Post by none on Mar 27, 2006 4:13:53 GMT -5
What name did they have?
In the 100-year history of the New Testament no name was given to the church by its followers. In fact, there was no name given to Judaism in its previous 2,000 year history. This was simply because Christianity, like Judaism, was meant to be a way of living. A received name would be appropriated by every religion. Some of the Old Testament prophets even rejected being labeled "prophets" because everybody who wanted religious authority now called themselves "prophets."
Jesus, John the Baptist and the Apostles did not offer any church name to those who asked. This leads to the danger of being labeled by your foes - Jesus’ followers for instance were called the “Sect of the Nazarenes.” The word "sect" implies radical, fringe and dangerous, and "Nazarene" symbolized much of what was considered vulgar, apostate and pagan in Israel.
Jesus’ followers identified themselves by names such as “the way;” “brothers;” “saints;” “the Truth” and “disciples.”
From time to time names were imposed upon these congregations by governments or communities. For instance at Antioch, twenty years after Jesus, the followers of Jesus were first called “Christian.” The term was derogatory (ie King Agrippa in Acts 26:28, and the historians Tacitus and Suetonius.) Later the term was used by the Romans for administration purposes. The followers of Jesus did not call themselves Christian, but accepted what the term meant – one who worships Jesus.