“THE disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” “With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.” “If a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.”
These are the only occasions where the word “Christian” occurs in the New Testament. This word, occurring so rarely, and gradually passing into general use, has become almost commonplace. Yet the word in itself has a deep significance and suggestiveness.
Seeing therefore that with the passing of the centuries the word has now come to be so widely used, it is interesting and valuable to go back to the beginnings, and consider what it meant in the early days.
The name by which the followers of Christ were most generally known at that period was that of disciples. They also spoke of themselves as believers, as brethren in Christ, as those who were of “the Way.” But they did not speak of themselves as Christians. The first time the word Christian is used, it is in the way of description. It has been said that these men of Antioch, proverbially witty and clever, created this as a term of opprobrium, a kind of nickname. I am not at all sure of the correctness of that view. It was certainly a name given to these followers of Christ by those who were without. The disciples did not call themselves Christians. They “were called Christians first in Antioch.” The people of Antioch observed these people, took note of them as to their conversation and their habits, and said, They are Christians. Those not themselves Christians were the first to apply the name to the followers of Christ, and it was intended to describe them.