}. . . .
So with its cunning use of light, color, and excessive height, the Gothic cathedral fostered a sense of mystery, transcendence, and awe. {175} All of these features were borrowed from Plato and passed off as Christian. {176}
Quote ID: 3574
Time Periods: 04
Book ID: 168 Page: 124
Section: 2E3
As the years passed, Gothic architects (enamored with verticality) sought to add a tall spire to every tower. {193} Spires (also called steeples) {194} were a symbol of man’s aspiration to be united with His Creator. {195} In the centuries that followed, the towers grew taller and skinner.
Quote ID: 3575
Time Periods: 4567
Book ID: 168 Page: 125
Section: 2E3
In the year 1666, something happened that changed the course of tower architecture. A fire swept across the city of London damaging most of its 97 church edifices. {196} Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) was then commissioned to redesign all the churches of London. Using his own stylistic innovations in modifying the Gothic spires of France and Germany, Wren created the modern steeple. {197}
Quote ID: 3576
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 125
Section: 2A6
The message of the steeple is one that contradicts the message of the NT. Christians do not have to reach into the heavens to find God. He is here! With the coming of Emmanuel, God is with us. {200} And with His resurrection, we have an indwelling Lord. The steeple defies these realities.
Quote ID: 3577
Time Periods: ?
Book ID: 168 Page: 126
Section: 2E3
As early as A.D. 250, the ambo was replaced by the pulpit. Cyprian (200-258) speaks of placing the leader of the church into public office upon the pulpitum. {206} Our word “pulpit” is derived from the Latin word pulpitum which means “a stage!” {207} The pulpitum, or pulpit, was propped up in the highest elevated place in the congregation. {208}In time, the phrase “to ascent the platform” (ad pulptium venire) became part of the religious vocabulary of the clergy. {209} By A.D. 252, Cyprian alludes to the raised platform which segregated the clergy from the laity as “the sacred and venerated congestum of the clergy!” {210}
Quote ID: 3578
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 168 Page: 127/128
Section: 2E3
The word “pew” is derived from the Latin podium. It means a seat raised up above floor-level or a “balcony” {218} Pews were unknown to the church building for the first thousand years of Christian history. In the early basilicas, the congregation stood throughout the entire service. {219} (It is this way today among many Eastern Orthodox.) {220}
Quote ID: 3579
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 129
Section: 2E3
Over the last 200 years, the two dominating architectural patterns employed by Protestant churches are the divided chancel form (used in liturgical churches) and the concert stage form (used in evangelical churches). {238} The chancel is the area where the clergy (and sometimes the choir) conduct the service. {239} In the chancel-style church, there still exists a rail or screen that separates the clergy from the laity.
Quote ID: 3581
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 134
Section: 2E3
To state it differently, the very architecture prevents fellowship except between God and His people via the pastor!
Quote ID: 3582
Time Periods: 4567
Book ID: 168 Page: 136
Section: 2E3
There does not exist a shred of Biblical support for the church building.
Quote ID: 3583
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 168 Page: 137
Section: 2E3
The emergence of the church building is nothing more than Judaism and paganism breaking forth in a new guise.
Quote ID: 3584
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 151
Section: 2D1
In his attempts to strengthen the bishop’s office, Cyprian argued for an unbroken succession of bishops that traced back to Peter. {59}
Quote ID: 3585
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 168 Page: 153
Section: 2A2
As Latin became the common language in the mid-fourth century, the priest would invoke the words hoc est corpus meum. These Latin words mean “This is my body.”With these words, the priest became the overseer of the supercilious hokum that began to mark the Catholic Mass. Ambrose of Milan (339-397) can be credited for the idea that the mere utterance of hoc est corpus meum magically converted bread and wine into the Lord’s physician body and blood. {69}
. . . .
[Footnote 69] Concerning the Mysteries, 9:52,54. In the Eastern churches a prayer is offered for the Spirit to do the magic. In the western churches, the prayer was left out, for the words themselves did the trick. (Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, London. . .
