A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title (), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach () (usually rendered as messiah in English).Bickerman (1949) p. 145, "The Christians got their appellation from 'Christus,' that is, 'the Anointed,' the Messiah." While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like."
According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.3 billion Christians around the world, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas, about 26% live in Europe, 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa, about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific, and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa. Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories. 280 million Christians live as a minority. About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic, while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Eastern Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Church of the East, comprise 12% of the world's Christians. Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion due to overall total fertility rate according to Pew Research Center. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia."Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.Kay, Barbara. "Our politicians may not care, but Christians are under siege across the world". National Post. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
Etymology The Greek word (), meaning , comes from (), meaning 'anointed one', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership.Bickerman, 1949 p. 147, "All these Greek terms, formed with the Latin suffix -ianus, exactly as the Latin words of the same derivation, express the idea that the men or things referred to, belong to the person to whose name the suffix is added."p. 145, "In Latin this suffix produced proper names of the type Marcianus and, on the other hand, derivatives from the name of a person, which referred to his belongings, like fundus Narcissianus, or, by extension, to his adherents, Ciceroniani." In the Greek Septuagint, was used to translate the Hebrew (, 'messiah'), meaning "[one who is] anointed".Messiah at Etymology Online In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as in French and in Spanish.
The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least the 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction.
Early usage
The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament, in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle, "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." (Acts 26:28). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4, which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." (1 Peter 4:16).
Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect a derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome.#Wuest-1973 p. 19. "The word is used three times in the New Testament, and each time as a term of reproach or derision. Here in Antioch, the name Christianos was coined to distinguish the worshippers of the Christ from the Kaisarianos, the worshippers of Caesar." The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames.#Wuest-1973 p. 19. "The city of Antioch in Syria had a reputation for coining nicknames." However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in the Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards.Christine Trevett Christian Women and the Time of the Apostolic Fathers 2006 Christians' (christianoi) was a term first coined in Syrian Antioch (Acts 11:26) and which appeared next in Christian sources in Ignatius, Eph 11.2; Rom 3.2; Pol 7.3. Cf. too Did 12.4; MPol 3.1; 10.1; 12.1–2; EpDiog 1.1; 4.6; 5.1;"
The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus, referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan; and Tacitus, writing at the beginning of the 2nd century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero's scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome.
Nazarenes Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes. Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23, while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5. The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth.
The term Nazarene was also used by Tertullus (Against Marcion 4:8), the lawyer representing the Jews, who records the phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes". In , Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth, and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies: Volume 65, Issue 1 University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies – 2002 "around 331, Eusebius says of the place name Nazareth that 'from this name the Christ was called a Nazoraean, and in ancient times we, who are now called Christians, were once called Nazarenes';6 thus he attributes this designation" The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes, , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud in reference to an earlier, non-Christian group, versus the current modern-Hebrew usage for Christians.
Modern usage
Definition A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows:
Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance." Michael Martin evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed) to establish a set of basic Christian assumptions which include belief in theism, the historicity of Jesus, the Incarnation, salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model.
Hebrew and Jewish terms
The Hebrew word meaning Christian is () , derived from the mention in Christian scripture that Jesus came from the Jewish village of Nazareth () in the Galilee, today in northern Israel. That term is used broadly in reference to all denominations of Christians. Nazarene at Etymology Online As Jesus is not a part of Judaism, modern Hebrew-speaking Israelis and English-speaking Jews refer to Christianity’s Messianic Judaism sect as () , and generally, as Christians.
Arabic terms
In Arabic-speaking cultures, two words are commonly used for Christians: (), plural () is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes, believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); () means followers of the Messiah.Society for Internet Research, , note 62 (erroneously, "salidi"). Where there is a distinction, refers to people from a Christian culture and is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus.Jeffrey Tayler, Trekking through the Moroccan Sahara. In some countries tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners.
Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is ( ) from ( ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations.Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam, Globalization, and Postmodernity, p 110. However, is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as or () and () in Arabic.Rashid al-din Fazl Allâh, quoted in Karl Jahn (ed.) Histoire Universelle de Rasid al-Din Fadl Allah Abul=Khair: I. Histoire des Francs (Texte Persan avec traduction et annotations), Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1951. (Source: M. Ashtiany) This word comes from the name of the Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir."Account of al-Faranj seizing Antioch" Year 491AH, The Complete History
In the Maltese language, a Semitic European language related to Arabic written in the Latin alphabet, Christians are referred to as , singular masculine . The Romance-borrowed may also be used.
Asian terms
The most common Persian word is (), from Arabic. Other words are (), from Syriac for , and (), from the Middle Persian word , also meaning , derived from , meaning .MacKenzie, D. N. (1986). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press.
An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage was (), coming from the root word meaning .Hazhar Mukriyani, (1990) Hanbanaborina Kurdish-Persian Dictionary Tehran, Soroush press p.527.
The Syriac term () has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India. In northern India and Pakistan, Christians are referred to (, ). (, ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well.
In the past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword (from Arabic ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia. In the Indonesian language, the term is also used alongside .
The Chinese word is (), literally . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as , which was later abbreviated as . The term is in the southern Hakka dialect; the two characters are pronounced in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc, and a "follower of Christianity" is a .
In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents , , and in modern Japanese histories as ), from Portuguese , referred to Roman Catholics in the 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate. Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as () or the English-derived term ().
Korean still uses (RR: ) for , though the Portuguese loanword (RR: ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean (RR: ), which refers to Christ himself.
In Thailand, the most common terms are (RTGS: ) or (RTGS: ) which literally means or . The Thai word (RTGS: ) is derived from Christ.