Staff Writer – Carol Cato
How many times have you ticked one of those boxes that says “What religion are you” , most people tick this box because they were baptised as a child and that is what society says they are. I used to think the same way until I became a born again believer. After that, whenever I had to tick that box it meant something different to me. It meant that I am a child of God, that I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that on the third day He rose again.
However, I sometimes bring it up as a topic of conversation when I meet new people. I’d ask them, what is their religion and if they answered that they were Christian, my second question would be to ask if they are a practicing Christian? Now, when I ask a non Christian this question they’re often taken aback, I guess they’re not used to being questioned in that way. People normally respond with, well I go to church occasionally and I do believe in God, but I still like to do all the other things… and I am not giving up this or that…. Usually I smile when I hear this, however in my blog today I want to look at the word “Christian” in a deeper way, so I hope you allow me to share my findings.
The dictionary says that a Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ; a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ. Wikipedia’s definition is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheisticreligion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. ‘Christian’ derives from the Koine Greek word Christ, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term Messiah.
In the Bible, the book of Acts, contains the first reference to the word ‘Christians.’ It says that in the town of Antioch, ‘a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord… The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch’ (Acts 11:21 and 26).
When you start to study the Bible questions come to mind, such as did Jesus call his apostles Christians? He was called Rabbi, which means teacher. Jesus never called himself a Christian; Christ never called his followers Christians. The apostles never called each other Christians. Christ never used an adjective to describe himself. So how are we to identify ourselves then? The disciples called each other, ‘brethren’, ‘disciples’, ‘apostles’, ‘servants’, ‘believers’, ‘followers’, ‘the faithful’, ‘the elect’, ‘the called’, and ‘saints’. We can also identify ourselves as ‘bondservants’ of Christ.
Photo courtesy churchofhomestuck.tumblr.com
Note carefully that Christ never started a religion – John 7:16]
It is probable that the term Christian, like that of Nazarenes and Galileans, was given to the followers of Jesus by the Greeks or Romans out of reproach or contempt. It was first used at Antioch in Syria, (Acts 11:26). There is some opinion that this name was given by the disciples to themselves; others think it was imposed on the disciples by divine authority, in either case the terms would recur in the subsequent history of the Acts, and later in the Apostolic Epistles. It is also found in two more places in the New Testament (Acts 26:28), where a Jew is the speaker, and in 1 Peter 4:16, where reference appears to be made to the name as imposed on them by their enemies.
Zodhiates Word Studies, explains that when the term Christian was used at Antioch, it was a ‘divine warning’, to avoid the use of the word. It seems the apostles heeded the warning, you will never read any New Testament writers using the term ‘Christian’ to describe themselves.
The research also shows that ‘Christian’ was originally a pagan term and people called themselves Christians before the time of Jesus. “Egypt, which you commanded to me, my dearest Servianus, I have found to be wholly fickle and inconsistent, and continually wafted about every breath of fame. The worshippers of Serapis (here) are called Christians, and those who are devoted to the god Serapis (I find), call themselves Bishops of Christ.” The Emperor Hadrian to Servianus, written A.D. 134.
However this does not diminish what we now mean when we call ourselves Christians. It means “to-be-Christ-like.” In the past for people to be called Christian they had to be initiated through practice and needed to have reached a certain point in their progression.
So the next time you tick the box that asks if you are a Christian, think about what you’ve just read. Next week I’ll talk about the name, Jesus.
Now I urge all my readers to pick up a Bible and start to study – don’t simply believe everything I say, search for your own answers.
I pray that the Holy Spirit guides you on your journey to find the Kingdom.
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