A
Christian is a person who adheres to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, an
AbrahamicAbrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
, monotheistic
religionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
based on the life and teachings of
Jesus of NazarethJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. "Christian" derives from the
Koine GreekKoine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
word
ChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term
MessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
.
Central to the Christian faith is the
gospel, the teaching that humans have hope for
salvationWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
through the message and works of Jesus, and particularly his atoning
death on the crossThe crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
. Christians also believe Jesus is the
MessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
prophesied in the
Hebrew BibleThe Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of the
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
("tri-unity"), a description of
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
as
FatherGod the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
,
SonGod the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit...
, and
Holy SpiritHoly Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, which retains the monotheistic belief of Christianity's Abrahamic heritage through an ineffable confluence. This includes the vast majority of the churches in Christianity. A minority of Christian churches are
NontrinitariansNontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases and yet co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one essence or ousia...
.
The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." It is also used as a label to identify
people who associateA cultural Christian is a secular or irreligious individual who still significantly identifies with Christian culture. The term is used, for example, by atheist Richard Dawkins in reference to himself...
with the cultural aspects of Christianity, irrespective of personal religious beliefs or practices.
Etymology
The Greek word (
christianos)—meaning "follower of Christ"—comes from (
christos)—meaning "
anointedTo anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit, power or God...
one"—with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In the
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Septuagint,
christos was used to translate the
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
מָשִׁיחַ (
, messiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
), meaning "[one who is] anointed." In other European languages, equivalent words to 'Christian' are likewise derived from the Greek, such as 'Chrétien' in French and 'Cristiano' in Spanish.
Early usage
The first recorded use of the term (or its
cognateIn linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
s in other languages) is in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, in , which states "...in Antioch the
disciplesIn Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...
were first called Christians." The second mention of the term follows in , where Herod Agrippa II replies to Paul the Apostle, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in , which exhorts believers, "...if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."
Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is "
NazarenesNazarene is a title applied to Jesus , who grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, now in northern Israel. The word is used to translate two related words that appear in the Greek New Testament: the adjective Nazarēnos and the Nazōraios...
" which is used by the Jewish lawyer
TertullusIn the Bible, Tertullus was a lawyer, who was employed by the Jews to state their case against Paul in the presence of Felix ....
in Acts 24.
TertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
(
Against Marcion 4:8) records that "the Jews call us Nazarenes," while around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name
NazarethNazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, and that in earlier centuries "Christians," were once called "Nazarenes." The Hebrew equivalent of "Nazarenes",
Notzrim, occurs in the Babylonian Talmud, and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian.
All three original New Testament usages verses reflect a derisive element in the term
Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The town Antioch, which is said to have given them the name
Christian, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term, led to it being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term
Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in the Early Church Fathers from
IgnatiusIgnatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology...
and
PolycarpSaint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
onwards.
The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include
JosephusThis article is part of the Jesus and history series of articles.Josephus was a renowned 1st-century Jewish historian...
, referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;"
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
in
correspondence with TrajanThe Epistulae are a series of personal missives by Pliny the Younger directed to his friends and associates. These letters are a unique testimony of Roman administrative history and everyday life in the 1st century. The style is very different from that in the Panegyricus, and some commentators...
; and Tacitus, writing near the end of the 1st century. In the
AnnalsThe Annals by Tacitus is a history of the reigns of the four Roman Emperors succeeding Caesar Augustus. The surviving parts of the Annals extensively cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The title Annals was probably not given by Tacitus, but derives from the fact that he treated this...
he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as
NeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
's scapegoats for the
Great Fire of RomeThe Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that occurred beginning July 19, AD 64.-Background:According to Tacitus, the fire spread quickly and burned for six days. Only four of the fourteen districts of Rome escaped the fire; three districts were completely destroyed and the other seven suffered...
.
Modern usage
A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. There is usually a consensus among many denominations about what defines a Christian, but disagreement does exist among some sects and denominations on a common definition of "Christianity." Philosopher
Michael MartinMichael L. Martin is an American philosopher and professor emeritus at Boston University. He obtained his PhD from Harvard University in 1962....
