Hebraic Names For the Early Church
Hebraic Names For the Early Church
Not only were the first fifteen elders of the Jerusalem Church Jewish, but so were the initial names applied to the early congregations. The term Minim, meaning "heretics" in Hebrew, was used by some in the Jewish community to describe the new believers. The Way, used in Acts 21:14 and 22, was a Messianic term taken from texts such as Isaiah 40:2, which refers to preparing "the way of the Lord." The Nazoraioi is Greek for Nazarenes (Acts 24:5) and is obviously derived from Jesus' Jewish hometown. The term Messianists is derived directly from the Hebrew word Messiah. Epiphanius' history says that before the believers were called Christians, they were for a short time known by the title Iessaioi, probably derived from the name Jesus, (17) a name saturated with the idea of salvation. Each of these names has a Hebraic background and is closely related to an Old Testament text.
The word Christian does not come from the Hebrew word for Anointed One but from a Greek word, and was not used by the Jerusalem Church at all. Christian was first used as a Gentile title for the believers at Antioch some forty to forty- five years into the first century (Acts 11:26). The term "were called" suggests that the name was coined by those outside the Church, perhaps to distinguish the disciples of Christ from unconverted Gentiles, as well as from other branches of Judaism. There is no evidence that the term was used extensively as a self-designation by the early Church, since it is only used three times in the New Testament and only once by a believer (Acts 11:26, 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16).
The word Christian does not appear consistently as a self-designation until the Didache,(18) and was used later by Ignatius during the late first or early second century.(19) The reason this term was not used earlier may be explained by a letter from the Roman Governor Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan around the year A.D. 112. The letter indicates that those identifying with this name were killed.(20)
In examining the Jewish roots of the Church, it is important to differentiate between the Hebrew Christians, such as the Nazarenes and Messianists at the beginning, and the various groups of Ebionites with Judaizing traits, which were active around the turn of the first century. The early Hebrew Church was composed of those who believed in justification by faith as well as those who stressed traditions that involved legalism. Although most Jewish believers continued to keep the Sabbath and the various laws that differentiated them from non-Jews, strictly as an identification code, they did not require it for their non-Jewish converts. This identification as a Jew had nothing to do with salvation, but was kept by Jews as a reminder of the special eternal Covenant that God had made with them as a chosen people. The Covenant reminded God's people that they were the guardians of the Holy Land and were obliged to maintain and preserve the Law (Genesis 15:18, 17:7-10, Deuteronomy 7:6, Psalms 105:45, Ezekiel 16:6, Isaiah 44:1 and Romans 3:1-2).
After an investigation of all Scripture relating to Israel, it appears that the chosen people status was not awarded as a special privilege, but because the people of Israel could be trusted to preserve the Law of God (Psalms 105:45). Although some 170 of the 613 Laws of the Torah apply to moral and ethical matters, few Christians recognize them as apart of modern theology and it has fallen to the Jewish people to preserve this aspect of God's Law until the present
Not only were the first fifteen elders of the Jerusalem Church Jewish, but so were the initial names applied to the early congregations. The term Minim, meaning "heretics" in Hebrew, was used by some in the Jewish community to describe the new believers. The Way, used in Acts 21:14 and 22, was a Messianic term taken from texts such as Isaiah 40:2, which refers to preparing "the way of the Lord." The Nazoraioi is Greek for Nazarenes (Acts 24:5) and is obviously derived from Jesus' Jewish hometown. The term Messianists is derived directly from the Hebrew word Messiah. Epiphanius' history says that before the believers were called Christians, they were for a short time known by the title Iessaioi, probably derived from the name Jesus, (17) a name saturated with the idea of salvation. Each of these names has a Hebraic background and is closely related to an Old Testament text.
The word Christian does not come from the Hebrew word for Anointed One but from a Greek word, and was not used by the Jerusalem Church at all. Christian was first used as a Gentile title for the believers at Antioch some forty to forty- five years into the first century (Acts 11:26). The term "were called" suggests that the name was coined by those outside the Church, perhaps to distinguish the disciples of Christ from unconverted Gentiles, as well as from other branches of Judaism. There is no evidence that the term was used extensively as a self-designation by the early Church, since it is only used three times in the New Testament and only once by a believer (Acts 11:26, 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16).
The word Christian does not appear consistently as a self-designation until the Didache,(18) and was used later by Ignatius during the late first or early second century.(19) The reason this term was not used earlier may be explained by a letter from the Roman Governor Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan around the year A.D. 112. The letter indicates that those identifying with this name were killed.(20)
In examining the Jewish roots of the Church, it is important to differentiate between the Hebrew Christians, such as the Nazarenes and Messianists at the beginning, and the various groups of Ebionites with Judaizing traits, which were active around the turn of the first century. The early Hebrew Church was composed of those who believed in justification by faith as well as those who stressed traditions that involved legalism. Although most Jewish believers continued to keep the Sabbath and the various laws that differentiated them from non-Jews, strictly as an identification code, they did not require it for their non-Jewish converts. This identification as a Jew had nothing to do with salvation, but was kept by Jews as a reminder of the special eternal Covenant that God had made with them as a chosen people. The Covenant reminded God's people that they were the guardians of the Holy Land and were obliged to maintain and preserve the Law (Genesis 15:18, 17:7-10, Deuteronomy 7:6, Psalms 105:45, Ezekiel 16:6, Isaiah 44:1 and Romans 3:1-2).
After an investigation of all Scripture relating to Israel, it appears that the chosen people status was not awarded as a special privilege, but because the people of Israel could be trusted to preserve the Law of God (Psalms 105:45). Although some 170 of the 613 Laws of the Torah apply to moral and ethical matters, few Christians recognize them as apart of modern theology and it has fallen to the Jewish people to preserve this aspect of God's Law until the present
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Baumet on
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small corrections ...
The term Messianists is derived directly from the Hebrew word Messiah Messianic - Hebrew Meshiach ( means messiah or savior)
Christian was first used as a Gentile title for the believers at Antioch some forty to forty- five years into the first century (Acts 11: Greek word Christos and was not meant to be kind .. like being called a bible thumper by the unsaved today
Good article -
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