Nijay Gupta’s new volume Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling releases today and I can’t recommend it highly enough! I had the opportunity to read a pre-release version and I truly appreciate Nijay’s insight and the time he invested to help everyday Christians better understand the ancient world. Here’s my review from Goodreads if you’re interested:
Far too often those of us reading the New Testament assume we know what the original authors meant. Many times, we’re right. But it would serve us well to take what we’re reading and situate it more carefully in its original context. Nijay Gupta introduces his audience to key aspects of that ancient culture in order to help them better interpret the biblical text. By focusing primarily on extra-biblical literature, Gupta highlights the ways in which early believers were “weird, dangerous, and compelling.” He explains how the Christians were different from their surrounding culture. They only worshiped one God. To a 21st century audience, that may seem normal. We may ask “who cares what someone believes or how they worship?” But in the Roman world, it wasn’t only strange. It could be considered dangerous. Gupta explains why. He digs into what religion entailed in the ancient world and why their religion and religious practices mattered. Understanding that context ultimately invites today’s Christians to consider whether the faith we live out is equally compelling and challenging to our surrounding culture.
That last sentence gets at the real takeaway for me. To what extent does my faith look different? Is it compelling to those who don’t share it? While I would have loved to see Nijay dig into some of the implications for the church today, I fully recognize that wasn’t his goal. What he wanted to cover, he did masterfully. Building on what he has written, it is our turn to learn from it and discuss it with fellow believers. Then, we can determine practical steps that we can take based on a combination of what we learn about the ancient culture and from the New Testament. But it doesn’t stop there: we need to follow through.
I’d love to hear what questions or reactions you have after you have a chance to read it! If you could ask Nijay anything, what would it be?
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Life Beyond #Blessed 