We associate George Barna with sociological studies about Christian faith and culture, intended to help pastors and churches be more effective. This book is something very, very different. In Pagan Christianity Barna and Frank Viola analyze contemporary worship and practice in an attempt to show how much paganism it has absorbed in 2000 years. Not everything here will be new to you; we've long known that Christianity picked up a few cultural artifacts along the way. But the authors' assessment of the damage is overblown. One can't help but think of Hisslop's The Two Babylons, and the highly doubtful thesis that every smidgen of extra-Christian, extra-Protestant influence hopelessly contaminates current Christian practice. Pagan Christianity comes across as disapproving and slightly scolding, which is especially sad because it is under the byline of someone who has been the champion of innovative church leadership. The authors' point seems to be that the only legitimate Biblical expression of our faith will be Acts-style pastorless house churches. The rest of us are going about it all wrong. I'm not sure Pagan Christianity contributes much toward helping us to get it right.