The Screwtape Letters

Posted on January 11, 2009 by rbirkey

Uncle Screwtape and Toadwood his Scribe

I had an opportunity to go and see FPA Theatre Company’s production of C.S. Lewis‘ “The Screwtape Letters” a week ago. It is playing at the old Mercury Theater at 3745 N. Southport in Chicago. It stars Max McLean (who also co-adapted the script) as “His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape,” and Karen Eleanor Wight as “Toadpipe,” his demonic personal secretary and scribe.

C. S. LEWIS (Author) (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer and apologist of his day. He published The Screwtape Letters in 1942 wherein he presented a humorous and perceptive exchange between two devils named Screwtape and Wormwood. He used the book to deal with moral questions about good vs. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace.

Here is C.S. Lewis’ own INTRODUCTION:

I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence, which I now offer to the public, fell into my hands.

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true, even from his own angle.

There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth.

C.S. Lewis
July 5, 1941
The Screwtape Letters

Chapter 2: The Creation of Sacred Spaces and Objects

Posted on April 13, 2008 by rbirkey

The Creation of Sacred Spaces and Objects

Authors Frank Viola and George Barna record that a shift occurred in the late second and third centuries when Christians began reverencing their dead. Christians began to meet in two places… their homes and the cemetery. They picked up the pagan practice of having meals to honor the dead. Their original intended purpose was to honor the memory of the martyrs.

It became their belief that to share a meal at the cemetery, honored their dead brothers and sisters. Since the bodies of the “holy” martyrs were there, the idea of it being a “holy space” also developed. They eventually copied the pagan practice and erected small monuments over these spaces.

In Rome, the Christians started decorating the catacombs (underground burial places) with Christian symbols. The authors point out an interesting fact that the cross as an artistic reference cannot be found prior to the time of Constantine. Thus art became associated with sacred spaces.

Around the second century Christians started venerating the bones of saints, regarding them as sacred and holy. This gave rise to relic collecting.

Later in the second century, we see how the Lord’s Supper was changed from a full meal shared among believers, to a stylized ceremony called Holy Communion. By the fourth century the bread and wine produced a sense of awe, dread and mystery. As a result, some eastern churches put a canopy over the altar table, and later rails to separate and reinforce the idea of it being holy, separate and only for the holy persons (clergy) to handle.

So now we see more clearly how Christians developed sacred spaces, places and objects, as well as the beginnings of a sacred priesthood. During all of this, they also began to assimilate the “magical mind-set” common in pagan thinking. All of this prepared the way for the man who would be almost single handedly responsible for changing the meaning of the word church.

Chapter 2: From House Churches to Holy Cathedrals

Posted on April 13, 2008 by rbirkey

From House Churches to Holy Cathedrals

As already stated in earlier posts, the early church believed that Jesus was the very presence of God and that the body of Christ (the church) constitutes his temple.

The authors of Pagan Christianity? point out that Jesus made some radical statements about the Temple in Jerusalem that angered the Jews of his day. One that angered them the most was the claim that if the temple was destroyed he would build a new one in three days! (John 2:19-21) Though he was referring to the architectural temple as an example, he was actually referring to the real temple – his body – which he did raise up as Himself on the third day (Ephesians 2:6).

The New Testament teaches that since Christ is risen, we Christians have become God’s temple through his “life giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). Through his spirit, he takes up residence with his believers, making them his house or temple. This is why the NT never refers to the church as a building, but as a people.

With Jesus, we no longer need a specific or special place to worship God. We can worship Him in spirit and truth from anywhere.

“When Christianity was born, it was the only religion on the planet that had no sacred objects, no sacred persons, and no sacred spaces.” (James D. G. Dunn)

As another scholar has put it, “The Christianity that conquered the Roman Empire was essentially a home-centered movement.”

As some early church congregations grew they began to remodel their homes to accommodate more people. One example of this is the famous home of Dura-Europos (AD 232) in modern Syria, which is the earliest identifiable Christian meeting place. It was a private home remodeled by removing one interior wall (between 1 and 2 at right), so that it could hold about 70 people.

