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ly, in givinj tlifvc i-; no i\i(l.n(e to show u^ly tu .li-w- i1m-,i_. citizens of liuM/.iiiu Olio .If.-i. truth of the that it realed not on a dogma or upon an institution, but on a person ; and tliat its simple and ultimate definition was to be found in a relationship to Jesus Christ, whether ' Christos ' to these Syrian Antiocheues was some strange god (Ac 17") or a Jewish agitator. An outstanding trait in the Christians whom Pliny found in Bitnynia was that they ' sang a hymn to Christ as to a god ' (Plin. Ej). X. 96, ad Trajan.) at worship. From the impression made by facts and features like this, it was but a step to' designate the new sect as ' Christ's folk or party.'
, It AV.%s iioithfr tin' original nor the chosoii nanic of beli«.-v.-i- ill .lo-us Christ. Their iimn tiil.~ (see Wc>iz-a.koi\ Ajnist. Age. i. p. i'.M.) w.i.- 'brethreu,' ' .UM-iplos,' ;ind 'saints,' all ol"_«liiili preceded, and fur some time survived alongside of.
suggest that the name ' Christian ' was primarily and principally applied to Gentile Christians.
' Truly,' as Renan observes, ' it is remarkable to think that, ten years after Jesus died. His religion already possessed, in the capital of Syria, a name in the Greek and Latin languages. Christianity speaks Greek, and is now finally launched into that great vortex of the Greek and Roman world which it will never leave.' Its weaning from the breast of Judaism had commenced. And this was due to that increasing sense of Christ's personal authority which has been already noted (cf. Amiel's Journal Intime, Eng. tr. p. 3 f. ). The more the significance of this came to be grasped, as the new faith ex- panded beyond the precincts of Judaism, the more did the distinctive universalism of the Gospel assume its true place.
For, while the basal conception of ' Christian ' is Semitic ('Christ'), the linguistic termination {■iani) is either Latin or (more probably) Greek. Even were it Latin, it would be hasty to attribute (with Baur)the origin of the term to Rome, where Tacitus is our first pagan witness for its ciurency about A.D. 110. Early designations in -ioi'6s (cf. Mk 3^ Justin's Dial. 35) were not infrequent among the Greeks of Asia Minor, and it is arbi- trary scepticism to hold that St. Luke in Ac 1 1-" must have antedated and misplaced the origin of the name, or that Tacitus has done the same. The latter {Annul, xv. 44) describes Nero's victims as ' men whom the common people loathed for their secret crimes, callinj^ them Chrestians. The name was derived from Cnrist, who had been put to death by Pontius Pilate, the iirocurator, during the reign of Tiberius.' Long before that period it must have been the interest of the Jews and Chris- tians alike to differentiate themselves to some degree, one from the other. And the circum- stances of the Neronic imeute, which was probably instigated by the Jews, must have made the dis- tinction plain, once and for all, to the local authorities. The inherent probabilities of the case, therefore, seem to iireclude any reasonable suspicion of a hj/strrmi /irultni,, u|.oii tlio part of liie Roman hi.storian ; imi i- il miiiatui.il, I'wu for ii;;i<l historical critiri-m, t.i ailmit I hat the dis- tinctive name of ' Christian ' may liav.- ln-.-n coined I and current nearly twenty yciiis earlier uiiou the
CHRISTIAN
CHRISTIAN
Tn tihort both passages in
banks of the Orontes.
-iiy
Acts gi'^ "•— VT ' : . "iiofi tlip author been authentic i-emn"scences ; had the aw more anxious to emphasize *!« "^w na^
^4 *^^^™inw.n;hahv,;fv'lbHe;^s(^
nueS to\he punishment of death
, , ,,r tho mere name of 'Christian was
final. Polycarp's martyrdom ^^ ""J ^^J* " " ;„ Qaul, not long point. But the story of the martyr i'^nctus m i,au b
against them that ho «ouu noi j„ i.ieg was, "I am a Loused o' Chnst>an.ty he wr>to '^^^^^j^*^^ I i asked I'i™*- ff ,n eiecutioif • The test apphed to doubtful car'
1 p -2^ perhaps a slight play on the ^vora). Sucl.
„o™rc< ov».«, they retort upon their entics a d opponents, 'If our name has^this ^meaning; ^^lly
iSTt'up to"opp';obrT;;;rf"Does it not sSit our
SLlJrto autL!6Wi«".(whilenowa. avs o CO use, ^ve know that their proper name s ^'hr°stian") ' (ii.) The other play upon the word was more pri^;ate, though it also may have ongin- Tted n sLme po'pular °ety raology I was con. nected wth C'An-.5<o.s- as 'the anointed. " f ai_e called Christians,' says .Tl'-I^.i -. -^^i^f ^- a'".
^f'/A-Tt'etrn'otiier motiies contributed to
[hf Apostolic or early cfiristian eonBCiousness. bo ploys it in order to plead for .^^"^^•^"V;'!^" %^
ill^tr^:K'o,t^tr=is:
"■"iTVT,'.' r;an,P ot Christian he legally borne by any one
£!'■•:£ !: S*^.*S. ,?S."i.°,..-.i... .»« ■«"■
tarily or involuntarily incurred.
R..tli 1 P 418 „n(j Ac '26=* denote the use of tl: titfe by outsiders (Ja '2' referring probably to 'airisf,' not • Christian.'), and thi. — -oborated by the evidence of Christian writings m the -nd cent where we find that its comparatively. -_--
among Christians the.nse ves are to be found however in Asia Minor during the first quartei of the 2nd cent. (Ignatius-himse f a native of Antioch-and the Didachc cf. Mart. Pf^ <-■ f Hhe God.beloved and God-fearin| people <^f the Christians'), in Gaul by the middle of t^e -nu cent (Eus HE v. 1), and elsewhere (cf. Jip. aa S«!' Christians ar; in the world as t - -ulj in the body,' etc. etc.). Gradually, a« time wen* on, the title came to assume jhf^ P°"ig°' authority which it has occupied for centuries though it does not seem to occur on a tomb t 1 the close of the 3rd cent. (Asia Minor). A"d this process was marked, if not accelerated, by a aouDle play upon the word, (i.) It was o ten PW"°""^„^^ or raiipronounced ChresHani^ ^^ if derived f om the familar proper name Chrestus (cf Suet. Viand. 25), the vernacular adjective xpvrri^ being equivalent to ' kindly,' ' excellent,' ' worthy (ct.