Larry W. Hurtado

“But Christianity did not become successful through Constantine giving it imperial approval. Instead, Constantine adopted Christianity likely because it had already become so successful despite earlier efforts to destroy the movement.”
― Larry W. Hurtado, Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World

“unusual in the Roman period.2 In the eyes of many of that time, early Christianity was odd, bizarre, in some ways even dangerous. For one thing, it did not fit what “religion” was for people then. Indicative of this, Roman-era critics designated it as a perverse “superstition.” Yet the very features of early Christianity that made it odd and objectionable in the ancient Roman setting have become now unquestioned assumptions about religion in much of the modern world.”
― Larry W. Hurtado, Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World