| The Name of the Followers of the Messiah in the Qur'an and New Testament |
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| Historical Jesus | |
| Louay Fatoohi, PhD 07 June 2009 | |
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Adapted from the chapter "Al-Masih in the Qur’an" in the book The Mystery of the Messiah: The Messiahship of Jesus in the Qur’an, New Testament, Old Testament, and Other Sources The Qur’an does not use the title “Christ” to call Jesus’ followers “Christians.” Christians are not named after the title “Messiah” but are called Nasara or “Nazarenes.” This Qur’anic title does not presume that Jesus was a Nazarene. It is derived from a particular historical event in which Jesus called on his companions for “support” or nasr in Arabic (this is discussed in more detail in The Mystery Of The Historical Jesus: The Messiah in the Qur'an, the Bible, and Historical Sources, 2007: 224-229):
But when Jesus perceived disbelief on their part, he said: “Who are my ansar (supporters) in the cause of Allah?” The companions said: “We are Allah’s ansar. We believe in Allah, and do you bear witness that we are Muslims.” (3.52)Like the Qur’an, and contrary to what many think, the term Christianos or “Christian” is never used in the Gospels. Furthermore, it appears only three times in the New Testament — twice in Acts and once in the First Epistle of Peter. The first mention in Acts is particularly significant: “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26). This visit of the apostles Paul and Barnabas to Antioch occurred around 45 CE. This suggests that it was well after Jesus had gone that his disciples or any of his followers started to be known as “Christians.” The term is then used twice to refer to any follower of the Christ, which is what it ultimately came to mean. In its second occurrence in Acts (26:28), King Agrippa II argues with Paul for trying to convert him to a “Christian.” In the third and last appearance of the term in the New Testament, the follower of the Christ is reminded not to be ashamed of suffering as a “Christian” and to glorify God for bearing such a name (1 Peter 4:16). It may be suggested that it was Paul and Barnabas who introduced this term in Antioch. One argument against this view is that Paul never uses the term in his letters, preferring to call fellow Christians adelphos (brothers) and adelphen (sisters). This may indicate that the term was introduced by non-Christians, which could explain Acts’ anonymous attribution of the coining of the term. If that is the case, it is doubtful that the term was first applied to Christ’s disciples and then to all his followers, as non-Christians would not have differentiated between the two.
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Comments (4)
He told his deciples that he did not come to preach a new religion, but to bring back the Israelites to the straight path:
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and enter ye not into any city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6
But he answered and said, I was sent only unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 15:24
"Christ" is said to be the English adaptation of the Greek word 'khristos' meaning 'the anointed'. In the New Testament, the term 'Christ' or 'khristos' replaces the Hebrew term 'messiah' which, as far as I know, also means 'one who is anointed.' It is said that in contrast to Christianity, the Jewish tradition understands the 'messiah' to be human.
'Christ' appears in English and most European languages, owing to the Greek usage of 'khristos' in the New Testament as a description for Jesus. However, it's to be noted that the spelling 'Christ' in English dates only from the 17th century, when the spellings of certain words were changed to fit their Greek or Latin origins. Prior to this, in old and middle English, this word was spelt 'Crist.'
The plural term "Nasara (Nazarenes)" appears 14 times in the Qur'an. At times, God uses it to refer to Christians and, at others, Christians are cited as using it to refer to themselves. The singular term "Nasrani (Nazarene)" is used by the Qur'an to mean "Christian." The Christians were called “Nasara” at the time of the Qur’an in Arabia. The two verses I quoted in the article suggest to me that a particular event in which Jesus’ sought the “nasr (support)” of his companions ultimately led to his followers being called Nasara or “supporters,” meaning “supporters of Jesus.” In my book on the crucifixion, I speculate that this event was the plot of the Jews to kill Jesus.
Antioch was the first city where gentiles converted in significant numbers. Until Antioch, the followers of Jesus would have simply looked like a sect of Judaism. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus took a unique identity and it became clear that people from all backgrounds might respond to the gospel.
When you say that in the Quran, "nasr" is the name for followers of Jesus, does this mean the name for followers in the accounts of his life, or the Christians around at the time the Quran was written, or both?