Examples like this cannot be called “church buildings” but rather homes modified to accommodate larger assemblies. They were never called temples, nor considered sacred spaces.

I became aware of this particular archeological evidence a number of years ago when my father, Del Birkey wrote a book called: The House Church: A Model for Renewing the Church in which this same point is made.

Because of this, on trips in Europe and a recent trip to Spain, I have been keenly aware of the vast changes that occurred in history from the beginning of the church (The Upper Room and the house churches of the New Testament) through history (the basilicas and cathedrals of Europe) on to today (the American church building and church architecture) as it relates to the idea of the church as a building.

The most fantastic example I have seen so far is the Familia Sagrada in Barcelona, Spain. It is truly amazing and incredible… yet sadly, it is not a church, even though millions believe this to be the case.

Even though many of these buildings erected for the purpose of church gatherings are indeed spectacular works of art and human engineering, and deserve our study and admiration, they sadly detract from the original and true meaning of “the church.”

Chapter 2: Temples, Priests, and Sacrifices

Posted on April 13, 2008 by rbirkey

Temples, Priests, and Sacrifices

Continuing in Chapter 2 of Pagan Christianity? authors Frank Viola and George Barna point out that the Old Testament Hebrews had a faith experience centered around the Temple, the priesthood and the sacrifice. But Jesus fulfilled all three of these by becoming the “Temple” made without hands, the final high priest who has made each believer a priest, and he became the final, perfect, sacrifice. He thus ended all three of these Old Testament practices.

The Greeks and Romans at the time of the early church also had temples, priests and sacrifices. The early church was the first non-temple religion ever to emerge. To the early believers, they themselves were the temple or house of God. Nowhere in the New Testament writings is the word church (ecclesia) used to refer to a building or a place. To “go to church” would have been a foreign thought to a first century believer.

We first see an example of the word ecclesia used to refer to a building in AD 190 by Clement of Alexandria. But even here it refers to a private home used for Christian meetings.

New Testament scholar Graydon F. Snyder writes:

“There is no literary evidence nor archeological 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. The first churches consistently met in homes. Until the year 300 we know of no buildings first built as churches.”

The early church also did not have a priestly tribe or caste. They understood that every believer was a priest unto God and encouraged each other to act and worship accordingly. They each brought sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving and their very selves in worship to God.

It was much later, when Roman Catholicism evolved in the 4th to 6th centuries, that a professional priesthood was started, they erected sacred buildings, and turned the Lord’s Supper into a mysterious sacrificial event. Later, the Protestants dropped the sacrificial use of the Lord’s Supper (as it should have), but it unfortunately retained the priestly caste and the sacred church building concepts to this day.

In my own mind, I find it incredible that many in the church today still hang onto the remnants of this kind of thinking. Our houses of worship are not any more holy than any other place, including our own homes, or public buildings, schools, bars, and the like. Holiness and sacredness have nothing to do with physical things or places. Separating the secular and sacred was a gnostic idea, a heresy that the early church constantly battled. Ascribing sacred or holy qualities to objects of any kind is idolatry.

I also find our modern ideas surrounding what we call pastors or elders hard to square with the New Testament. The idea of a hierarchy of leadership with a “senior” pastor, or “head” elder along with associate or junior pastors and leaders is not in the New Testament. Elders and pastors were regular church members who were gifted in leadership and other teaching and pastoring gifts. Since these gifts were given by the Holy Spirit, the individuals so gifted were acknowledged and expected to function using their gifts for the edification (building up) of the body. They had no concept of these words (pastor, elder, bishop) describing an organizational position or a separate category of holiness. Jesus Christ was considered the only “head” of the church.

In my opinion, our modern traditions and expectations about the “senior pastor” position are more similar the the Roman Catholic “priest” idea than to the New Testament concept and practice. Others have called this phenomenon the “pedestal complex” (Chuck Colson and others) and have written and spoken extensively about the inherent dangers. In the New Testament, all believers are saints, priests, and uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit to function and serve in the body of Christ. No one is more important or necessary than another. All are equal in Christ… this is the message of the Gospel.

