Pagans in the Pews

by Peter R. Jones

At the dawn of a new millennium, two worldviews collide: paganism and theism-the earth goddess versus the God who made the heavens and the earth. At the heart of our cultures wars are Spirit Wars. But this clash doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This is happening right now in our living rooms! Within a single generation, Judeo-Christian America has become a breeding ground for the new paganism. Behind the dazzling diversity of pro-choice culture-abortion rights, the homosexual agenda, radical feminism, New Age spirituality, goddess worship and witchcraft-lies a coherent pagan spirituality bent on absolute control of our culture and intolerant of any truth that stands in opposition to its teachings. Pagans in the Pews is essential reading for the Church today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Peter Jones (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is the author of many books, including One or Two: Seeing a World of Difference, The God of Sex: How Spirituality Defines Your Sexuality, and The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age. He is the executive director of truthXchange and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America.

Reviews

[S. Runyan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I thought it would be. I was expecting a book about the dangers of nominal Christianity: How to identify it, how to engage it. Instead this was a book whose first three chapters were rich in populist ideology; strictly Amero-centric divisive politics, which is a morbidly shallow understanding of the much greater problem in the modern Church.

After chapter 3 the tone took on a much less political feel and trended toward the overtly satanic-gnostic-new age-shamanistic fringe of bizarre religion and their blatant attempts to overthrow Christianity. While I certainly agree that these behaviors are presently manifesting in the world, I do not find them very concerning.

This book was published in 2001. I'm writing this review in 2024, having just finished the book moments ago. Still no Feminist ideology killing God. Fear is the opposite of faith and these scare tactics are so routinely used that, if anything, the absence of their prophecies coming to fruition is a bolstering effect of individual faith. In other words, works such as these prove their own lack of certainty and value because they exhibit a doctrine of irrational panic.

I'm sure it's useful for someone to read this, but the obvious nature of the content is something that even the nominal Christian would be able to easily identify. The real threat will never be the extreme, excessive, overt evils that prophets of antagonist fear produce, but have always proven to be the subtle, complacent comforts freely offered by Satan.

[Sara Christians · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written 20 years ago, Jones provided a prescient warning to the church. Today, heretical ideas that were emerging from the most liberal seminaries at the beginning of the century have become mainstream. Reading this book today has been very illuminating regarding the present divisions within the church, I highly recommend it

[Mark Stacy II · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Not an easy read, but worth it if you can soldier through.