Slideshow image

In response to somone declaring on a social media site, "Paul preached Christianity," Tracey responded, "Actually, Paul never preached Christianity." That, as would be expected from social media gurus hiding behind their inability to have a meaningful discussion, was met with a "loving and rational" response by the individual (the Cliff's notes version) to the effect that if you don't believe Paul preached Christianity, you're not saved. Of course, as is also to be expected, another social media guru felt the need to "pile on" to prove his machismo and virtual knowledge of scripture as well. Tracey's response: "Your gun is locked and loaded, but you're firing blanks." After I got up from laughing my tuchus off, Tracey responded with a question: "What does the word Christian mean in Greek and where was the word first used?" The social media "theologian" then responded smugly with a quote from Acts 11:26 and copied the Blue Letter Bible definition of "Christ." After exclaiming "Oy Vay," and although she is more than capable of responding herself, I asked Tracey for permission to do so. My response...fairly benign as it was, was met with gaslighting and a deflection from the issue at hand. One of the fascinating points of this interaction is that in addition to this dialogue with gentile Christians, I have had nearly identical interactions with several devoutly anit-Messianic Jewish individuals who often accused me of no longer being Jewish, labeling me a Christian in Jewish clothing, "like the inventor of Christianity, Paul himself." Ahhhh, the joy of social media...

Here was my response:
"The Greek word christao or christos (which has absolutely no application to groups or individuals in koine or classical Greek and would not have been understood by Greek speaking people contemporary to Paul without a deeper explanation) was first used in the Septuagint, written more than 200 years before Jesus was born. Christao was first used applied to a person in the Jewish Bible in the 3rd century BC. And it was applied in a very odd way.

The original word christao/christos, which was a direct translation from the Hebrew word mashiach, means to be smeared, or anointed. The word is actually used 78 times in the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible and often applies to a coming Anointed One - the Messiah. The book of Acts described the word first used as applied to the followers of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua) by the Greek speaking society and was derogatory. Why? Because the word in Greek at that time meant to smear with oil, as in smearing a leather shield with oil to preserve it. But to Paul, a Jewish Rabbi and a Pharisee, who knew the Tanakh, both the Septuagint (Greek translation) and its original Hebrew, it meant everything. It meant “one who surrendered to and followed THE Anointed One” - the Jewish Messiah.

Hence, Paul never taught “Christianity” - a term co-opted in the 4th century AD and misapplied as if it described an entirely new concept or religion. He never preached "Christianity." Paul lived, breathed, and taught about his very Jewish Messiah, the One who was prophesied about in the Tanakh as the Anointed (Christao) One, the One who by His bloody sacrifice redeemed the world. Paul was called to bring the revelation of the Jewish Messiah to the world - not a new religion called Christianity - and we are commanded to do the same, to the Jew first, and also to the gentile. So next time you use the word “Christian,” my hope is that you will be more aware of the context and true meaning of the word and understand the depth of what and Who Paul was actually revealing to the world."

And, there you have it...I hope it was a truly "Christian" response.