When we put pastors, elders or other church leaders in a special category, or up on a pedestal as it were – consciously or subconsciously – we are practicing another form of idolatry.

Finally, I am also pained by the somber, joyless and introspective manner in which we often focus on the Lord’s Supper. What happened to experiencing it as an actual meal (as the original was) and a body life celebration or a “love feast?” Why have we abandoned that tradition of the early church? When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their excesses in it, he never suggested that they discontinue the love feast altogether!

I my mind’s eye I can imagine a group of believers gathered around a meal in a home, weaving together fellowship, prayer, song, thanksgiving, confession, and scripture reading, as they also share bread and wine to remember what Jesus Christ did on their behalf. I hear responses in laughter, quiet reflection or prayer as well as the whole range of human emotion and expression as they “do this in remembrance of me.”

I find myself longing for that experience.

Chapter 2: The Church Building – Inheriting the Edifice Complex

Posted on April 13, 2008 by rbirkey

Well, here we go. Chapter Two of Pagan Christianity? deals with the first specific example of a pagan practice adopted by the church. That being the idea that the church is a building or a place. The authors point out the love affair we tend to have with brick and mortar. When Christians begin to meet and form a new church, most of the time they think they must secure a building.

Furthermore, the idea is so ingrained we unconsciously equate the two ideas without thinking:

“Wow! Look at that beautiful church we just passed!”
“We have gone to church every Sunday for the last three years.”
“Isn’t it great to be in the House of the Lord this morning?”
“We must show reverence when we enter the sanctuary of the Lord.”

The authors make the statement that none of these type of statements or ideas have anything to do with New Testament Christianity.

I have to agree. The church is people.

Other Blogs on “Pagan Christianity?”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by rbirkey

I have a friend named Steve Tanner who has started reading “Pagan Christianity?” as well. Steve works for a non-profit Christian organization that equips and encourages those who are involved in Children’s ministry. He has posted about the book and “house churches” as it relates to children’s ministry online here: http://www.kidology.org/network/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5654&TPN=1

Chapter One: Have We Really Been Doing It By The Book?

Posted on March 16, 2008 by rbirkey

Frank and George open up this first official chapter of the book Pagan Christianity? with a story which reminds me of the way Patrick Lencioni writes his books. The fictional story style pulls you in and gives you a more or less “real life” scenario to relate to as the main idea is introduced. Their story is of a typical Christian family and how they bicker, fight and get on each others nerves as they get ready to “go to church.” Then, once at “the church” they put on a different persona as if nothing is wrong, and go through the motions of being a “perfect” family. The husband/father named Winchester, starts thinking about all this during the sermon and then wonders if the pastor ever has a morning like his. Pastor Farley passionately claims in his sermon that “their church does everything by the book!” Yet Winchester sits and wonders if the Bible ever mentioned that people should dress up for church. This train of thought just snowballs into many other questions like: Why do my kids hate Sunday School? Why do we go through the same predictable ritual every Sunday morning? Why do I wear this uncomfortable necktie every Sunday morning when all it does is cut off blood circulation?

Coming out of the story, the authors state that:

“As startling as it may sound, almost everything that is done in our contemporary churches has no basis in the Bible.” And that “precious little… maps to anything found in the first century church.”

Questions We Never Think To Ask

It was the Greek philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC) who invented the Socratic method also known as the dialectic. He believed that truth is found by dialoguing and relentlessly questioning a particular issue. It was his habit of doing this – especially of long held traditions – that eventually got him killed for “corrupting the youth” of Athens. He was not alone. Many others have given their lives for similar reasons including Isaiah, John the Baptist and Jesus. Many thousands more have been martyred over the centuries for asking hard questions in pursuit of truth.

Christians today are typically encouraged by our leaders to believe, think and behave in certain ways. We are encouraged to read our Bibles, but usually through a particular lens of tradition (Baptist, Reformed, charismatic, etc.). We are taught to never challenge those traditional teachings, or if we do, to run the risk of being labeled heretics, be shunned from leadership or membership, or be accused of fomenting disunity, and leading God’s people astray. (I Randy, have personally seen and experienced some of this over the years.)

