An interesting clue to the nature of early Christians is found in Acts, when a pre-conversion Saul (Paul) is seeking out those people who were known as “belonging to the Way“:

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2 ESV)

Another example can be found later in Acts:

“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14)

We are so used to Christians being identified as “Christians” that we assume that the same identification was in place at the start. But it seems that the very earliest followers of Jesus were known as “disciples” (as these were in fact the very first followers of Jesus) and from the above verses most likely also known as followers of “the Way” more broadly. This gives a hint as to the nature of what Jesus was teaching – as following “the Way” hints at a wider way of living and spiritual transformation.

So where did the first use of the term “Christian” occur? We obviously cannot be sure, but one of the earliest references to followers being known as “Christians” is also found in Acts:

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:22-26)

So here we see that there was already an existing community in Antioch. On encountering this community Barnabas was pleased with what he saw so sought out Paul in Tarsus. Paul was then brought to the community and taught them for a whole year. And it was in Antioch that these disciples were first called Christians.

Again, we cannot be sure how the exact terminology was used and evolved, but it is possible that the following terms were in use at the start:

• “Disciples” – the first followers of Jesus and subsequent followers of Jesus who were taught by the first disciples
• Those “belonging to the Way” – again, the first followers of Jesus that Paul encountered before he underwent his conversion
• “Christians” – those followers who knew Paul’s teachings, starting with the church in Antioch

So do these terms all mean the same thing? Possibly yes and possibly no. For example, it would be possible to be a disciple of Jesus while he was alive, following the Way, with no knowledge yet of Paul’s teachings before they had been written.

Similarly, you could be a follower of Paul and his teachings and consider yourself a Christian, but have no access to the life and teachings of Jesus if they hadn’t reached you yet via a Gospel account. With full access to the New Testament and both sets of teachings today we can forget that not everyone would have had both sets of teachings right at the start.

It is of course then possible to be a combination of all three – a disciple, a follower of the Way and a Christian – by following the teachings of Jesus and Paul, as we have ready access to both teachings today through the books that became the New Testament.

But it is the teaching of the Kingdom and the following “the Way” that is of most interest in this website. And since it comes from Jesus himself it seems to be of key significance.