In the new episode of the Yale Divinity School podcast, early Christianity scholar Teresa Morgan explores what attracted Greeks and Romans to Christianity in the religion’s first centuries.
Morgan, McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at YDS, also discusses how Greek and Roman societies shaped Christian teachings and, on a more personal note, the challenges she faced as a female priest in the Anglican church.
Listen to the Quadcast on Apple Podcasts.
In Greek and Roman society, “pretty much everybody took for granted that the gods existed. It was much more a question whether the gods were benign or trustworthy,” says Morgan, author of the 2024 book Trust in Atonement: God, Creation, and Reconciliation. “But Judaism affirms—and Christianity inherits this and adds to it an affirmation about Jesus Christ—that God is trustworthy.”
The episode also explores Morgan’s early days as an Anglican priest, when the idea of female clergy was relatively new. “When I was first ordained, there were people in that parish who wouldn’t take communion from me,” she recalls. Over time, however, even those with more traditional views came to accept her.
The YDS Quadcast is hosted by Emily Judd ‘19 M.A.R., who is Senior Communications Specialist at the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, an international humanitarian organization. She previously worked as a journalist in the Middle East.