The first recorded use of the term is in the New Testament,
in Acts 11:26, which states "...in Antioch the disciples were first called
Christians." The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26:28, where
Herod Agrippa II replies to Paul the Apostle, "Do you think that in such a
short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" The third and final New
Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4:16, which exhorts believers,
"...if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that
you bear that name." All three original New Testament verses' usages
reflect a derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of
Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome.
The town Antioch, which is said to have given them the name
Christian, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's
apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over
"Nazarenes" and the term Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the
standard term in the Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The
earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus,
referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the
Younger in correspondence with Trajan; and Tacitus, writing near the end of the
1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation commonly
called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero's scapegoats for the
Great Fire of Rome.
