What were Christians called before Christ?

Answer 1

There was no organization before Christ, so there was no name for them. While there were many Jews that became Christians, there were also others that had no religion.

The word 'Christian' originated out of the word 'Christ' , so before Christ there were either Gentiles or Jews.

Answer:

The Jews first referred to Christians as "The Way" but this was after Christ began to teach.

Answer 2

Those that believed that Jesus was the messiah where called "Followers of Christ."

The church and the term 'christian' didn't originate until after Christ ascended into heaven. (Note the word Christ is found in the word Christian.) Before then, people were either Jews or Gentiles (non-Jews). Jews had their own religious leaders and their own covenant with God which included giving sacrifices for forgiveness for sins. Jesus Christ was sent to be the ultimate sacrifice. He was killed as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, Jew and Gentile, so everyone could be forgiven for their sins. His followers, those who believed in him (again, both Jews and Gentiles) became the church: "Christians", named after Christ.

Answer 3

Some scholars hypothesise a sect of 'proto-Christians', who would have worshipped a purely spiritual Jesus, such as we could perhaps identify in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews talks of Jesus as a high priest in heaven and never explicitly identifies him as a person who had once lived and died in Palestine. In fact, Hebrews 7:3 describes Jesus as, "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God," and verse 8:4 says, "For if he were [ever] on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law." This is not the Jesus of the New Testament gospels: there seems no room for Joseph and Mary, no room for descent from King David and it seems he was never on earth. Scholars note that verse 8:4 does not say, "For when he was on earth ..." but rather "For if he were on earth ..." This is seen as suggesting that the followers of this tradition did not know of Jesus asa man who had lived and died on earth in the very recent past.

Paul, who wrote some of the earliest books of the New Testament, also seems to have been unaware that Jesus was a person who had lived and died in Palestine in the recent past. Perhaps he was preaching a form of proto-Christianity, in spite of Gospel-based Christianity claiming him for one of its own a hundred years later!

Some scholars suggest that the notion of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in Galilee and crucified some three decades later, only developed after Mark's Gospel was written, approximately 70 CE.

Answer 4

Atheists (and other equivalent terms) are not linked to "Christ" or any specific god, sect or religion, Atheists do not accept the existence of any gods of any religion. The word atheist itself has only been used in English since the 16th century CE. It cane from the French and originally from Creek to describe a person who is "without god"

Answer 5

The early church were followers of Jesus Christ and called Christians because of this. So they were referred to as Followers of Christ.

Answer 6

Before Jesus, Christianity was Judaism waiting for a Messiah.

Answer 7

Look into the essenes a Jewish sect around the same time as Christ that is documented by the Dead Sea scrolls but somehow not mentioned in The Bible. Possibly were they the Essenes? Is that who Christ decided to walk amongst in life and teach his lessons upon. Possibly. Much relation to John the Baptist by their use of water purification rituals.