Christians

The Greek word (), meaning , comes from (), meaning 'anointed one', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In the Greek Septuagint, was used to translate the Hebrew (, 'messiah'), meaning "[one who is] anointed". In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as in French and in Spanish. The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least the 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction. ==Early usage==

near Antioch (modern-day Antakya), the city where the disciples were called "Christians" The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament, in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle, "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." (Acts 26:28). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4, which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." (1 Peter 4:16). Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect a derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in the Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus, referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan; and Tacitus, writing at the beginning of the 2nd century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero's scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. Nazarenes Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes. Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23, while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5. The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth. The term Nazarene was also used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus (Against Marcion 4:8), who records the phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes". Furthermore, around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth, and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes". The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes, , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud, and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. ==Modern usage==

. 11th century copy. and Ichthys symbols, two symbols often used by Christians to represent their religion Definition A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across the world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows: Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance." Hebrew terms is described as the childhood home of Jesus. Many languages employ the word Nazarene as a general designation for those of Christian faith. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah is not accepted by Judaism. The term for a Christian in Hebrew is ( ), a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as ( ). Arabic terms In Arabic-speaking cultures, two words are commonly used for Christians: (), plural () is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes, believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); () means followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, refers to people from a Christian culture and is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is ( ) from ( ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations. However, is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as or () and () in Arabic. This word comes from the name of the Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir. In the Maltese language, a Semitic European language related to Arabic written in the Latin alphabet, Christians are referred to as , singular masculine . The Romance-borrowed may also be used. Asian terms The most common Persian word is (), from Arabic. Other words are (), from Syriac for , and (), from the Middle Persian word , also meaning , derived from , meaning . An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage was (), coming from the root word meaning . The Syriac term () has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India. In northern India and Pakistan, Christians are referred to (, ). (, ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well. In the past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword (from Arabic ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia. In the Indonesian language, the term is also used alongside . The Chinese word is (), literally . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as , which was later abbreviated as . The term is in the southern Hakka dialect; the two characters are pronounced in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc, and a "follower of Christianity" is a . In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents , , and in modern Japanese histories as ), from Portuguese , referred to Roman Catholics in the 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate. Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as () or the English-derived term (). Korean still uses (RR: ) for , though the Portuguese loanword (RR: ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean (RR: ), which refers to Christ himself. In Thailand, the most common terms are (RTGS: ) or (RTGS: ) which literally means or . The Thai word (RTGS: ) is derived from Christ. In the Philippines, the most common terms are (for ) and (for ) in most Philippine languages; both derive from Spanish and (also used in Chavacano) due to the country's rich history of early Christianity during the Spanish colonial era. Some Protestants in the Philippines use the term (before the term born again became popular) to differentiate themselves from Catholics (). Eastern European terms The region of modern Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia has a long history of Christianity and Christian communities on its lands. In ancient times, in the first centuries after the birth of Christ, when this region was called Scythia, the geographical area of Scythians – Christians already lived there. Later the region saw the first states to adopt Christianity officially – initially Armenia (301 AD) and Georgia (337 AD), later Bulgaria ( 864) and Kyivan Rus ( 988 AD). In some areas, people came to denote themselves as Christians (; ) and as Russians (), Ruthenians (), or Ukrainians (). In time the Russian term () acquired the meaning and later (the main part of the population of the region), while the term () retained its religious meaning and the term () began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language, which strongly influenced the history and development of the region. In the region, the term Orthodox faith (, ) or Russian faith (, ) from the earliest times became almost as common as the original Christian faith ( ). Also in some contexts the term cossack () was used to denote "free" Christians of steppe origin and East Slavic language. Other non-religious usages Nominally "Christian" societies made "Christian" a default label for citizenship or for "people like us". In this context, religious or ethnic minorities can use "Christians" or "you Christians" loosely as a shorthand term for mainstream members of society who do not belong to their group – even in a thoroughly secular (though formerly Christian) society. ==Demographics==

As of 2020, Christianity had approximately 2.4 billion adherents. The faith represents about a third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World, where 70% are Christians. Christianity is growing in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Muslim world, and Oceania. Socioeconomics A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and the highest numbers of years of schooling among Christians were found in Germany (13.6), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world's universities were built by the historic Christian denominations, in addition to the historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting the education of women, which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. == Culture ==

and famous Christian leaders Christian culture describes the cultural practices common to Christian peoples. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Western culture, Middle Eastern, Slavic, Caucasian, and Constantinople (Eastern Christianity), Antioch (Syriac Christianity), Kerala (Indian Christianity) and Alexandria, among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom. The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization. Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". science and technology, medicine, fine arts and architecture,{{cite book|title=An Introduction to Christianity for a New Millennium ==Persecution==

In 2017, Open Doors, a human rights NGO, estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution", with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians. In 2019, a report This investigation found that approximately 80% of persecuted believers worldwide are Christians. ==See also==