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 CHRISTIAN The New Testament book of Acts, which tells the story of the early church, records the first time when people were called Christians – "There in Antioch the Lord's followers were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26). The word was probably a nickname. Being a Christian means being devoted to Jesus and trying to follow his teaching. Some Christians would add other qualifications: Believing the creeds of the church, maybe – though that would exclude more liberal Christians and some of the more radical churches. Belonging to a church, maybe – though not all Christians accept all churches as true Christian churches, and many people who don't go to church would call themselves Christians. Being baptised, maybe – though some churches don't practice baptism and some people who are baptised don't practice Christianity. Believing the Bible, maybe – though Christians tend to disagree profoundly about what the Bible says. Living a morally upstanding life, maybe – though of course many non-Christians do this too; and just how bad do you have to be to stop being a Christian? Having a personal experience of Jesus, or having made a personal commitment to Jesus – though different Christians would describe this differently. More definitions |
Picture: calligraphy from an Ethiopian Orthodox prayer book. |
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