Christ

CHRIST. - Greek equivalent (χριστός "anointed," verbal adjective of χρῶ "I anoint") of the Hebrew māšīah or "messiah."

Māšīah, a passive participle, like māšīah, of the verb mīh "to anoint" (with the sense, generally, of consecrating someone for a high religious-social function: priest [Ex. 28:41 and 30:23-32; Lev. 8:12], prophet [I Kings 10:16] or king [I Sam. 10:1; etc.]), occurs 35 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is translated by the Septuagint as χριστός (only Lev. 4:3 κεχρισμένος), but by Aquila as Ἀλεμμένος (cf. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat., XV, 11; PG 33, 885). It is used in the Hebrew Bible 5 times as an adjective (Dan. 9:25 "the anointed Prince"; Lev. 4:3, 5:16 and 6:22 "the anointed priest"

or high priest, cf. II Mach. 1:10; Lev. 21:10, of the Septuagint), but usually (30 times) as a noun. The substantivized māfiah always means the "king" or "sovereign" elected and constituted by God (cf. I Sam. 16:6-7), and is always (except Dan. 9:26 and Eccl. Gr. 46:19) followed by the genitive of Yahweh (or of an equivalent pronoun): "the anointed of Yahweh" (ὁ χριστὸς Κυρίου); 15 times in I-II Sam.; Ps. (Heb.) 2:2; 18:51; 20:7; 28:8; 84:10; 89:39, 52; 132:10, 17 (the plural, in Ps. 105:15 and I Par. 16:22, is a unique case); Is. 45:1; Hab. 3:13. This royal name māfiah χριστός is used 2 times for Saul, 1 time for Solomon (II Par. 6:42), 1 time for Zedekiah (Lam. 4:20), 1 time (analogously) for Cyrus (Is. 45:1), but almost always for David, idealized from I Sam. 2:10, 35 onward as the instrument of God's salvation. Twice there appears the Anointed par excellence, the ideal King indissolubly united to Yahweh (Ps. 2:2; Dan. 9:25 ff.; cf. Is. 61:1), in whom the flourishing of the Davidic line will culminate (cf. Is. 11:1). His reign will imply the priesthood (cf. Ex. 19:6); his kingship will have a charismatic-prophetic character, as for the first "anointed" one, Saul (I Sam. 10:6-13). When later, out of reverence, the divine name is omitted, māfiah Yahweh becomes ham-māfiah (Aram. māfiah), "the Messiah," ὁ Χριστός, to indicate the King promised by God, the awaited founder of the "kingdom of God" on earth. After Dan. 9:26, the most ancient examples of this absolute use of māfiah χριστός in a transcendent sense are in the apocrypha (2nd-1st cent. B.C.) Enoch Eth., 48:10; 52:4 and Ps. Salom. 17:32 c (cf. 18:5-7).

In the writings of the New Testament the term Ch. is of capital importance, inasmuch as it qualifies Jesus and his mission. The New Testament, in which χριστός occurs at least 560 times, preaches and demonstrates the message: Jesus is the Ch. or Messiah (Io. 1:41 and 4:25 interprets ὁ Μεσσίας = Χριστός). From the Nativity (Mt. 2:4) to the confession of Peter (Mt. 16:16, 20; Mc. 8:29; Io. 6:69) and of Nathanael (with the synonym "King of Israel": Io. 1:49), of Martha (Io. 11:27), of the demons (Lc. 4:41), to the revelations of the Risen One (Lc. 24:26, 46; Act. 26:23), the proclamation resounds. The central theme of apostolic preaching is that Jesus is the Ch., from Peter (Act. 2:36) and Paul (Act. 9:22; 17:3; 18:5, 28) to John (Io. 20:31; I Io. 2:22; 5:1; II Io. 7, 9). The polemic on this point burns against the Jews, who awaited the Ch. (Io. 1:20, 25, 41; 3:28; Lc. 3:15), suspected that it was Jesus (Io. 4:29; 7:26 ff. 31, 41; 10:24; 12:34) and questioned him in the Sanhedrin (Mt. 26:63; Mc. 14:61; Lc. 22:67), then demanded his condemnation, accusing him of having proclaimed himself Ch. King (Lc. 23:2, 35, 39; Io. 18:33, 37; 19:14 ff. 19-21). In the Gospels, Jesus does not publicly insist on his title of Ch. before his Passion, but he warns against the antichrists (v.) who will usurp that name (Mt. 25:5, 23 ff.; cf. Io. 5:43b), and with clear allusion he claims for himself the appellation ὁ Χριστός (Mt. 24:42; 23:10; 24:5; Mc. 9:41 [without the article, as in St. Paul I Cor. 1:12; 3:23; II Cor. 16:7]; 12:35; 13:21).

Χριστός is explicitly equivalent to "king (of the Jews)" in Mt. 2:2 and 4; 27:11 and 22; Lc. 23:2 and 37, 39; Mc. 15:32. This primitive meaning remains underlying elsewhere. Alongside the traditional integral form ὁ χριστός Κυρίου (Θεοῦ), which persists only in the Lukan writings (Lc. 2:26; 9:20 [cf. Mt. 16:16]; Act. 3:18; 4:26), there appears in the Gospels (as already in Ps. Salom. 17:32; cf. Eccl. Gr. 46:19) Χριστός Κύριος (Lc. 2:11), a title in which messiahship culminates in the divinity that Jesus claimed (Mt. 22:42-45), and of which St. Paul was the herald. But even alone, ὁ Χριστός expresses the whole faith in the nature and mission of Jesus (Mc. 8:29b). The appellation ὁ Χριστός designates Jesus in the mouth of believers in his transcendent messiahship (Mt. 1:17; 11:2; Act. 8:5; St. Paul) or of unbelievers who mock him (Mt. 26:68; 27:17 and 22 with ὁ λεγόμενος). Moreover, it is equivalent to "Lord" (Κύριος):

Lc. 2:11; Act. 2:36; 4:26 ff.; 2 times it is joined to "the Son of God" (Mt. 16:16; more solemnly 26:63 and Mc. 14:61; Lc. 22:67-71).

