Are we really doing  church "by the Book"?
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?
Not sure? This book makes an unsettling proposal: Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted, not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Authors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of our modern Christian church practices.

In the process, the authors uncover the problems that emerge when the church functions more like a business organization than the living organism it was created to be. As you reconsider Christ's revolutionary plan for His church--to be the head of a fully functioning body in which all believers play an active role--you'll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again.