Who are these Christians?*

Who are these Christians?*
Cinops be gone – Sunday, January 15, 2012

“We are told in the Acts of the Apostles (11:26) that it was at Antioch – it must have been about the year 44 A.D. – that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. From certain linguistic characteristics we can conclude with relative certainty that it was the Roman authorities who bestowed this name on the believers.

“By it, the disciples of Jesus were designated as the coterie of Christ, as the party of Christ; it goes without saying that the authorities were well aware that this Christ had been put to death as a criminal. Hence Christians were known as the followers of a criminal and consequently since they concurred with his teaching, were themselves worthy of death, being, as it were, members of a criminal organization.

“The name Christian thus became a term used in criminal: whoever bore this name did not have to commit any further crime; he was already guilty. It is all the more remarkable, therefore, that the Christians themselves embraced this designation, which meant death for them.

“Its earliest use is in the First Epistle of Saint Peter, and it occurs with great frequency in the so-called Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles [Didache] and in the letter of Ignatius [ of Antioch], two collections of texts that probably originated in the region of Antioch in about the year 100.

“How can one explain the fact that Christians adopted precisely this designation, which put them literally in danger of death, and were even proud of it? But, in fact, this connection has persisted throughout all of history and today even more than ever before. We might recall, for instance, the martyrs who shed their blood for Christ in Mexico in the ‘20s and ‘30s or the martyrs of the Third Reich – Edith Stein, Maximilian Kolbe, to name just two of the many we might mention.

“Acceptance of the name “Christian” is an acknowledgment of martyrdom, the expression of one’s readiness for martyrdom. The terms “Christian” and “martyr” are synonymous. When we call ourselves Christians, this meaning is always implied.”

*Jan. 14th Meditation from J. Cardinal Ratzinger, “Co-Workers of the Truth” 1992 Ignatius P.

George H. Kubeck