I picked up LTJ’s book but haven’t had the opportunity to read through it thoroughly. From what I have read, I think it will be a great contribution to anyone studying Greco-Roman religion. Johnson seeks to dispel notions that early Christian religion was wholly different from that of pagan religion. “The heart of the book, ” Johnson writes, “is a close and (I hope) careful comparison between the ways of being religious among Gentiles and in Christianity” (ix-x). He emphasizes that his book is written from the perspective of religious studies and not theology.

Johnson develops four ways or types of being religious in Greco-Roman religion. These four categories are (1) religion as participation in divine benefits, (2) religion as moral transformation, (3) religion as transcending the world, and (4) religion as stabilizing the world. Johnson then uses these categories to describe how early Christians understood religion in similar ways to other religions in the ancient Mediterranean. This book should be useful for patristic scholars as well as students of the New Testament since his discussion of ancient religion spans from the New Testament to the post-Constantine era.