Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous,

Outreach 2025 Recommended Resource of the Year (Culture)

The first Christians were weird.

Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and practiced a whole new way of doing religion that would have been viewed as bizarre and dangerous compared to other religions of the ancient world.

In Strange Religion, award-winning author and New Testament teacher Nijay Gupta traces the emerging Christian faith in its Roman context, showing how the first Christians

● dared to be different and pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable
● believed, worshipped, and lived in radical ways
● transformed how others thought about religion
● started a movement that grew like wildfire

Brought to life with numerous images, this book shows how the example of the earliest Christians can offer today's believers encouragement and hope.

"A fresh and rigorously researched take on Christianity's founding."--Publishers Weekly

Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham University) is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is the coauthor (with A. J. Swoboda) of the book Slow Theology, cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, a Holy Post pundit, and founder of the popular Substack newsletter Engaging Scripture. Gupta is an award-winning author of numerous books, including Tell Her Story, Strange Religion, and commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is also a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Gupta lives in Portland, Oregon.