, in his book
The Case Against Christianity, evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the
Apostles' CreedThe Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
, the
Nicene CreedThe Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
and the
Athanasian CreedThe Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicumque vult, is taken from the opening words, "Whosoever wishes." The Athanasian Creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century...
) to establish a set of basic assumptions which include belief in
theismTheism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists.In a more specific sense, theism refers to a doctrine concerning the nature of a monotheistic God and God's relationship to the universe....
, the
historicity of JesusThe historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...
, the
IncarnationThe Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
, salvation through faith in Jesus, and
JesusChristian views of Jesus are based on the teachings and beliefs outlined in the Canonical gospels, New Testament letters, and the Christian creeds. These outline the key beliefs held by Christian about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life. Generally speaking, adhering to the...
as an ethical role model.
Hebrew terms
As the identification of the Messiah with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, the
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic term for Christians in
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
is
Notzrim ("
NazareneNazarene may refer to:* Nazarene , a title applied to Jesus of Nazareth* Nazarene , a sect of 4th century Christianity described by Epiphanius* Church of the Nazarene, modern Christian Pentecostal denomination...
s"), originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the village of
NazarethNazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
in
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. However,
Messianic JewsMessianic Judaism is a syncretic religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of Jewish terminology and ritual....
are referred to in modern Hebrew as יהודים משיחיים (
Yehudim Meshihi'im).
Arabic terms
In Arabic-speaking cultures, two words are commonly used for Christians:
Nasrani (نصراني), plural "Nasara" (نصارى) is generally understood to be derived from
Nazareth through the Syriac (Aramaic);
Masihi (مسيحي) means 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
CrusadersThe Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
and has negative connotations.
Asian terms
Nasrani or
Nasranee may also refer to the
Syrian Malabar NasraniThe Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
people, a Christian ethno-religious group from
Keralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India, are a mixed race people of Chaldean, Malayali Brahmin, Syriac, Jewish and other Malayali Hindu Castes in decreasing percentage of ethnic ancestry.
In the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
Christians also call themselves "Isaai" , and are also known by this term to Hindus and Muslims, as well as adherents of other religions. This is related to the name they call Jesus, "Isa Masih".
In the past, the Malays used to call the Portuguese
Serani which meant "followers of the Nazarene". The term
SeraniThe Kristang are a creole ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. People of this ethnicity have strong Dutch heritage, some British as well as Chinese and Indian heritage due to intermarriage, which was common among the Kristang...
is used for the creole Christian community of Malaysia today.
The Chinese word is (
pinyinPinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: jīdū tú), literally "Christ follower." In Japan, the term
Kirishitan, from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Christian missionaries were known as bateren or iruman...
(吉利支丹, 切支丹, キリシタン?), from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in the 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Today, they are referred to by the English-derived term Kurisuchan.
Demographics
As of the early 21st century,
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
has around 2.1 billion adherents. The faith represents about a quarter to a third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with approximately
38,000 Christian denominations. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, with 1.17 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians.
Twenty countries with the most Christians
| Country |
Christians |
% Christian |
 United States (detailsChristianity is the largest and most popular religion in the United States, with around 77% of those polled identifying themselves as Christian, as of 2009. This is down from 86% in 1990, and slightly lower than 78.6% in 2001. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation...
) |
176,400,000 |
78.4% |
 Brazil (detailsReligion in Brazil has a higher adherence level compared to other Latin American countries, and is more diverse.In 1891, when the first Brazilian Republican Constitution was set forth, Brazil ceased to have an official religion. The present Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of religion...
) |
174,700,000 |
90.4% |
 Mexico (detailsMexico has no official religion, and the Constitution of 1917 imposed limitations on the church and sometimes codified state intrusion into church matters. The government doesn't provide financial contributions to the church, nor does the church participate in public education...
