Reference: Christian
Easton
the name given by the Greeks or Romans, probably in reproach, to the followers of Jesus. It was first used at Antioch. The names by which the disciples were known among themselves were "brethren," "the faithful," "elect," "saints," "believers." But as distinguishing them from the multitude without, the name "Christian" came into use, and was universally accepted. This name occurs but three times in the New Testament (Ac 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:16).
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and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
Fausets
The name first given at Antioch to Christ's followers. In the New Testament it only occurs in 1Pe 4:16; Ac 11:26; 26:27-28. Their name among themselves was "brethren," "disciples," "those of the way" (Ac 6:1,3; 9:2), "saints" (Ro 1:7). The Jews, since they denied that Jesus is the Christ, would never originate the name "Christians," but called them "Nazarenes" (Ac 24:5). The Gentiles confounded them with the Jews, and thought them to be a Jewish sect. But a new epoch arose in the church's development when, at Antioch, idolatrous Gentiles (not merely Jewish proselytes from the Gentiles, as the eunuch, a circumcised proselyte, and Cornelius, an uncircumcised proselyte of the gate) were converted.
Then the Gentiles needed a new name to designate people who were Jews, neither by birth nor religion. And the people of Antioch were famous for their readiness in giving names: Partisans of Christ, Christiani, as Caesariani, partisans of Caesar; a Latin name, as Antioch had become a Latin city. But the name was divinely ordered (as chreematizoo always expresses, Ac 11:26), as the new name to mark the new era, namely, that of the church's gospel missions to the Gentiles. The rarity of its use in the New Testament marks its early date, when as yet it was a name of reproach and hardly much recognized among the disciples. So in our age "Methodist," a term originally given in reproach, has gradually come to be adopted by Wesley's disciples themselves. Blunt well says: "if the Acts were a fiction, is it possible that this unobtrusive evidence of the progress of a name would have been found in it?"
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AND in those days the disciples being multiplied, there was a complaint of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily service.
AND in those days the disciples being multiplied, there was a complaint of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily service.
Look out therefore, brothers, from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit, and of wisdom, whom we may set over this business;
Look out therefore, brothers, from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit, and of wisdom, whom we may set over this business;
and asked of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of that way, he might bring them bound, men and women, to Jerusalem.
and asked of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of that way, he might bring them bound, men and women, to Jerusalem.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
For finding this man a pestilence and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a chief of the sect of the Nazoraeans,
For finding this man a pestilence and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a chief of the sect of the Nazoraeans,
King Agrippa, believe you the prophets? I know that you believe.
King Agrippa, believe you the prophets? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.
but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.
Hastings
This name, from very early times the distinctive title of the followers of Jesus Christ, occurs only thrice in NT (Ac 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:16).
1. Time and place of origin.
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And Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
and believers were added the more to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;
and asked of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of that way, he might bring them bound, men and women, to Jerusalem.
And Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem;
But some of them, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who came to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
And there were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch; Barnabas and Simeon called Niger [the black], and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen the foster brother of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.
and thence sailed to Antioch, whence they had been commended to the favor of God for the work which they performed.
AND certain persons having come down from Judea taught the brothers, If you are not circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders, with all the assembly [the church], to send delegates from themselves to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,
But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, teaching and preaching with many others the word of the Lord.
And when Paul was about to open his mouth Gallio said to the Jews, If there was any injustice or evil imposition, O Jews, I would bear with you in a reasonable manner; but if it is a question of doctrine, and of names, and of your law, look to it yourselves; for I will not be a judge of these things.
and coming down to Caesarea, and going up and saluting the church, he went down to Antioch;
But when some were hardened and believed not, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he left them and separated the disciples from them, and reasoned day by day in the school of one Tyrannus.
For finding this man a pestilence and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a chief of the sect of the Nazoraeans,
For finding this man a pestilence and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a chief of the sect of the Nazoraeans,
But this I confess to you, that in the way which they call a heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers; believing all things written in the law and the prophets,
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
But we would like to hear from you what you think, for it is known to us concerning this sect, that it is everywhere spoken against.
Who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God that justifies;
contribute to the necessity of saints, practise hospitality.
Put on, therefore, as elect and beloved saints of God, hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering,
PETER, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or as a meddler in other men's affairs; read more. but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.
but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.
Morish
A title first applied to professed believers at Antioch. Ac 11:26. Agrippa used it when addressing Paul. Ac 26:28. Peter accepts it, saying that to suffer as a 'Christian ' is a cause of thanksgiving. 1Pe 4:16.
It was not long, alas! before the outward profession of Christ became separated from true faith in Him in the great mass who were recognised as Christians in the world, and in practice they became anything but followers of Christ, as both scripture and history show. To learn what Christianity is according to God, we must turn, not to the great professing body, but to the scriptures, which testify clearly of the declension which was even then begun.
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and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.
Smith
Christian.
The disciples, we are told,
were first called Christians at Antioch on the Orontes, somewhere about A.D. 43. They were known to each other as, and were among themselves called, brethren,
disciples,
believers,
saints,
The name "Christian," which, in the only other cases where it appears in the New Testament,
is used contemptuously, could not have been applied by the early disciples to themselves, but was imposed upon them by the Gentile world. There is no reason to suppose that the name "Christian" of itself was intended as a term of scurrility or abuse, though it would naturally be used with contempt.
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and believers were added the more to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;
And going to Jerusalem he endeavored to join the disciples; and they all feared him, not believing that he was a disciple.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
And each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send help to the brethren living in Judea;
AND certain persons having come down from Judea taught the brothers, If you are not circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved.
writing by their hand, The apostles and elders and brothers, to the brothers in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, who are of the gentiles, greeting.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because it makes intercession with God for the saints.
But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints.
Watsons
CHRISTIAN, a follower of the religion of Christ. It is probable that the name Christian, like that of Nazarenes and Galileans, was given to the disciples of our Lord in reproach or contempt. What confirms this opinion is, that the people of Antioch in Syria, Ac 11:26, where they were first called Christians, are observed by Zosimus, Procopius, and Zonaras, to have been remarkable for their scurrilous jesting. Some have indeed thought that this name was given by the disciples to themselves; others, that it was imposed on them by divine authority; in either of which cases surely we should have met with it in the subsequent history of the Acts, and in the Apostolic Epistles, all of which were written some years after; whereas it is found in but two more places in the New Testament, Ac 26:28, where a Jew is the speaker, and in 1Pe 4:16, where reference appears to be made to the name as imposed upon them by their enemies. The word used, Ac 11:26, signifies simply to be called or named, and when Doddridge and a few others take it to imply a divine appointment, they disregard the usus loquendi [established acceptation of the term] which gives no support to that opinion. The words of Tacitus, when speaking of the Christians persecuted by Nero, are remarkable, "vulgus Christianos appellabat," "the vulgar called them Christians." Epiphanius says, that they were called Jesseans, either from Jesse, the father of David, or, which is much more probable, from the name of Jesus, whose disciples they were. They were denominated Christians, A.D. 42 or 43; and though the name was first given reproachfully, they gloried in it, as expressing their adherence to Christ, and they soon generally assumed it.
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and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
and found and brought him to Antioch. And he was with them, and they met a whole year with the church and taught a great multitude; and the disciples first took the name of Christians at Antioch.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to be a Christian.
but as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God on this account.