Having become a current attribute of Jesus (Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός; ὁ Χριστός Ἰησοῦς; Act. 5:42), the appellation "Ch." was transformed into a second proper name of Jesus. The absence of the article (even in the Babylonian Talmud māfiah occurs without the article), although not decisive, usually indicates that Χριστός is used as a simple name or surname (Mt. 1:16; Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός) of Jesus. The compound name Ἰησοῦς Χριστός occurs only 4 times in the Gospels (Mt. 1:1; Mc. 1:1; Io. 1:17; 17:3), is rare elsewhere (Act. 3:6; 4:10; 9:34; Apoc. 1:1, 2, 3), while it is very frequent in the epistles of Paul and Peter.

St. Paul spread the name-attribute Χριστός by using it ceaselessly. While he uses the name Ἰησοῦς alone barely 33 times, he uses Χριστός 137 times without the article, 88 with the article, 82 in the compound Ἰησοῦς χριστός (always without the article), 82 in the compound Χριστός Ἰησοῦς (without the article, except 2 times). As many as 61 times Paul adds to it ὁ Κύριος, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν.

Since messianism has little place in the christology of St. Paul, because messianic discussions do not concern the Gentiles of whom he is the apostle, Χριστός (with or without the article) is never in his writings an appellation with the distinct value of "Messiah"; however, in over 60 cases it intends to affirm, even if only in passing, the messiahship of Jesus (E. D. Burton, p. 306); the use of the article is inconstant, as for Θεός and Ἰησοῦς. Ch. is a proper name of Jesus in the typically Pauline formula ἐν Χριστῷ (34 times) or ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (48 times), to which ἐν Κυρίῳ (50 times) or ἐν αὐτοῦ-ἐν ᾧ (29 times) is equivalent; St. Paul willingly uses the name Χριστός when he highlights the divine influence of Jesus in the soul (Rom. 8:10; II Cor. 13:5; Eph. 3:17; etc.), which is itself "anointed" (II Cor. 1:21), in which He goes about "being formed" (Gal. 4:19).

In the mind of the first Christian generation, the title ὁ Χριστός expressed, beyond the traditional concept of "King of Israel," that of universal "Savior," as appears in St. Paul, in whose major epistles σωτήρ does not occur (but only in Eph. 5:23; Phil. 3:20, and 10 times in the Pastorals). The Apostle constantly uses τοῦ Χριστοῦ (with the article) after terms of soteriological import: Ἰεσσαγγέλων (8 times), "the cross" (I Cor. 1:17; Gal. 6:12; Phil. 3:18), "the sufferings" (II Cor. 1:5 and Col. 1:24; cf. Act. 3:18; 17:3; 26:23), Ἰάγιπτη (Rom. 8:35; II Cor. 5:14; Eph. 3:19), "the Blood" and "the Body" of his sacrifice (I Cor. 10:16; Rom. 7:4; Eph. 2:13; τοῦ Κυρίου in I Cor. 11:27). The equivalence Σωτήρ = Χριστός is openly affirmed in Lk. 2:11. Even the "C." of Jn. 4:29 is equivalent to "the savior of the world" of Jn. 4:42. The ancient term Messiah = Χριστός, received from the millennial Jewish faith, was purified of every ethnic-political or magical-apocalyptic meaning. Peter (Act. 2:36; 3:15) and Paul preached: Jesus, the C., is the Lord (Κύριος), is the "Sovereign of life" (ὁ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς). The title "C." was for the Apostles the synthesis in which was inscribed the twofold aspect of the Davidic King "who has risen from on high to show the mercy of God and to shine in the darkness" (Lk. 1:78 ff.); the divine majesty and the salvific mission.

The name C., which characterized the faith of Jesus' disciples, was misunderstood by the pagans who, with itacism contributing to this, took it to mean χρηστός "good," "kindly," an adjective not rare in the New Testament (Mt. 11:5; Lk. 5:39; Rom. 2:4; Eph. 4:32; etc.). The confusion is evident in Suetonius, Claud., 25 ("impulsore Chresto") and Nero, 16, and is explained "propter ignorantium errorem qui eum immutata littera Chrestum solent dicere" (Lactantius, Inst. Div., IV, 7, 5; cf. Tertullian, Apol., 3 and Ad Nationes, I, 3); all the more so since proper names derived from χρηστός abounded — Χρηστήν, Χρηστίων — and occur in the Jewish inscriptions of Panticapaeum in Crimea (J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscript. Iudaic.,

Roma 1936, pp. 495, 498); Chrestos Χρήστος era nome diffuso nel mondo greco-romano (Marziale, Epigr., VII, 55; IX, 28; CIL, XII, 264, 4322, 4761, 5194; XIV, 246 [*Chrestinus]). V. GEST*.

Antonino Romeo