) |
105,095,000 |
94.5% |
 Russia (detailsChristians in Russia constitute by some estimates the largest religion of the country . Approximately 83% of the country residents consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, although the majority are not regular churchgoers...
) |
99,775,000 |
70.3% |
 Philippines (detailsThe Philippines is one of two predominantly Roman Catholic nations in Asia, the other being East Timor. About 93% of the population is Christian, about 5% are Muslim and about 2% are other or none.-History:...
) |
90,530,000 |
92.4% |
 Nigeria (detailsChristianity is a major religion in Nigeria accounting for about 50% of the population. Based on a 2003Nigerian Religious and Demographic survey, Christians comprised 48.2% of the Nigerian population. Christians are dominant in the southern and central region in Nigeria...
) |
76,281,000 |
48.2% |
| (details Christianity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the majority religion, followed by about 96% of the population. Denominations include Protestant 39%, Roman Catholic 50, Orthodox 0.1%, and other Christian 7%.-History:...
) |
68,558,000 |
95.6% |
 People's Republic of China (detailsChristianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
) |
66,959,000 |
5.0% |
 Italy (detailsRoman Catholicism is the largest Christian Denomination in Italy. According to a 2005 survey by Eurispes, 87.8% of the population identified themselves as Catholic; of those, 36.8% considered themselves practicing Catholics and 30.8% said they attended church every Sunday.-Catholicism:Nested in...
) |
55,070,000 |
91.1% |
 Ethiopia (detailsChristianity in Ethiopia dates to the first century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups...
) |
54,978,000 |
64.5% |
 Germany (detailsChristianity is the largest religion in Germany with 54,765,265 adherents as of the end of 2006, down to 51.5 million adherents as of 2008. The second largest religion is Islam with 3.3 million adherents followed by Buddhism and Judaism...
) |
49,400,000 |
59.9% |
 United Kingdom (details) |
44,522,000 |
71.8% |
 Colombia (detailsMore than 97 % of the population of Colombia are Christians.90% are Roman Catholic. *10% are evangelical Christians, Evangelical, The Seventh-day Adventist Church and others.- Roman Catholic archdioceses and other dioceses :...
) |
44,502,000 |
97.6% |
 Ukraine (details) |
41,973,000 |
91.5% |
 South Africa (detailsSouth Africa has a wide mix of religions. Many religions are represented in the ethnic and regional diversity of South Africa's population. The traditional spiritualities of the Khoisan and Bantu speakers were succeeded in predominance by the Christianity introduced by the Dutch and, later,...
) |
39,843,000 |
79.7% |
 Argentina (details) |
37,561,000 |
92.7% |
 Poland (detailsMost residents of Poland adhere to the Christian faith, with 89.8% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism plays an important role in the lives of many Poles and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland enjoys social prestige and political influence. The Church is widely respected by its...
) |
36,526,000 |
95.7% |
 Spain (detailsRoman Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity present in Spain by far. According to a October 2010 study by the Spanish Center of Sociological Research about 73% of Spaniards self-identify as Catholics, 2.2% other faith, and about 22% identify with no religion. Most Spaniards do not...
) |
35,568,000 |
77.2% |
 Early Modern France (detailsFrance is a country where freedom of religion and freedom of thought are guaranteed by virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the...
) |
35,014,000 |
53.5% |
 Kenya (detailsThe predominant religion in Kenya is Christianity, adhered to by about four-fifths of the population. Other faiths practiced in Kenya are Baha'i, Hinduism, Islam, and traditional African religions.-Christianity:...
) |
34,774,000 |
85.1% |
See also
- Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
- Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
- Conversion to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to some form of Christianity. It has been called the foundational experience of Christian life...
- Cultural Christian
A cultural Christian is a secular or irreligious individual who still significantly identifies with Christian culture. The term is used, for example, by atheist Richard Dawkins in reference to himself...
- Lists of Christians
- Rice Christian
Rice Christian is a term used, usually pejoratively, to describe someone who has formally declared himself/herself a Christian for material benefits rather than for religious reasons....
, referring to people who profess Christianity for material benefits