Nijay Gupta joined David Capes recently from his home in Portland via Zoom to talk about a new book he has written: Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught and Ministered in the Early Church.

Who is Nijay Gupta?

Nijay Gupta is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Chicago.  He’s the author of a number of books on faith and the gospel.  He has been with us before on the Stone Chapel Podcasts. 

See the show notes below to listen to them. He writes a regular blog for Patheos called “Crux Sola: Formed by Scripture to Live Like Christ.”

What’s the Big Idea of Tell Her Story? 

Dr. Gupta grew up in a conservative church where all the leaders were men.  During his education, he came across gifted women from other denominations. 

They were leaders, ministers, and teachers.  Ironically, one of his first papers in graduate school argued that women must not be leaders.  His last paper in systematic theology made the case that women must be pastors.

Dr. Gupta’s current book explores the stories and contributions of women in the earliest churches.  We know about them from the New Testament, and in particular the letters of Paul. 

Romans 16 is one of those places where Paul names Jews, Gentiles, men, women, slave, and free.  Andrew Clark says that Paul puts flesh on his admonition in Gal 3:26-29. 

Paul commends women right alongside men as fellow workers, apostles, deacons, and fellow prisoner.

More Resources

To hear Nijay’s earlier podcasts on 15 New Testament Words, click here.

And click here for his podcast on Paul and the Language of Faith.