Dictionary:

Christian

  (krĭs'chən)

1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.
3. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
4. Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.
5. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.

1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.

[Middle English Cristen, from Old English cristen, from Latin Chrīstiānus, from Chrīstus, Christ. See Christ.]

A follower or disciple of Jesus; someone who believes Jesus is the Christ or Messiah. The New Testament mentions that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians within a few years after his death.

n.

One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.

    I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
    The godly multitudes walked to and fro
    Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
    With pious mien, appropriately sad,
    While all the church bells made a solemn din --
    A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
    Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
    With tranquil face, upon that holy show
    A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
    Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
    "God keep you, strange," I exclaimed.  "You are
    No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
    And yet I entertain the hope that you,
    Like these good people, are a Christian too."
    He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
    It made me with a thousand blushes burn
    Replied -- his manner with disdain was spiced:
    "What!  I a Christian?  No, indeed!  I'm Christ."
                                                                  G.J.

Tutor's tip: To "christen" is to baptize or to name in a ceremony, while a "Christian" is a believer in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

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For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation).

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A Christian (listen) is a member of a religious cult who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic^[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament.^[2]

History and usage of the term

The first known usage of this 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 Christ. 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."

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 is a member of the Church, which one enters through the sacrament of baptism. In these churches, infants who are baptized may be considered Christians. Some denominations teach that adult 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. Others, including many who use the term "born-again Christians" (John 3:3), believe that a Christian is one who believes and follows Jesus and repents of their sins.

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.

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 and other languages influenced by Muslim culture, 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 Salidi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations. ^[3]

See also

• Christendom

• www.brvida.org Free Christian Hosting

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ BBC, BBC - Religion & Ethics - Christianity
3. ^ Khaled Ahmed, Pakistan Daily Times. Jeffrey Tayler, Trekking through the Moroccan Sahara. Society for Internet Research, The Hamas Charter, note 62.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - kristen, anstændig
n. - kristent menneske

idioms:

• christian name    fornavn, døbenavn

Nederlands (Dutch)
christen, christelijk

Français (French)
adj. - chrétien
n. - chrétien

idioms:

• christian name    prénom

Deutsch (German)
n. - Christ
adj. - christlich

idioms:

• christian name    Vorname

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χριστιανός
adj. - χριστιανός, χριστιανικός

idioms:

• christian name    βαπτιστικό ή μικρό όνομα

Italiano (Italian)
cristiano

idioms:

• christian name    nome proprio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cristão (m), pessoa (f) de boa índole (coloq.)
adj. - cristão, decente, responsável

idioms:

• christian name    nome (m) de batismo, prenome (m)

Русский (Russian)
христианин, христианский

idioms:

• christian name    имя

Español (Spanish)
adj. - cristiano
n. - cristiano, Christian (nombre propio)

idioms:

• christian name    nombre de pila, nombre de bautismo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kristen
adj. - kristen

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
基督的, 基督教的, 基督徒, 文明人

idioms:

• christian name    受洗时所取的名字

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 基督的, 基督教的
n. - 基督徒, 文明人

idioms:

• christian name    受洗時所取的名字

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 그리스도인의, 기독교의, 인간적인
n. - 기독교도, 문명인

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - キリスト教徒, 立派な人
adj. - キリスト教の, キリストの, キリスト教らしい, 信仰深い

idioms:

• christian name    クリスチャンネーム, 洗礼名

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مسيحي (صفه) مسيحي, نصراني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נוצרי, (אדם) טוב, הגון (מדוברת)‬
n. - ‮נוצרי, אדם המפגין תכונות נוצריות, אדם המשתייך לאחת הכנסיות הנוצריות‬

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