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This article is about Christian people. For other uses, see Christians (disambiguation).
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A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ⓘ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God.[1][2] Most Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity ("tri-unity"), a description of God as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit, but a minority are Nontrinitarians. This small group is generally not considered Christians by any of the three major branches of Christianity. This includes Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and the vast majority of Protestantism.

The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like."[3]

Etymology

The Greek word Χριστιανός (christianos)—meaning "follower of Christ"—comes from Χριστός (christos)—meaning "anointed one"[4]—with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership.[5] In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ, messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed."[6] In other European languages, equivalent words to 'Christian' are likewise derived from the Greek, such as 'Chrétien' in French and 'Cristiano' in Spanish.

Early usage

The first recorded use of the term "Christian" is found in the New Testament, in Acts 11:26, which states "...in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians." The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26:28, where Herod Agrippa II replies to Paul the Apostle, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4:16Template:Bibleverse with invalid book, which exhorts believers, "...if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name". Mattison suggests that "[t]he New Testament's use of this term indicates that it was a term of derision, a term placed upon Christ's followers by their critics."[7]

The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus, referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;"[8] Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan; and Tacitus, writing near the end of the first century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians"[9] and identifies Christians as Nero's scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome.[10]

Modern usage

A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. Philosopher Michael Martin, in his book The Case Against Christianity, evaluated three historical Christian creeds to establish a set of basic assumptions which include belief in theism, the historicity of Jesus, the Incarnation, salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model.[11] Included in his analysis were the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

In the United States and Canada

The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance say that “Who is a Christian?” is “a simple question with many answers and no consensus." They found a near consensus within individual faith groups.[12]

Religious Tolerance claims that:

  • Most liberal Christian denominations, secularists, and public opinion pollsters define "Christian" very broadly as any person or group who sincerely believes themselves to be Christian. Using this definition, Christians total about 75% of the North American adult population.
  • Many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants define "Christian" more narrowly to include only those persons who have been "born again" or have made a personal commitment to follow Jesus irrespective of their denomination. About 35% of the North American adult population identify themselves in this way.
  • Some Protestant Christian denominations, para-church groups, and individuals have assembled their own lists of cardinal Christian doctrines. Many would regard anyone who denies even one of their cardinal doctrines to be a non-Christian. There is a wide diversity of opinion as to which historical Christian beliefs are cardinal doctrines.
  • Other denominations and sects regard their own members to be the only true Christians in the world. Some are quite small, numbering only a few thousand followers.[12]

Different definitions on such a fundamental topic makes dialog and debate among Christian groups very difficult. It also makes estimating the number of Christians in the U.S. quite impossible. By some definitions, 75% of Americans are Christians; by other definitions, it is a small fraction of 1%. [12]

In North America there are over a thousand faith groups including the Roman Catholic church; the Eastern Orthodox churches, other conservative, mainline, liberal and progressive Christian faith groups; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons); Jehovah's Witnesses, the Unification Church, Christian Science, progressive Christians, and other religious organizations. They all identify themselves as Christian. In fact, many regard their group as the only "true" Christian church. Yet they, and their followers, have very different beliefs about the life, events, teachings, actions, sinlessness and expectations of Yeshua. Also included as Christians are those who regard themselves as being followers of Jesus even though they do not affiliate themselves with any particular religious group. They appear to be growing in numbers.[12]

Anderson Cooper has reported that in the United States, "more than 85 percent is Christian and two-thirds of [Americans], a number that's climbing, consider America a Christian nation. But from there, the lines start to blur."[13]

Two recent empirical studies reveal differences in beliefs and religious practices among Christians in the U.S.:

Baylor University study

The Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion conducted a survey covering various aspects of American religious life.[14] Analysis of the data is ongoing, but some preliminary results show that Americans may be expressing their faith somewhat differently according to their particular beliefs.

  • A third of Americans (33.6 percent), roughly 100 million people, are Evangelical Protestants by affiliation.
  • The majority (62.9 percent) of Americans not affiliated with a religious tradition believe in God or some higher power.

Baylor researchers found that the type of god people believe in can predict their political and moral attitudes more so than just looking at their religious tradition. They identified four major concepts of God among Christians, though none of the four dominated belief:

  • 31 Percent believe in an Authoritarian God who is very judgmental and engaged.
  • 25 Percent believe in a Benevolent God who is not judgmental but is engaged.
  • 23 Percent believe in a Distant God who is completely removed.
  • 16 Percent believe in a Critical God who is judgmental but not engaged.

