Christ (/kraɪst/) (ancient Greek: Χριστός, Christós, meaning 'anointed') is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ), the Messiah, and is used as a title for Jesus in the New Testament.
The followers of Jesus became known as Christians (as in Acts 11:26) because they believed Jesus to be the Messiah (Christos) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Christians designate him Jesus Christ, meaning Jesus the Christos. Christ was originally a title, but later became part of the name "Jesus Christ", though it is still also used as a title, in the reciprocal use Christ Jesus, meaning "The Messiah Jesus". In common usage "Christ" is generally treated as synonymous with "Jesus of Nazareth".
Jesus is not accepted by the majority of Jews as their Messiah. The Jewish people still await the Messiah's first coming, while Christians await his second coming, when they believe he will fulfill those parts of Messianic prophecy left unfulfilled in the first century AD.
The area of Christian theology called Christology is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament.
Read more about Christ: Etymology and Origins, Background and New Testament References, Pre-existence, Incarnation and Nativity, Christ and Salvation in Christianity, Symbols
Famous quotes containing the word christ:
“Scepticism is true; for after all, men before Jesus Christ did not know where they were, nor whether they were great or small. And those who have said the one or the other, knew nothing about it, and guessed without reason and by chance. They also erred always in excluding the one or the other.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...”
—Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 5:21-25.