Christ is the
English term for the
Greek (
Khristós) meaning "
the anointed one". It is a translation of the
Hebrew ( ).
The word is often misunderstood to be the
surname of
Jesus due to the
numerous mentions of
Jesus Christ in the Christian
Bible. The word is in fact used as a
title, hence its common reciprocal use
Christ
Jesus, meaning
The Anointed One, Jesus. Followers of
Jesus became known as
Christians because
they believed that Jesus was the Christ, or Messiah,
prophesied about in the
Tanakh (which Christians term the
Old Testament). The majority of
Jews reject this claim and are still waiting for Christ
to come (see
Jewish Messiah). Most
Christians now wait for the
Second
Coming of Christ when they believe he will fulfill the rest of
the
Messianic prophecy.
For further information on the
anointing
understood in the term Christ, please see
Messiah,
Jewish
Messiah and
Jesus.
The area of Christian
theology focusing on
the identity, life, teachings and works of Jesus, is known as
Christology.
Etymology
The spelling
Christ (
Greek
Genitive: ,
toú Christoú,;
Nominative: ,
ho Christós) in
English was
standardized in the 17th
century, when, in the spirit of
the Enlightenment, spellings of certain
words were changed to fit their
Greek
or
Latin origins.
Prior to this, in
Old and Middle
English, the word was usually spelled Crist, the
i being pronounced either as , preserved in the names of
churches such as St Katherine Cree
, or as a short , preserved in the modern
pronunciation of Christmas). The
spelling "Christ" is attested from the 14th century.
The term
Christ (or similar) appears in English and most
European languages,
owing to the
Greek usage of
Khristós (transcribed in Latin as
Christus) in
the
New Testament as a
description for
Jesus. In
the
Septuagint version of the
Hebrew Bible, it was used to translate into
Greek the
Hebrew mashiach
(messiah),
meaning "anointed."
Khristós in classical
Greek usage could mean
covered in
oil, and is thus a literal translation of
messiah.
Christian views
The
New Testament records that the
Messiah, long awaited, had come and describes this savior as
The Christ. The apostle Peter, in what has become a famous
proclamation of faith among Christians since the first century,
said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Teachings about Jesus and testimonies about what he accomplished
during his three-year public ministry are found throughout the
New Testament. Core biblical teachings
about the person of Jesus Christ may be summarized that Jesus
Christ was and forever is fully God (divine) and fully human in one
sinless person at the same time. Scripture asserts that Jesus was
conceived, by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of
his virgin mother Mary
without a human father.
The Jewish historian
Flavius
Josephus's
Antiquities of the Jews says:
Various texts titled "
Apostles'
Creed", dating from the third century A.D., and still in
current use among Christians, describe Jesus as
- The only son of God the Father
- Having the Virgin Mary as
mother
- Crucified on the authority of Pontius
Pilate
- Having been dead and buried
- Having "descended into hell" or "descended to the dead"
(sometimes omitted)
- Rising from the dead after 3 days or "on the third day"
- Having "ascended into heaven"
- Sitting "at the right hand" of God
- Destined to return to earth, and then to pass judgment on all
humans who have ever lived.
Esoteric views
See also Second Coming and
Esoteric
Christianity
Christian Science
In the theology of
Christian
Science,
Mary Baker Eddy, the
religion's founder, wrote in her book,
Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures, that:
Eddy wrote that while Jesus, as a material man, was not the exact
ontological or quantitative equivalent to God, he thoroughly
embodied the spiritual sonship of God's nature. In Christian
Science, the Christ, or divine manifestation of God, continues
forever to enlighten humanity and to destroy sickness, sin, and
death.
Western Wisdom Teachings
In the
Rosicrucian writings of
Max Heindel, also known as
Western Wisdom Teachings, there is
a distinction to be made between
Jesus and the
Christ. Jesus is considered a high Initiate of the human life wave
(the cycle of
rebirth) and of a
singularly pure type of mind, vastly superior to the great majority
of the present humanity.