Quote ID: 3586
Time Periods: 47
Book ID: 168 Page: 154/155
Section: 2C
As we have already seen, the role of the bishop began to change from being the head of a local church to becoming the representative of everybody in a given area. {76} Bishops ruled over the churches just like Roman governors ruled over their provinces. {77} Eventually, the bishop of Rome was given the most authority of all and finally evolved into the “Pope.” {78}Thus between the years A.D. 100 and A.D. 300, church leadership came to be patterned after the leadership of the Roman government. {79} And the hierarchy of the Old Testament was used to justify it. {80} The one-bishop-rule had swallowed up the priesthood of all believers.
Ignatius effectively made the bishop the local authority. Cyprian made him a representative of all the churches by his doctrine of apostolic succession. {81}
[Footnote 78] Before Constantine, the Roman bishop exercised no jurisdiction outside of Rome. While he was honored, he did not have that kind of ecclesiastical authority (Church History in Plain Language, p. 151). The word “pope” comes from the title “papa,” a term used to express the fatherly care of any bishop. It was not until the sixth century that the term began to be used exclusively for the bishop of Rome. Here is a brief sketch of the origin of the Roman Catholic Pope: At the end of the second century, Roman bishops were given great honor. Stephen I (d. 257) was the first to use the Petrine text (Matthew 18:18) to support the preeminence of the Roman bishop. But this was not universally held. The emergence of the modern Pope can be traced to Leo the Great (440-461). Leo was the first to make a theological and Biblical claim for the primacy of the Roman bishop. Under him, the primacy of Rome was finally established. With the coming of Gregory the Great (540-604), the “papal chair” was extended and enhanced. (Incidentally, Gregory became by far the largest landowner in Italy, setting a precedent for rich and powerful Popes to follow.) By the mid-third century, the Roman church had 30,000 members, 150 clergyman, and 1500 widows and poor people.
Quote ID: 3587
Time Periods: 12345
Book ID: 168 Page: 158
Section: 2C
From A.D. 313-325, Christianity was no longer a struggling religion trying to survive the Roman government. It was basking in the sun of imperialism, loaded with money and status. {95} To be a Christian under Constantine’s reign was no longer a handicap. It was an advantage. It was fashionable to become a part of the Emperor’s religion. And to be among the clergy was to receive the greatest of advantages. {96}
Quote ID: 3589
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 159
Section: 2C
It should come as no surprise that so many people in Constantine’s day experienced a sudden “call to the ministry.” {110} To their minds, being a church officer had become more of a career than a calling. {111}
Quote ID: 3590
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 168 Page: 164
Section: 2C
During the third century, “ordination” took on an entirely different meaning. It was a formalized Christian rite. {138} By the fourth century, the ceremony of ordination was embellished by symbolic garments and solemn ritual. {139} Ordination produced an ecclesiastical caste that usurped the believing priesthood.
Quote ID: 3591
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 168 Page: 169
Section: 2C
The Anabaptists believed it was every Christian’s right to stand up and speak in a meeting. It was not the domain of the clergy. Luther was so opposed to this practice that he said it came from “the pit of hell” and those who were guilty of it should be put to death! {168} (Behold your heritage dear Protestant Christian!)
