Originally, we referred to ourselves as followers of the Way (Acts 9:2; 16:17; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 22:4, 14, 22), vis-à-vis Jesus (John 14:6). We didn’t begin referring to ourselves as Christian until the second century AD. So, how did we get the name Christian, where did it occur and under what circumstances?
We are told in scripture that we were first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26). Moreover, sometime later, about 20 years (give or take) King Agrippa uses the term, which can be understood to be derogatory, when he sums up Paul’s testimony by saying: “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” (Acts 26:28). Keep in mind, first that this was uttered by the elite of Jewish society. Secondly, we hadn’t been referring to ourselves by this name until much later. So, the elite or the authorities use this name for us, prior to our doing so. The only other reference to us being Christian in scripture come from Peter’s first letter, where he writes to believers in what is modern Turkey (1Peter 1:1), who were presently being persecuted, and Peter says: “If anyone suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed…” (1Peter 4:16), indicating that the term was disparaging and disrespectful. So, how did we get the name in the first place?
The name Christ comes from the Greek Christos, meaning “anointed one,” and corresponds to the Hebrew word we translate as Messiah, but the ending –ian is actually Latin, implying Roman influence in giving us the name Christianoi (Greek/Latin) or its translation: Christian! An interesting parallel would be the Herodians who were “partisans, clients or even members of the extensive household of Herod the Great. Herodians were not only found in Judea, but were found in many places throughout the Empire, especially in Rome.
What can we draw from the fact, as indicated in the Book of Acts, that we were first called Christian in Antioch, about the time Barnabas and Paul were teaching there, because of the many new gentiles, who converted to Christ (Acts 11:21-26)? At about the same time the Roman governor of Syria, Petronius, was wintering his troops in Ptolemais, just north of Caesarea. He was there awaiting word from Caligula in the hope he would change his mind about desecrating the Jewish Temple with an image of himself, which undoubtedly would have erupted in a war between the Jews and Rome. During this year or year and a half, Peter preached to Cornelius at Caesarea, Paul was preaching in Syria-Cilicia and the Hellenist-Jewish believers who fled to Antioch from the persecution initiated by the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem began preaching Jesus to the gentiles there.
It seems that the Jerusalem church authorities were wondering what to do with the new uncircumcised gentile believers, they heard rumors about in places like Antioch. This was probably shortly after Peter’s defense of his welcome of Cornelius at Caesarea. The church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch (Acts 11:22), where both he and Paul ministered to believers for a full year (Acts 11:26), and, keeping in mind that it was about this same time we were called Christian, derived from the Greek, Christos, with a Latan/Roman …ian ending (Christianoi; transited to Christian).
Undoubtedly, with a possible war between Rome and the Jews brewing, Petronius had ordered an inquiry into what he might expect of the new gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah. Would they stand on the side of the Jews in a war with Rome, or would they show themselves innocuous, which was how Pilate originally perceived Jesus, the founder of the sect? In other words, the term Christian had a political connotation, and it was used in a sense to identify possible troublemakers. Since the first Roman persecution of believers occurred after the fire of Rome, and initiated by Nero, the Roman’s official finding of Christians at Antioch was that they were nonpolitical and harmless.
If this seems logical and true, it follows that our politics should never interfere with our walk with Christ or our preaching of the Gospel. The fact is that white Evangelical Christianity’s support of Trump has alienated about half of the America people, vis-à-vis both Trump’s loss to Biden and his victories in 2016 and 2024 were by small margins, showing nearly half of American voters were for or against Trump at any given time. Given the fact that about half of Americans hold very emotional views against his Presidency, it seems the Gospel has suffered, at least in the hearts and minds of Americans against Trump. Moreover, the politics of white Evangelical Christianity has overpowered their Christian witness, meaning folks simply will not listen to what they claim about Christ, because of their adamant stand with Trump, no matter what he does.
If politics wasn’t a driving force around Christ’s ministry, and if it wasn’t a driving force around the ministry of Christ’s first followers, how can Christians today justify their making politics their prime effort to achieve what they perceive to be Christian goals?
Smoodock's Blog 