Christian suggestion

[James Smith]

To take another tack on this subject, it is my
understanding (which may be incorrect)that
"christian", or its ancient greek and latin
equivalents, was originally a pejorative that
originated with the establishment and came to refer to
trouble-causing rabble in general, rather than
specifically to followers of Christ, and that the
modern english word "cretin" arises at least in part
from this earlier meaning.  I don't have searchable
text handy, but I believe the word "christian" only
appears a few times in the New Testament, once when
Aggripa told Paul "Almost thou doest persuade me to be
a Christian.", (or something close to that!)

"Mormon" was originally a pejorative and is still
generally avoided in official speaking and writing
originating from the "Mormon" church, "Mormon
Tabernacle Choir" being one of the notable exceptions
to this rule.

JIM

--- beth lee simon <simon at HOME2.MYSOLUTION.COM> wrote:
> Has no one done an article on the sociolx of
> "christian" (as noun and/or
> modifier) in AmerEng.? If not, there is clearly at
> least one out there, waiting.
>
> beth
>



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