However, at this point in the chapter, Viola and Barna issue an amazing statement to all those who feel their rebellious spirits (including mine) rising to the surface. “We do not stand with you. Our advice: Either leave your church quietly, refusing to cause division, or be at peace with it. There is a vast gulf between rebellion and taking a stand for what is true.”

Instead, the authors invite the reader to ask the tough questions about why we do the things we do, and to discover where those traditions came from. Most Christians that claim to know The Book, and order their lives by it, have have never really explored this topic, and are not conscious of the non-biblical roots of many things that are often passed off as “Christian.”

A Terrifying Invitation

So, Viola and Barna invite the reader to the “untrodden path.” The path of asking tough questions. They claim that as you read their book, you will be surprised at how little of our modern ideas and practices of doing church are actually from Jesus, the Apostles or the Scriptures. Most of it was lifted right out of pagan culture. We think of pagans today as those who practice no religion at all, but the early Christians understood them to be polytheists, who followed the gods of the Romans. It was this brand of paganism that dominated the world at the time of Christ and into the 4th century, during which many of its elements were absorbed by the church. Two other periods stand out as times of great influence on our current church practices: The Reformation, and the Revivalist era in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In this book, chapters 2 – 10 will each trace a currently and widely accepted church practice. Not only will each chapter reveal where the practice originated, but more importantly, how it hampers the healthy functioning of Christ’s body (the church) today.

“Warning: If you are unwilling to have your Christianity seriously examined, do not read beyond this page. Give this book to Goodwill immediately! Spare yourself the trouble of having your Christian life turned upside down.”

The authors rephrase this warning in a couple more ways. If you are in the institutional church, this book may lead to a crisis of conscience. If you tend to resonate with Christian experience outside the institutional church, you may be encouraged as you discover that history and Scripture may stand with you more than you knew.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

As you know by now, if you are reading this blog… I took the challenge and plunged ahead with the rest of the book. I would have to say that I am at heart more of a rebel, and tend toward a questioning and analytical mind. This is why I ended up outside the institutional church in a “house church” during the 1970′s and into the 80′s. This is where I first experienced and came to appreciate “body life,” “small groups” and “contemporary worship.” I have often reflected on the events that lead to this development in my life, and can see how God used it to draw me to Himself. Otherwise, I fear that I was headed toward a rejection of Christianity and the church due to some very negative experiences I had witnessed within it.

After marriage we ended up at a small urban church (without a building) for a number of years, and then we migrated back into the more institutional church as our kids got older. We have been fairly happy in it for over 10 years. However, in the last couple of years I have sensed a new restlessness and dissatisfaction with some of the negative sides of it. Change is so very hard, long and difficult. The typical hierarchies of leadership I have seen to be unhealthy and damaging to people. It is very difficult to foster a new vision for being the church in a community that needs the church to be all that God intended. I am worn out with all the programs and activities required for involvement.

And so, given these inner urgings, this book is tapping into my roots and the experiences I once had in a more organic and non-institutional church setting. It is igniting a hunger and a fire to regain what has been lost, and to reshape it within the urban culture I find myself in at the beginning of the 21st century.

It was Francis Schaeffer who said that,

“Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.”

I believe this why the book Pagan Christianity? is so important. It raises the foundational questions and issues that the church must face if it is to communicate the gospel in the language and thought forms of current post-modern and post-Christian America. All we need do is look at Europe, the birthplace of the Reformation, to see what will happen if we don’t.

Helping to lead “contemporary worship” in a 1973 house church

My Introduction to “Pagan Christianity?”

Posted on February 23, 2008 by rbirkey

I am just finishing reading a book that my father sent to me (Thanks, Dad!) and that has been one of the most challenging and enlightening books I’ve read in recent years. The impact it will have on me personally will take much more time to realize and digest because there are so many ways that this book speaks to me, and the timing is not coincidental. I’ll explain more on that later. The book is called Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the roots of our church practices. It seeks to answer the question: “Are We really doing church by the book?” It is authored by Frank Viola and George Barna, and published by Tyndale House.