Neo-Theosophy
In
Neo-Theosophy,
C.W. Leadbeater promulgated a
Nestorian/
Gnostic Christology that was taught by
Alice A. Bailey, is taught by
Benjamin Creme, and is accepted today by most
Theosophists. This
theology asserts that a
powerful being from the higher spiritual planes known as the
Maitreya overshadowed the being
Theosophists know as the
Master Jesus
during the
ministry of Jesus, such
that there were two beings (two
souls) in one
body—Maitreya was the
Christ and the Master Jesus was
Jesus; the combination of the two beings functioned as
Jesus Christ. Those adherent to the
Ascended Master Teachings,
a group of religions derived from Theosophy, believe in the
existence of the Maitreya; however, they believe that although he
encouraged the mission of Jesus, he did not actually overshadow
Jesus.
Gnostic
The
gnostics generally believed not in a
Jesus who was a divine person with a human form, but in a spiritual
christ who dwelt in Jesus. Through the spiritual path of
gnosticism, followers of these schools believed that they could
experience the same knowledge, or
gnosis. Many of the Gnostic texts say that in
order to be called worthy of the title 'Christian' one must also be
anointed with
Holy oil and that the water
baptism alone is incomplete. The
Gospel
of Philip states several such instances, one being:
Other Gnostic texts with Jesus Christ include the
Gospel of Thomas and the
Gospel of Mary.
Hindu view
Swami Tripurari states:
... in theory the sinners of the world are the
beneficiaries of Christ’s sacrifice, but it is God the father for
whose pleasure Christ underwent the crucifixion, even when the
father’s joy in this scenario lies in the salvation of
sinners.
Christ represents the intermediary between God and
humanity, and his life aptly illustrates the fact that it is
sacrifice by which we come to meet our maker.
Thus in Christ the Divine teaches us “the way” more
than he does the goal.
The Christ conception represents “the way” in the sense
that the way is sacrifice, out of which love arises.
The Krishna conception
represents that for which we not only should, but must sacrifice,
compelled by the Godhead’s irresistible attributes, etc. depicted
therein.
Islamic view
Muslims believe
Jesus (
;
`Īsā) to be the Messiah (
;
Masīḥ) and a
prophet. Although they believe in the
Virgin Birth, they do not consider
Jesus to be "the son of God". Muslims believe Jesus was neither
crucified nor dead, but was raised to Heaven by God while still
living.
Islamic traditions narrate that he will return to earth near the
day of judgment to restore justice
and defeat
al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
(
lit. "the false messiah", also known as the
Antichrist) and the enemies of Islam.
Χ
The use of "Χ," derived from Chi, the
Greek alphabet initial, as an abbreviation
for Christ (most commonly in the abbreviation "
Χmas") is often misinterpreted as a modern
secularization of the term. Thus understood, the centuries-old
English word Χmas, is actually a
shortened form of CHmas, which is, itself, a shortened form for
Christmas.
Slang usage
The
interjection "christ!" is sometimes
used as a sign of surprise or anger, without a direct religious
reference—that is, as an
exclamation.
Some Christians understand this usage to be in violation of the
commandment against taking the
Lord's name in vain, although the severity of the transgression
varies among different groups of believers.
The prohibition against use as an interject was generally taken
more seriously in the past, to the point where it was not only
considered socially improper, but a sin against God. Many maintain
this view.
See also
References
Further reading
- De La Torre, Miguel A.,
"The Quest for the Cuban Christ: A Historical Search," University
Press of Florida, 2002.
- Harpur, Tom, The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost
Light. Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2004.
- McDowell, Joshua and Don Stewart, Handbook of Today's
Religions, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.
- Ott, Ludwig, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma,
1957.
- Michalopoulos, Dimitris (2006): "Islam and Christendom: The
distorted relationship". Entelequia. Revista Interdisciplinar, 2,
Otoño 2006. Págs. 201-206.
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