Eyitemi Egwuenu · September 12, 2026 · 5 min
“And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
— ACTS 11:26
It’s a common mistake: often I hear Christians say that the early disciples were called “Christian” because they were so much like Christ.
That’s not correct.
The term Christian at its first use was meant as a pejorative. It wasn’t a compliment.
It was a derogatory label applied to those who followed “The Way".
In the ancient world, "Christian" did not carry the warm, affirming connotation it has today. The way the label has undergone a 180-degree change in nuance is a striking example of embracing a disparaging name, making it your own, and making it good.
Church history gives us the context:
The city of Antioch in Syria—where believers were first called Christians, had a reputation for coining nicknames, often sharp and sarcastic ones.
The term “Christianos” was introduced to distinguish the worshippers of Christ from the “Kaisarianos”, the worshippers of Caesar.
In a Roman world where loyalty to Caesar was expected, being branded a “Christianos” implied misplaced allegiance and even political subversion.
We see a similar pattern elsewhere in history:
The word “Methodist”, for example, began as a mockery of John Wesley’s group for their “methodical” piety.
Like “Christian”, it was initially an insult that was later reclaimed with pride.
In Antioch, believers accepted the name meant to belittle them, and in doing so quietly declared where their true loyalty lay—not with Caesar, but with Christ.