Black Spirituality Religion : What were Christians called BEFORE ANTIOCH

cherryblossom

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Feb 28, 2009
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... I am still seeking the answer as to what the people were called BEFORE THE WHITE PEOPLE OF ANTIOCH called them Christians??? ...

"PEOPLE OF THE WAY" Acts 9:2 INTRODUCTION 1. Today it is common to use terms referring to the people of God such as... a. The church of Christ, the church of God - Ro 16:16; 1Co 1:2 b. The body of Christ, the kingdom of Christ - Ep 1:22,23; Col 1:13 c. The temple of God, the bride of Christ - 1Co 3:16; Re 19:7-8 2. But in the early days of the church, they were also known as people of "The Way"... a. Saul of Tarsus persecuted those of the Way - Ac 9:2; 22:4 b. Others spoke evil of the Way - Ac 19:9 c. At Ephesus there was a riot about the Way - Ac 19:23 d. Paul confessed to worship God according to the Way - Ac 24:14 e. Felix the governor gained accurate knowledge about the Way - Ac 24:22

 
28. The Jewish Christians: the Original Followers of Jesus

Note: Words and phrases within curly braces { } within quotations are furnished by the author to explain such quotations. Words and phrases within square brackets [ ] within quotations are part of the quoted text.
The Jewish Christians are also known as Hebrews (in the book of Acts) and Ebionites (in the writings of the Church fathers). Epiphanius wrote (between 374-377 CE) that the Ebionites of his time claimed their roots to the Hebrews mentioned in the book of Acts: “But they {the Ebionites} are proud to call themselves beggars {Ebionites}, they say, in the time of the apostles they would sell their possessions and lay them at the apostles’ feet ...” The Jewish Christians formed a distinct Judaic sect in Jerusalem. Their sect was made up partially by Pharisees who had converted to Jesus’ movement and by former Essenes. John the Baptist, who was essentially an Essene, instructed people to follow Jesus. Probably after his execution many of his disciples joined Jesus’ movement. Jesus’ basic preaching was similar to John’s.



Jesus preached:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15 NRSV)​

John preached:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:1 NRSV)​

Like most Jews, the Jewish Christians believed that they would earn eternal life by observing the law of Moses. Like the other Jews, they expected the king-Messiah to re-establish the kingdom of Israel (as prophesied in Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, and Jeremiah). However, unlike the other Jews, the Jewish Christians believed that this king-Messiah had come: it was Jesus, who had been killed, as it was prophesied in Daniel:

continued here: http://www.prudentialpublishing.info/jewish_christians.htm
 
The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
Dr. James D. Tabor

Nazarenes and Ebionites

Josephus reports four main sects or schools of Judaism: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots. The earliest followers of Jesus were known as Nazarenes, and perhaps later, Ebionites, and form an important part of the picture of Palestinian Jewish groups in late 2nd Temple times.

The Ebionite/Nazarene movement was made up of mostly Jewish/Israelite followers of John the Baptizer and later Jesus, who were concentrated in Palestine and surrounding regions and led by "James the Just" (the oldest brother of Jesus), and flourished between the years 30-80 C.E. They were zealous for the Torah and continued to walk in all the mitzvot (commandments) as enlightened by their Rabbi and Teacher, but accepted non-Jews into their fellowship on the basis of some version of the Noachide Laws (Acts 15 and 21). The term Ebionite (from Hebrew 'Evyonim) means "Poor Ones" and was taken from the teachings of Jesus: "Blessed are you Poor Ones, for yours is the Kingdom of God" based on Isaiah 66:2 and other related texts that address a remnant group of faithful ones. Nazarene comes from the Hebrew word Netzer (drawn from Isaiah 11:1) and means "a Branch"—so the Nazarenes were the "Branchites" or followers of the one they believed to be the Branch. The term Nazarene was likely the one first used for these followers of Jesus, as evidenced by Acts 24:5 where Paul is called "the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." Here we see the word used in a similar way to that of Josephus in writing of the four sects/schools of Judaism: Pharisees; Sadducess; Essenes; and Zealots. So the term Nazarene is probably the best and broadest term for the movement, while Ebionite (Poor Ones) was used as well, along with a whole list of other terms: Saints, Children of Light, the Way, New Covenanters, et al. We also know from the book of Acts that the group itself preferred the designation "The Way" (see Acts 24:14, 22, etc.). The term "Christian," first used in Greek speaking areas for the movement, actually is an attempt to translate the term Nazarene and basically means a "Messianist."

continued here: http://religiousstudies.uncc.edu/people/jtabor/ebionites.html
 
peace

What were Christians called BEFORE ANTIOCH
- the politically correc answer would be Bedouins/Wanderers.

The His-storically correct answer would be that there were no 'christians' before Antioch. So maybe the question asked should be:

Before they were called 'christians' AT ANTIOCH, what were they called?

Then again, since the name was meant in mochery, there really were no 'christians' before or after Antioch in the way that the question is posed because that's not what they considered themselves to be.
 
peace

- the politically correc answer would be Bedouins/Wanderers.

The His-storically correct answer would be that there were no 'christians' before Antioch. So maybe the question asked should be:

Before they were called 'christians' AT ANTIOCH, what were they called?

Then again, the name since the name was meant in mochery, there really were no 'christians' before or after Antioch in the way that the question is posed because that's not what they considered themselves to be.

Semantics.....But, thank you for answering KEITA KENYATTA's QUESTION.
 

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