Quote ID: 3592
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 175/176
Section: 2C
In short, the Protestant Reformation struck a blow to Roman Catholic sacerdotalism. But it was not a fatal blow. The Reformers still retained the one-bishop-rule. It merely underwent a semantic change. The Pastor now played the role of the bishop. He came to be regarded as the local head of a church—the leading elder. {208} As one writer put it, “In Protestantism, the preachers tend to be the spokesmen and representatives of the church and the church is often the preacher’s church. This is a great danger and threat to the Christian religion, not unrelated to clericalism.” {209}
Quote ID: 3593
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 188
Section: 2A4
The early Methodists resisted the idea of “dressing up” for church so much that they turned away anyone who wore expensive clothing to their meetings. {9}
Quote ID: 3594
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 193/194
Section: 2C
With the coming of Constantine, distinctions between bishop, priest, and deacon began to take root. {28} When Constantine moved his court to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople in A.D. 330, the official Roman dress was gradually adopted by the priests and deacons. {29} The clergy were now identified by wearing the garb of secular officials. {30}After the Germanic conquests of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, fashions in secular dress changed. The flowing garments of the Romans gave way to the short tunics of the Goths. But the clergy, wishing to remain distinct from the laity, continued to wear the old-fashioned and archaic Roman costumes! {31}
The clergy wore these outdated garments during the church service following the model of the secular court ritual. {32} When laymen adopted the new style of dress, the clergy believed that such dress was “worldly” and “barbarian.” They retained what they considered to be “civilized” dress. And this is what became the clerical costume. {33} This practice was supported by the theologians of the day. For example, Jerome (347-420) remarked that the clergy should never enter into the sanctuary wearing everyday garments. {34}
Quote ID: 3595
Time Periods: 45
Book ID: 168 Page: 236
Section: 2A4
As I stated earlier, the “Sinner’s Prayer” eventually replaced the Biblical role of water baptism. Though it is touted as gospel today, the “Sinner’s Prayer” is a very recent invention. D.L. Moody (1837-1899) was the first to employ it.
Quote ID: 3596
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 237
Section: 2C
The phrase “Personal Savior” is yet another modern innovation that grew out of the ethos of 19th-century American revivalism. {17}
Quote ID: 3597
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 250/251
Section: 4A
In Alexandria, we have the beginning of the institutional study of Christian doctrine. {15} Origen (185-254), one of the school’s early teachers, was deeply influenced by pagan philosophy. {16} He was the first to organize key theological concepts into a systematic theology. {17}Of this period Will Durant has observed: “The gap between philosophy and religion was closing, and reason for a thousand years consented to be the handmaiden of theology.” {18} Edwin Hatch echoes these thoughts saying, “Within a century and a half after Christianity and philosophy first came into closest contact, the ideas and methods of philosophy had flowed in such mass into Christianity, and filled so large a place in it, as to have made it no less a philosophy than a religion.” {19}
Quote ID: 3598
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 168 Page: 253
Section: 1A,4B
Martin Luther had it right when he said, “What else are the universities than places for training youth in Greek glory.” {38}
Quote ID: 3599
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 254
Section: 4A
Concerning the seminary, we can say that Peter Abelard laid the egg and Thomas Aquinas hatched it. More than any other figure, Aquinas has had the greatest influence on modern theological training. In 1879, his work was endorsed by a papal bull as an authentic expression of doctrine to be studied by all students of theology. Aquinas’ main thesis was that God can be known through reason. He borrowed this idea from Aristotle.
Quote ID: 3600
Time Periods: 7
Book ID: 168 Page: 264/265
Section: 4A
Both Plato and Socrates taught that knowledge is virtue. Good depends on the extent of one’s knowledge. Hence, the teaching of knowledge is the teaching of virtue. {97}Herein lies the root and stem of modern Christian education. It is built on the Platonic idea that knowledge and spirituality are the same. Therein lies the great flaw.
Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle (both students of Socrates) are the fathers of modern Christian education. {98} To use a Biblical metaphor, modern Christian education, whether it be seminarian or Bible college, is serving food from the wrong tree: The tree of knowledge of good and evil rather than the tree of life. {99}
Quote ID: 3601
Time Periods: 027
Book ID: 168 Page: 283/284
Section: 5D
In the year 1227, a professor at the University of Paris named Stephen Langton added chapters to all the books of the NT. Then in 1551, a printer named Robert Stephanus {13} numbered the sentences in all of the books of the NT. {14}According to Stephanus’ son, the verse divisions that his father created do not do service to the sense of the text. Stephanus did not use any consistent method. While riding on horseback from Paris to Lyons, he versified the entire NT within Langton’s chapter divisions. {15}
Quote ID: 3602
Time Periods: ?
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