Meaning, who made up the name Christian and for what reasons were it coined?
2007-05-12 10:48:03 · 13 answers · asked by reverendrichie 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Great answers but who coined the word is what I am asking.
2007-05-12 10:55:03 · update #1
Mosiach, Hebrew, means anointed one and it is used in scripture as the reference to the one we call the messiah.
Chtistos is Greek for Anointing or Anointed one, I forget which. Mosiach traslated into Christos which was then translated into the English Christian.
Why? Because the Romans had to have a name for the kind of people they were throwing to the lions.
Crowds didn't come if you said you were tossing "people" to the lions, or blasphemers. Tell them you were tossing anointed ones to the lions and the people would come to watch hoping they would see one of them kick a lions butt, and then laughing at them when they got ripped to pieces.
2007-05-12 10:53:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The book of Acts says that the believers in Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch.
Acts 11:26 (NIV)
...and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Christian means follower of Christ, or belonging to Christ, just as a Philadelphian belongs to Philadelphia. Christ comes from a Greek word meaning "anointed", the same as the Hebrew word Messiah. Jesus was anointed (that is, chosen) by God to be the Savior.
2007-05-12 10:53:38 · answer #2 · answered by MNL_1221 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey little brother, again the Bible is the true source:
Acts 11:26
and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Holy Bible NIV
2007-05-12 10:52:18 · answer #3 · answered by Lazarus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch.
The entire passage cited runs from verse 19 -30. "Who" actually coined the term is unclear.
It may have been the citizens of Antioch, or Paul and Barnabas themselves.
Greek:
Christianos {khris-tee-an-os'}
Literally, "followers of Christ."
2007-05-12 10:52:56 · answer #4 · answered by Bobby Jim 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Because they believed Jesus was the Christ
2007-05-12 10:50:57 · answer #5 · answered by hope and faith 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
followers of Jesus Christ were first called “christians” in antioch [check acts 11:26] because their behavior/activity/ speech were like Christ. it was originally used by the unsaved people of antioch as a kind of contemptuous nickname used to make fun of the christians. it literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or an “adherent or follower of Christ,” which is very similar to the way webster’s dictionary defines it
2007-05-12 10:52:18 · answer #6 · answered by Silver 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
2007-05-12 10:53:15 · answer #7 · answered by carl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hey I just read that today. It first started in the Book of Acts . It means to be Christ like.
2007-05-12 10:53:57 · answer #8 · answered by shaolinmantis77 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the first church at Antioch.
2007-05-12 10:53:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The root word is "Christ". You can find a good explanation here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ
2007-05-12 10:52:11 · answer #10 · answered by Happy to Help (I guess) 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