Frank Viola is a voice in the contemporary house church movement, and has been gathering with organic house churches in the US for the last 20 years. He is actively engaged in planting New Testament styled churches. He has written 8 books on radical church restoration including God’s Ultimate Passion and The Untold Story of the New Testament Church [www.frankviola.com].

George Barna is the chairman of Good News Holdings, a multimedia firm in Los Angeles that produces movies, television programming, and other media content. He is also the founder and director of The Barna Group [www.barna.org], a research firm in Ventura, California. George has written 39 books including Revolution and Revolutionary Parenting.

The joint venture of Pagan Christianity? is sort of a twin to Barna’s 2005 book REVOLUTION: Worn out on church? Finding vibrant faith beyond the walls of the sanctuary, also published by Tyndale House.

Here’s an excerpt from the book jacket:
Many Christians take for granted that their church’s practices are rooted in Scripture. Yet those practices look very different from those of the first-century church. The New Testament is not silent on how the early church freely expressed the reality of Christ’s indwelling in ways that rocked the first-century world.Times have changed. Pagan Christianity? leads us on a fascinating tour through church history, revealing this startling and unsettling truth: Many cherished church traditions embraced today originated not out of the New Testament, but out of pagan practices. One of the most troubling outcomes has been the effect on average believers: turning them from living expressions of Christ’s glory and power to passive observers.

Like me, have you ever wondered:

Why does the pastor preach a sermon at every service?
Why do church services seem so similar week after week?
Why does the congregation sit passively in pews?
Why do we keep thinking of the church as a building?
Why are we so fixated on the idea of a senior pastor?

If these questions have caught your attention like they did to me, then you might be interested enough to visit the paganchristianity.org website and download a free introduction chapter to read. And, if that increases your interest, you should just buy the book and read it! It’s an easy and engrossing read!

The Pagan Christianity website has other resources including a downloadable discussion guide, as well as links to other articles and resources by Frank Viola and George Barna.

After I complete the final chapter: “A Second Glance at the Savior: Jesus the Revolutionary,” I intend to reread the book, and post my thoughts here on each chapter. I would welcome your comments.

“Experience supplies painful proof that traditions once called into being are first called useful, then they become necessary. At last they are too often made idols, and all must bow down to them or be punished.” — J.C. Ryle, Nineteenth-Century English Writer and Minister

More Books

Posted on February 15, 2008 by rbirkey

I recently decided to re-read C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian (Narnia) since the movie of it is coming out in the not-too-distant future. It reminded me that for Peter and Susan, this was their last experience in Narnia. Only Edmund and Lucy came back one more time.

Then, my wife got me hooked on The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God by Dallas Willard, so I am listening to that on my iPod while I travel on the EL. That one is really making me think and re-evaluate some things!

Also, my son, Taylor gave me Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell, the story of a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, for my birthday. Incredible!

Another Michael Crichton Fiction Masterpiece

Posted on December 23, 2007 by rbirkey

As some of you know, I enjoy reading, especially good fiction. One author that I particularly like is Michael Crichton, of “Jurassic Park” fame. I think his book “State of Fear” is the best book I have read on the whole “global warming” – “climate change” controversy.

I am now reading his latest book called “Next” dealing with the whole bio-engineering, genetics and medical research ethics topic. Its fascinating how he weaves actual news and media reports into the plot and storyline. It makes his books even more interesting and educational.

He weaves a number of story-lines together throughout the book, jumping back and forth between them. It is hard to pick them up each time, but after you get used to it, it seems to be okay. The situations that characters get involved in seem very realistic and believable, which is part of Crichton’s point – this stuff is already happening and it isn’t some science fiction in the future. The fact that these issues are believable kinda scares you because you realize the incredible risks and chances we are taking as a society by not carefully facing into these issues as a matter of public policy. This is on top of the human greed and selfishness that complicates things further. Researchers motivated by the dollar, fame, power – just like the “bad “corporations, and “bad” politicians everybody likes to chastise. Well, the medical research community is no different. We’d better wake up!

I’d recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in this important topic.