Christianity Today study

Another study, conducted by Christianity Today with Leadership magazine, attempted to understand the range and differences among American Christians. A national attitudinal and behavioral survey found that their beliefs and practices clustered into five distinct segments. Spiritual growth for two large segments of Christians may be occurring in non-traditional ways. Instead of attending church on Sunday mornings, many opt for personal, individual ways to stretch themselves spiritually.[15]

  • 19 percent of American Christians are described by the researchers as Active Christians. They believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ, attend church regularly, are Bible readers, invest in personal faith development through their church, believe they are obligated to share their faith with others, and accept leadership positions in their church.
  • 20 percent are referred to as Professing Christians. They also are committed to "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" as the key to being a Christian, but focus more on personal relationships with God and Jesus than on church, Bible reading or evangelizing.
  • 16 percent fall into a category named Liturgical Christians. They are predominantly Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, or Orthodox. They are regular churchgoers, have a high level of spiritual activity and recognize the authority of the church.
  • 24 percent are considered Private Christians. They own a Bible but don't tend to read it. Only about one-third attend church at all. They believe in God and in doing good things, but not necessarily within a church context. This was the largest and youngest segment. Almost none are church leaders.
  • 21 percent in the research are called Cultural Christians. These do not view Jesus as essential to salvation. They exhibit little outward religious behavior or attitudes. They favor a universality theology that sees many ways to God. Yet, they clearly consider themselves to be Christians.

In other countries

Christians in other countries may not show the same variety, particularly where there is active persecution of Christians.

Hebrew terms

As the identification of the Messiah with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, the Talmudic term for Christians in Hebrew is Notzrim ("Nazarenes"), originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the village of Nazareth in Israel.[16] However, Messianic Jews are referred to in modern Hebrew as יהודים משיחיים (Yehudim Meshihi'im).

Arabic terms

In Arabic-speaking cultures, two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani (نصراني), plural "Nasara" (نصارى) is generally understood to be derived from Nazareth[17] through the Syriac (Aramaic); Masihi (مسيحي) means followers of the Messiah.[17][18]

Where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi means those with a religious faith in Jesus.[19] In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim white people.[19] Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Salibi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations.[18][20]

Other

Nasrani or Nasranee may also refer to the Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, a Christian ethno-religious group from Kerala, India, are a mixed race people of Chaldean, Malayali Brahmin, Syriac, Jewish and other Malayali Hindu Castes in decreasing percentage of ethnic ancestry.

In the past, the Malays used to call the Portugese Serani which meant "followers of the Nazarene". The term Serani is used for the creole christian community of Malaysia today.

Chinese

The Chinese word is 基督徒 (pinyin: jīdū tú), literally "Christ follower."

See also

References

  1. ^ "Definition of Christian". Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  2. ^ "BBC — Religion & Ethics — Christianity at a glance", BBC
  3. ^ Schaff, Philip. "V. St. Paul and the Conversion of the Gentiles (Note 496)". History of the Christian Church.
  4. ^ Christ at Etymology Online
  5. ^ Bickerman, Elias J. (April, 1949). "The Name of Christians". The Harvard Theological Review. 42 (2): 109–124. Generally, the formations derive from a proper name or title and denote the followers, supporters, adherents, or partisans of a person, as in Brutianus, Augustianus, Caesarianus, and so on. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Messiah at Etymology Online
  7. ^ Mattison, Mark M. "What is a Christian?". True Grace Ministries.
  8. ^ Josephus. "Antiquities of the Jews - XVIII, 3:3".
  9. ^ Tacitus, Cornelius; Murphy, Arthur (1836). The works of Cornelius Tacitus: with an essay on his life and genius, notes, supplements, &c. Thomas Wardle. p. 287.
  10. ^ Bruce, Frederick Fyvie (1988). The Book of the Acts. Eerdmans. p. 228. ISBN 0802825052.
  11. ^ Martin, Michael (1993). The Case Against Christianity. Temple University Press. p. 12. ISBN 1566390818.
  12. ^ a b c d "Who is a Christian? A simple question with many answers and no consensus." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Oct. 9, 2009 Cite error: The named reference "WIAC" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cooper, Anderson (December 14, 2006). "What is a Christian?; New Moral Values; Evangelicals and Israel; End of Days; Capitalist Christian; The Seekers". Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees. CNN.com.
  14. ^ "Losing My Religion? No, Says Baylor Religion Survey". Baylor University. September 11, 2006.
  15. ^ "5 Kinds of Christians — Understanding the disparity of those who call themselves Christian in America. Leadership Journal, Fall 2007.
  16. ^ Nazarene at Etymology Online
  17. ^ a b Khaled Ahmed, Pakistan Daily Times.
  18. ^ a b Society for Internet Research, The Hamas Charter, note 62 (erroneously, "salidi").
  19. ^ a b Jeffrey Tayler, Trekking through the Moroccan Sahara.
  20. ^ Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam, Globalization, and Postmodernity, p 110.
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