Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham University) is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, founder of the Crux Sola blog, and has written numerous books, including Tell Her Story, A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies, 15 New Testament Words of Life, and commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is also the coeditor, with Scot McKnight, of The State of New Testament Studies, and a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Gupta lives in Portland, Oregon.

• IntroductionPart 1: Becoming Christian1. Roman Religion and the Pax Deorum: Keeping Peace with the Gods2. "Believers": The First Christians and the Transformation of Religion3. A Dangerous and Strange Religion: Christianity as a SuperstitionPart 2: What the First Christians Believed4. Believing the Unbelievable5. Cult without Smoke and Blood: Strange Worship6. Possessed by the Spirit of God7. Beginning at the End of All Things: A Strange Reckoning of TimePart 3: How the First Christians Worshiped8. A Household of Faith: The Family Practices of the Early Christians9. A Priest-God and a Priestly People: Church as a Liturgical CommunityPart 4: How the First Christians Lived10. Dangerous Contact: Becoming Godlike11. To Treat All as Equal12. The Christians Were Not PerfectStrange Religion: Putting It All Together

Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham University) is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, founder of the Crux Sola blog, and has written numerous books, including Tell Her Story, A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies, 15 New Testament Words of Life, and commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is also the coeditor, with Scot McKnight, of The State of New Testament Studies, and a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Gupta lives in Portland, Oregon.

• IntroductionPart 1: Becoming Christian1. Roman Religion and the Pax Deorum: Keeping Peace with the Gods2. "Believers": The First Christians and the Transformation of Religion3. A Dangerous and Strange Religion: Christianity as a SuperstitionPart 2: What the First Christians Believed4. Believing the Unbelievable5. Cult without Smoke and Blood: Strange Worship6. Possessed by the Spirit of God7. Beginning at the End of All Things: A Strange Reckoning of TimePart 3: How the First Christians Worshiped8. A Household of Faith: The Family Practices of the Early Christians9. A Priest-God and a Priestly People: Church as a Liturgical CommunityPart 4: How the First Christians Lived10. Dangerous Contact: Becoming Godlike11. To Treat All as Equal12. The Christians Were Not PerfectStrange Religion: Putting It All Together

Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham University) is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, founder of the Crux Sola blog, and has written numerous books, including Tell Her Story, A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies, 15 New Testament Words of Life, and commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is also the coeditor, with Scot McKnight, of The State of New Testament Studies, and a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Gupta lives in Portland, Oregon.

• IntroductionPart 1: Becoming Christian1. Roman Religion and the Pax Deorum: Keeping Peace with the Gods2. "Believers": The First Christians and the Transformation of Religion3. A Dangerous and Strange Religion: Christianity as a SuperstitionPart 2: What the First Christians Believed4. Believing the Unbelievable5. Cult without Smoke and Blood: Strange Worship6. Possessed by the Spirit of God7. Beginning at the End of All Things: A Strange Reckoning of TimePart 3: How the First Christians Worshiped8. A Household of Faith: The Family Practices of the Early Christians9. A Priest-God and a Priestly People: Church as a Liturgical CommunityPart 4: How the First Christians Lived10. Dangerous Contact: Becoming Godlike11. To Treat All as Equal12. The Christians Were Not PerfectStrange Religion: Putting It All Together