#turkish christians

The [Christian] community at Antioch was the first established community of which we hear outside Judaea and Samaria… [and it is in Antioch] that the group received a name, and so became a coherent recognisable entity. [This was an] important step forward in the development of the Church; [after all, even the first] Adam had to name the creatures before their creation could be completed! The Greek name Χριστιανούς (“Christianoi”) has the shape and sound which suggests slight contempt, a sort of nickname. It means, of course, ‘Messianists’, those who distinguished themselves from their fellow-Jews by thinking that the Messiah had actually come.

Dom Henry Wansbrough; Commentary on Acts 11:26