Everything about Christian totally explained
A
Christian is a person who adheres to
Christianity, a
monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of
Jesus Christ as presented in the
New Testament and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the
Hebrew Bible/
Old Testament.
Etymology
From Old English
cristen, from Latin
Christianus, from Greek Χριστιανός (
khristianos), from Χριστός (
khristos) meaning "the
anointed". In the (
Greek)
Septuagint version of the
Hebrew Bible,
khristos was used to translate the
Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (
Mašíaḥ,) (
messiah), meaning "[onewho is] anointed."
The first known usage of the term Χριστιανός
(khristianos) can be found in the
New Testament, in : "the disciples were called Christians first in
Antioch." The term was thus first used to denote those known or perceived to be
disciples of
Jesus Christ. In the two other New Testament uses of the word (and ), 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.
"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."
In the
United States, especially (but not only) the South and Midwest, the word Christian may also be narrowly used as shorthand for either of two denominations:
Disciples of Christ or the
United Church of Christ. For example, "First Christian Church of (name of local town)."
Who is a Christian?
church and participate in baptism. Others teach that instead a belief and acceptance in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is necessary. Some consider a Christian to be simply one who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Some theologians consider a Christian to be anyone who accepts the
Nicene Creed. This ancient text is accepted by Catholics, the Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans and all the remaining mainline Protestant Churches.
Roman Catholics,
Eastern Orthodox, and many
Protestants define a Christian as one who has become a member of the church through the sacrament of
baptism. In these denominations,
infants who are baptized may be considered Christians, although they're expected to make a personal affirmation of faith when old enough to decide for themselves.
Basis of Christian Teaching
There are three different views on the correct basis for Christian teaching:
BULLSHIT! Christianity and all other religions are complete BULLSHIT, STOP BELIEVING IN THIS CRAP
This is the principle of traditional
Protestant teaching (
Latin ablative, "by scripture alone") and is the assertion that the
Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of
Christian doctrine.
Sola scriptura was a foundational doctrinal principle of the
Protestant Reformation held by the reformer
Martin Luther and is a definitive principle of Protestants today (see
Five solas).
This is a principle often found in Anglican teaching which holds that even though the Bible is the primary source of doctrine it's improved by reference to other sources. It is sometimes considered part of, and sometimes separate from,
Sola Scriptura.
Salvation
Christians believe that the only way to Salvation is through Jesus Christ, although this principle is interpreted in various ways by different churches and individuals.
For some Christians, this means one must be practising Christian to be saved, while for others, this means that it's because Jesus sacrificed himself that a situation exists in which people can be saved.
Some Christians believe that people of other religions can be saved through the sacrfice of Jesus which allows their reconciliation with God. The Catholic Church doesn't believe that being Christian is
necessarily required for salvation as long as individuals "seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience" . However it's understood this should normally lead to being Christian.
Some prominent Christians believe in
universal salvation through Jesus's sacrifice and universal reconciliation.
A few Christians believe it's necessary to be a member of a specific denomination to be saved.
Denominations and sects which teach that Believer's baptism is necessary for
salvation — the transition from non-Christian to Christian (see
Baptismal regeneration) define a Christian as one who has been baptized as a repenting adult. They believe that everyone is a sinner and must repent. Other Christians believe that being baptised isn't required for salvation, but is an example that you're going to change your life and live as God wants you to live.
Evangelical and
fundamentalist denominations don't generally practice infant baptism and don't necessarily believe that baptism is necessary for
salvation (a
sacrament). Rather, they consider it to be a public command of identifying oneself with Jesus Christ in his death, representing repentance and a new life in God, as in Christ's resurrection. They encourage youth and adults to "become Christians" by personally "accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour," and to follow that decision with
Believer's Baptism. These groups also use the phrase "
born-again" to describe becoming a Christian.
Other believers follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, but don't believe it's necessary to affiliate with organized religion.
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're not members of nor affiliated with any other religion – therefore considering themselves Christians by default.
Denominations
This is a brief basic introduction to Christian denominations. Further information can be found on other articles.
Christians are divded into branches or "denominations" with different theologies and structures. There are very many different branches in Christianity. Very broadly, Christianity is divided into:
Orthodox Christians who follow the Sacred Tradition principle of Christian teaching and are in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople (normally considered by Orthodox Christians to be primus inter pares leader of Christianity).
Protestants follow the Sola Scriptura principle and reject Catholic and Orthodox Churches claims to authority over Christian teaching. Protestants traditionally believe in salvation by faith alone ("sola fide") which distinguishes them from Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
In other languages
As the identification of "Christ" with Jesus isn't accepted within Judaism, in Talmudic Hebrew Christians are called "Nazarenes" (Notzri), because Jesus is described in the New Testament as being from the city of Nazareth.
Among Arabs (whether Christians, Muslims or belonging to other faiths), as well as in other languages influenced by the Arabic language (for example mainly in Muslim cultures influenced by Arabic as the liturgical language of Islam), two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani (stemming from the Arabic ansar, as in the disciples of Jesus), and Masihi meaning followers of the Messiah. Where there's 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 Salibi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Christian'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://christian.totallyexplained.com">Christian Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
