CRISTIANOS, CRISTIANOU
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Oct 24 19:12:58 EDT 2002
At 3:49 PM -0700 10/24/02, Denny A Diehl wrote:
>Mitch,
>
>> > >Is this word CRISTIANOS, CRISTIANOU meant to be a mean
>> > >word? Did others call christians this word because
>> > >they did not care for them? I see this word in Acts 11
>> > >and 1 Peter 4 but each time I see it I don't see why
>> > >people say it was a word that others used about
>> > >christians in a bad way.
>
>With regard to the term CRISTIANOS being used
>derisively, note:
>
>"...called Christians by the populace. Christus, from
>whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme
>penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of
>one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most
>mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment,
>again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of
>the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous
>and shameful from every part of the world find their
>center and become popular."
> -Tacitus Ann 15:44
>
>"Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a
>sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief."
> -Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Nero 16
>
>Concerning Christians, Tacitus also wrote:
>"Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded
>guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude
>was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city,
>as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was
>added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts,
>they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to
>crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve
>as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired."
> -Tacitus Ann 15:44
>
>So, yes, the term "Christian" was held in derision by some
>who were pagans. However, when Peter instructed
>
>"but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel
>ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God." -1 Pet 4:16
>
>the name was held as honorable.
But of course, all these excerpts show only that Christians were held in
contempt by Romans; so also were Jews, for that matter. This doesn't
constitute evidence that the Greek word CRISTIANOS or the Latin word
CHRISTIANUS is a "diminutive." Rather the Latin adjectival suffix
-IANUS/A/UM simply means "belonging to" or "associated with." In and of
itself, this sort of word has neither pejorative nor favorable
connotations--it all depends upon how people use it. I suppose that in many
Moslem countries today "American" might well be a pejorative word in terms
of its usage.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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