You are invited to join us on campus online for the 35th annual Carmichael-Walling Lectures, presented by ACU’s Center for the Study of Ancient Religious Texts, at Abilene Christian University on Thursday, Nov. 4.
Dr. Nijay Gupta of Northern Seminary, who speak on the theme,
Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Attractive.
- 4 p.m. CST – People of Faith: Why the first Christians Called Themselves ‘Believers’
Even though ancient people were “religious,” they didn’t typically dwell on the language of “faith” or “belief.” But the first Christians were seemingly obsessed with belief language. Why is that? We will explore why the people of Jesus called themselves “believers” and how that shaped their understanding of God and God’s world.
- 7 p.m. CST – Cult without Smoke and Blood: The Strange Worship of the Early Christians
All religions ancient and modern value worship, devotion to the divine. The early Christians dared to express their devotion without two key ingredients: the smoke and blood of sacrifice. Why were these things absent? Since they approached worship differently, what shaped their strange practices of devotion?
Lectures are free, open to the public and will take place in Hart Auditorium in the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building on ACU’s campus in Abilene, Texas. Note:
Masks and social distancing are required. For mandatory guidelines, see
ACU’s COVID information pages.
For more information or to learn how to stream the lectures online, contact
csart@acu.edu.
Dr. Nijay Gupta teaches New Testament courses at Northern Seminary, working closely with the Master of Arts in New Testament and the Doctor in Ministry in New Testament Context cohorts. He has been teaching for more than a decade. Gupta is the author of several important works, including
Paul and the Language of Faith,
A Beginner’s Guide to New Testament Studies, and
The State of New Testament Studies. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the
Bulletin for Biblical Research, co-editor of The Bible in God’s World series with Scot McKnight, and as a member of the editorial board of both
Ex Auditu and of the Biblical Interpretation Series. He is a graduate of the University of Durham.