Christian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Christian (listen) is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament[2] and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament[3].
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[edit] History and usage of the term
The first known usage of the term can be found in the New Testament of the Bible, in Acts 11:26: "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." The term was thus first used to denote those known or perceived to be disciples of Jesus. Similarly, in the two other New Testament uses of the word (Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16), it refers to the public identity of those who follow Jesus.
The earliest recorded use of the term outside the Bible was when Tacitus recorded that Nero blamed the "Christians" for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.
As a noun, Christian (Gr. Χριστιανός and variant Χρηστιανός, Strong's G5546) is an appellation deriving from the name "Christ" and is derived from the Greek noun Christos which means "anointed one," itself a translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach or "Messiah."
"Christian" also means a member or adherent of a church or other organized group within Christianity. As an adjective, the term may also describe anything associated with Christianity, or even remotely thought to be consistent with Christianity, as in "the Christian thing to do."
[edit] Who is a Christian?
The definition of who is a "Christian" varies among different Christian groups. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestants define a Christian as one who has become a member of the Church through the sacrament of baptism. In these churches, infants who are baptized may be considered Christians, although they are expected to make a personal affirmation of faith when old enough to decide for themselves.
Evangelical, fundamentalist and denominations do not practice infant baptism and do not believe that baptism is connected with salvation (a sacrament). Rather, they consider it to be a public command of identifying oneself with Jesus Christ in his death, representing repentance and a new life in God, as in Christ's resurrection. They encourage youth and adults to "become Christians" by personally "accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour," and to follow that decision with Believer's Baptism. These groups also use the phrase "born-again" (John 3:3) to describe becoming a Christian.
A few denominations and sects teach that Believer's baptism is necessary for salvation — the transition from non-Christian to Christian (see Baptismal regeneration). They define a Christian as one who has been baptized as a repenting adult.
Within countries where Christianity is the historical majority religion, the term is also used by some in a casual generic sense to indicate that they are not members of nor affiliated with any other religion – therefore considering themselves Christians by default.[4]
[edit] In other languages
As the identification of "Christ" with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, in the Hebrew language Christians are called "Nazarenes" (Natsri), because Jesus is described in the New Testament as being from the province of Nazareth.
In Arabic, among Arab Christians, Arab Muslims and Arabs of other faiths, as well as in other languages influenced by the Arabic language (ie. mainly in Muslim cultures where Arabic influence was as a result of its status as the liturgical language of Islam), two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani, again referring to Nazareth, and Masihi meaning followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi means those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim white people. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Salibi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations.[5]
[edit] See also
| Christianity Portal |
[edit] References
- ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX, Monotheism; William F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity; H. Richard Niebuhr, ; About.com, Monotheistic Religion resources; Jonathan Kirsch, God Against the Gods; Linda Woodhead, An Introduction to Christianity; The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Monotheism; The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, monotheism; New Dictionary of Theology, Paul pp. 496-99; David Vincent Meconi, "Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity" in Journal of Early Christian Studies pp. 111–12
- ^ BBC, BBC - Religion & Ethics - Christianity
- ^ Book of Isaiah Book of Isaiah, Chapter 53.
- ^ Becoming a Christian. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ Khaled Ahmed, Pakistan Daily Times. Jeffrey Tayler, Trekking through the Moroccan Sahara. Society for Internet Research, The Hamas Charter, note 62 (erroneously, "Salidi"). Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam, Globalization, and Postmodernity, p 110.
ar:مسيحيون cs:Křesťan de:Christ es:Cristiano eo:Kristanismo eu:Kristau fr:Chrétien ko:그리스도인 it:Cristiano (religione) la:Christianus nl:Christen ja:クリスチャン nds:Christ simple:Christian sv:Kristen tl:Kristyano vi:Cơ Đốc nhân tpi:Kristen tr:Hristiyan ur:عیسائی zh:基督徒
