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The Name "Christian"
My co-editor's front page editorial last month provoked a memory of a similar
piece. Jon gave us quotes from various religious leaders who have expressed
their concerns about instrumental music. Below, a piece I ran across a few years
ago, with a similar theme.
Henry Ward Beecher: "Let me speak in the language of heaven and call you
Christians."
Albert Barnes: "These divisions should be merged into the holy name Christian."
Martin Luther: "I pray you leave my name alone. Do not call yourselves
Lutherans, but Christians."
John Wesley: "I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost
in eternal oblivion."
Charles Spurgeon: "I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ's
name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not
be a Baptist living."
Peter, the Apostle: "Yet, if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be
ashamed, but glorify God in this name," (1 Pet. 4:16).
Paul, the Apostle: "Now, this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul;
and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul
crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor. 1:12-13).
Luke, the writer of Acts: "...And the disciples were called Christians first in
Antioch," (Acts 11:26).
(Pulpit Helps, 7-89)
By Warren E. Berkley
The Front Page
From Expository Files 4.3; March 1997
