“The first Christians were weird,” writes Nijay Gupta. “I am not talking about their clothing, music preferences, or hobbies. When I say ‘weird’ or ‘strange,’ I am talking about deviation from cultural norms and society’s expectations for how things ought to be done. Especially when it came to religion … the Christians were as backwards and as odd as you could be.”
Well, that’s how the Romans viewed them anyway.
In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Gupta about how Christianity deviated from Roman cultural norms and expectations, and why Romans viewed them as weird and dangerous — but also compelling.
I’m George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host.
Nijay Gupta, Ph.D., is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, a Pauline scholar, and most recently author of Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling, published by Brazos Press.
We talked about his previous book, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church, published by IVP Academic, in Episode 315 of the Influence Podcast.
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