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A Little Background on a Common Word
"Another reason why Antioch has a special place in the history of Christianity is that here “the disciples were called Christians first” (v. 26), a name that has prevailed. This was probably a name given by the Antiochene population; Christians used it of themselves beginning only in the second century. In New Testament times, they preferred to use words like “disciples,” “saints,” and “brothers.” In the New Testament only non-Christians (like Agrippa, 26:28, and the persecutors of Christians, 1 Peter 4:16) use the term. The Gentiles must have heard the believers speak so often of Christ that they supplied a suffix to the word “Christ”—thus, “Christians” (meaning “the Christ people”). The Jews would not have given them this name, since “Christ” is the Greek word for the title “Messiah,” and the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah." [1]
For being a word we use so often, it's interesting that it only occurs 3 times in the Bible: Acts 11:26 (from today), Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16.
So, what do you think? Should we be calling ourselves something other than "Christian"?
A Little Background on a Common Word
"Another reason why Antioch has a special place in the history of Christianity is that here “the disciples were called Christians first” (v. 26), a name that has prevailed. This was probably a name given by the Antiochene population; Christians used it of themselves beginning only in the second century. In New Testament times, they preferred to use words like “disciples,” “saints,” and “brothers.” In the New Testament only non-Christians (like Agrippa, 26:28, and the persecutors of Christians, 1 Peter 4:16) use the term. The Gentiles must have heard the believers speak so often of Christ that they supplied a suffix to the word “Christ”—thus, “Christians” (meaning “the Christ people”). The Jews would not have given them this name, since “Christ” is the Greek word for the title “Messiah,” and the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah." [1]
For being a word we use so often, it's interesting that it only occurs 3 times in the Bible: Acts 11:26 (from today), Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16.
So, what do you think? Should we be calling ourselves something other than "Christian"?
[1] Ajith Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), 350.
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