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Christian

 
Dictionary: Chris·tian   (krĭs'chən) pronunciation
 
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adj.
  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.
n.
  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.]

Christianly Chris'tian·ly adj. & adv.
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Columbia Encyclopedia: Christians
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Christians, name taken by the followers of several evangelical preachers on the American frontier, notably James O'Kelley, Abner Jones, and Barton W. Stone, all of whom were antisectarian. Some congregations joined the Disciples of Christ (see Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a body with similar emphasis founded by Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell, and the name Christians continued to be applied often to members of the Disciples' church. Other congregations of Christians united as a separate body that ultimately took the name of the Christian Church; this was merged in 1931 with the Congregational churches and the merged group became known as the Congregational Christian churches (see Congregationalism). See also Christianity.

 
Bible Dictionary: Christian
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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.

 
Devil's Dictionary: christian
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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


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.

 
Word Tutor: Christian
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: One who believes, professes to believe, or who is assumed to believe, in the religion of Christ and whose behavior exemplifies Christ's teachings.

pronunciation There are many things which a person can do alone, but being a Christian is not one of them. — William T. Ham

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.

 
Blogs: Related blogs on: Christian
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Wikipedia: Christian
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This article is about Christian people. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation).
Christian Cross

A Christian En-us-Christian.ogg listen (help·info) is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Son of God and had been prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.[1]

Contents

Etymology

Sister project Look up Christian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The word comes from Greek Χριστιανός (christianos), from Χριστός (christos) meaning "the anointed one."[2] In the (Greek) Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ,) (messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed."[3]

The first known usage of the term Χριστιανός (christianos) can be found in the New Testament in Acts 11:26: "the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch." They were disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. The other two New Testament uses of the word also refer to the public identity of those who follow Jesus. The Jewish king said the Apostle Paul had almost persuaded the king "to become a Christian" (Acts 26:28). Writing in 1 Peter 4:16, The Message paraphrase, the Apostle Peter encouraged believers who are abused "because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!"

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.[4]

"Christian" also means a member or adherent of a church or other organized group within Christianity. As an adjective, the term may describe anything associated with or thought to be consistent with Christianity, as in "the Christian thing to do."

What is a Christian?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Christian as "one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or lives the lifestyle based on the life and teachings of Jesus; one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus."[5]

A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. Some of the most generally accepted beliefs among Christians include:

  • that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
  • that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament
  • that God sent his Son to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sins
  • that Jesus gave his life on the Cross (the Crucifixion) and raised from the dead after the third day (the Resurrection).[1]

A 2007 survey in the United States identified the following five typical American categories:[6]

  • Active Christians: Committed to attending church, Bible reading, and sharing their faith that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. They also accept leadership positions in their church.[6]
  • Professing Christians: Are also committed to "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" as the key to being a Christian, but focus on personal relationships with God and Jesus more than on church, Bible reading or sharing faith.[6]
  • Liturgical Christians: High level of spiritual activity, mainly expressed by attending and recognizing the authority of the church, and by serving in it or in the community.[6]
  • Private Christians: Believe in God and in doing good things, but not within a church context. In the American survey, this was the largest and youngest segment.[6]
  • Cultural Christians: Do not view Jesus as essential to salvation. They are the least likely to align their beliefs or practices with biblical teachings or to attend church. They favor a universality theology that sees many ways to God.[6]

Other countries may not show the same variety, especially where there is active persecution of Christians.

People who have a distinct heritage and come to believe in Jesus may also identify themselves differently. Messianic Jews believe that they are a sect of Judaism and that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Divine Savior. They seek to live in obedience to the remaining aspects of the Mosaic Law found in the Torah.

The term rice Christians refers to people who profess Christianity for material benefits.

In other languages

In other European languages the word is similar, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish. The Chinese word is 基督徒 (pinyin: jīdū tú), literally "Christ follower."

As the identification of "Christ" with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, in Talmudic Hebrew Christians are called Notzri ("Nazarenes"), because Jesus is described in the New Testament as being from the city of Nazareth.[7]

Among Arabs (whether Christians, Muslims or belonging to other faiths), as well as in other languages influenced by the Arabic language (mainly in Muslim cultures influenced by Arabic as the liturgical language of Islam), two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani (نصراني), and Masihi (مسيحي) meaning followers of the Messiah.[8][9] Where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi means those with a religious faith in Jesus.[10] In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim white people.[10] Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Salibi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations.[9][11]

The word Nasrani is generally understood to be derived from Nazareth[8] through the Syriac (Aramaic). In some areas of the Arab world, tradition holds[citation needed] that it derives from nasr ("victory"), and means "people of victory" in reference either to early successes of the Christian religion or to the initial Christian Ethiopian support for Muhammad during his early conflicts in Arabia. Nasrani is also sometimes said to derive from ansar, which means "disciple". The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people are a Christian ethno-religious group from Kerala, India, possibly Jewish in ethnic origin.

See also

Christianity portal

References

  1. ^ a b "BBC — Religion & Ethics — Christianity at a glance." BBC [1]
  2. ^ Christ at Etymology Online
  3. ^ Messiah at Etymology Online
  4. ^ Tacitus (c. 55 -117 CE): Nero's persecution of the Christians, online at Washington State University
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "5 Kinds of Christians — Understanding the disparity of those who call themselves Christian in America. Leadership Journal, Fall 2007.
  7. ^ Nazarene at Etymology Online
  8. ^ a b Khaled Ahmed, Pakistan Daily Times.
  9. ^ a b Society for Internet Research, The Hamas Charter, note 62 (erroneously, "salidi").
  10. ^ a b Jeffrey Tayler, Trekking through the Moroccan Sahara.
  11. ^ Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam, Globalization, and Postmodernity, p 110.

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

 
Translations: Christian
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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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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Bible Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
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