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A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, a monotheistic
Monotheism

In theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Neoplatonism concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite....
 religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
/Old Testament
Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
.

Etymology
The word comes from Greek (christianos), from (christos) meaning "the anointed one
Anointing

To anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions and races....
." In the (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
) Septuagint
Septuagint

The Septuagint , or simply "LXX", is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 3rd century BC and 1st century BC in Alexandria....
 version of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, christos was used to translate the Hebrew ???????? (,) (messiah
Messiah

Messiah literally means "anointed ".In Jewish messiah tradition and Jewish eschatology, messiah refers to a future monarch of United Monarchy from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israelite#The Twelve Tribes, and herald the Messianic Age of global peace....
), meaning "[one who is] anointed."

The first known usage of the term ???st?a??? (christianos) can be found in the New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
 in : "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch
Church of Antioch

The Church of Antioch is one of the five Christian churches that composed the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church before the East-West Schism....
." They were disciples
Disciple (Christianity)

In the History of Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his Ministry of Jesus. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "Twelve Apostles", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel....
 and followers of Jesus Christ.






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A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, a monotheistic
Monotheism

In theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Neoplatonism concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite....
 religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
/Old Testament
Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
.

Etymology


The word comes from Greek (christianos), from (christos) meaning "the anointed one
Anointing

To anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions and races....
." In the (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
) Septuagint
Septuagint

The Septuagint , or simply "LXX", is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 3rd century BC and 1st century BC in Alexandria....
 version of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, christos was used to translate the Hebrew ???????? (,) (messiah
Messiah

Messiah literally means "anointed ".In Jewish messiah tradition and Jewish eschatology, messiah refers to a future monarch of United Monarchy from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israelite#The Twelve Tribes, and herald the Messianic Age of global peace....
), meaning "[one who is] anointed."

The first known usage of the term ???st?a??? (christianos) can be found in the New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
 in : "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch
Church of Antioch

The Church of Antioch is one of the five Christian churches that composed the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church before the East-West Schism....
." They were disciples
Disciple (Christianity)

In the History of Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his Ministry of Jesus. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "Twelve Apostles", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel....
 and followers of Jesus Christ. The other two New Testament uses of the word also refer to the public identity of those who follow Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
. The Jewish king said the Apostle Paul had almost persuaded the king "to become a Christian" . Writing in , the Apostle Peter encouraged believers who are abused "because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!"

The earliest recorded use of the term outside the Bible was when Tacitus
Tacitus on Jesus

The Roman Empire historian Tacitus, writing in his Annals about the Great Fire of Rome , included an account of how the emperor Nero blamed the Christians in Rome for the disaster and initiated the first known persecution of early Christians by the Romans....
 recorded that Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 blamed the "Christians" for the Great Fire of Rome
Great Fire of Rome

According to the historian Tacitus, the Great Fire of Rome started on the night of 18 July in the year 64 CE, among the shops clustered around the Circus Maximus....
 in AD 64.

"Christian" also means a member or adherent of a church or other organized group within Christianity. As an adjective, the term may describe anything associated with or thought to be consistent with Christianity, as in "the Christian thing to do."

What is a Christian?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Christian as "one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus; one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus."

Classifications of people who call themselves Christians

A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. A 2007 survey in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 identified the following five typical categories:

  1. Active Christians: Committed to attending church, Bible reading, and sharing their faith that salvation
    Salvation

    In religion, salvation is the concept that God saves humanity from death. As commonly conceived, He has both Will of God and omnipotence to realize human salvation....
     comes through Jesus Christ.
  2. Professing Christians: Also committed to "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" as the key to being a Christian, but focus on personal relationships with God and Jesus more than on church, Bible reading or sharing faith.
  3. Liturgical
    Liturgy

    A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
     Christians    : High level of spiritual activity, mainly expressed by attending and recognising the authority of the church, and by serving in it or in the community.
  4. Private Christians: Believe in God and in doing good things, but not within a church context. In the American survey, this was the largest and youngest segment.
  5. Cultural Christians: Do not view Jesus as essential to salvation. They are the least likely to align their beliefs or practices with biblical teachings, or attend church. They favor a universal
    Universalism

    Universalism refers to theological religion, theology and philosophy concepts with universal application or applicability. It is a term used to identify particular doctrines as considering of all people in their formation....
     theology that sees many ways to God.


Other countries may not show the same variety, especially where there is active persecution of Christians
Persecution of Christians

The persecution of Christians refers to the religious persecution of Christians, both historically and in the current era....
.

People who have a distinct heritage and come to believe in Jesus may also identify themselves differently. Messianic Jews
Messianic Judaism

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement whose adherents believe that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they call Yeshua , is both the Death and resurrection of Jesus Jewish Messiah and their Divinity Salvation....
 believe that they are a sect of Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 and that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Divine
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
 Savior
Salvation

In religion, salvation is the concept that God saves humanity from death. As commonly conceived, He has both Will of God and omnipotence to realize human salvation....
. They seek to live in obedience to the Hebrew Scriptures, including the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 and Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
.

The term Rice Christian
Rice Christian

A rice Christian is someone who has formally declared themselves a Christian for material benefits. The term is often used pejoratively.The term comes from Asia, such as India, in which local populations who had failed to grow their own food used Christianity to get food from the missionaries under the impression that they could 'buy' food...
s refers to people who convert to Christianity for survival.

In other languages


In other European languages the word is similar, such as Chrétien in French. The Chinese word is (pinyin
Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: jidu tú), literally "Christ follower."

As the identification of "Christ" with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, in Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 Christians are called Notzri ("Nazarenes"), because Jesus is described in the New Testament as being from the city of Nazareth
Nazareth

Nazareth is the capital and largest Cities in Israel in the North District . It also serves as an unofficial Arab capital for Israel's Arab citizens of Israel who make up the vast majority of the population there....
.

Among Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
s (whether Christians, Muslims or belonging to other faiths), as well as in other languages influenced by the Arabic language
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 (mainly in Muslim
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
 cultures influenced by Arabic as the liturgical
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 language of Islam), two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani, and Masihi meaning followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi means those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim white people. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Salibi; this refers to Crusaders
Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious war waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against Paganism Slavic peoples, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Church, Mongols, Catharism, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemi...
 and has negative connotations.

The word Nasrani is generally understood to be derived from Nazareth through the Syriac (Aramaic). In some areas of the Arab world, tradition holds that it derives from nasr ("victory"), and means "people of victory" in reference either to early successes of the Christian religion or to the initial Christian Ethiopian support for Muhammad
Muhammad

Muhammad Patronymic#Arabic Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib , is the founder of the Major religious groups of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a Rasul and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets....
 during his early conflicts in Arabia. Nasrani is also sometimes said to derive from ansar
Ansar (Islam)

Ansar is an Islamic term that literally means "helpers" and denotes the Medinan citizens that helped Muhammad and the Muhajirun on the arrival to the city after the Migration to Medina....
, which means "disciple". The Syrian Malabar Nasrani
Syrian Malabar Nasrani

The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition....
 people are a Christian ethno-religious group from Kerala, India, possibly Jewish
Jewish ethnic divisions

Jewish ethnic divisions refers to a number of distinct communities within the world's ethnicity Jewish population. Although considered one single Identity ethnicity, there are distinct ethnic divisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the result of geographic branching from an originating Israelite population, and subsequent independen...
 in Ethnic origin.

See also

  • Conversion to Christianity
    Conversion to Christianity

    Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion ? a "radical transformation of self" of a previously non-Christian person to some form of Christianity....
  • Christendom
    Christendom

    Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon. It can also refer to the part of the world in which Christianity prevails....
  • List of Christians