ETHNICO-CHRISTIANS. – A term used to designate non-Jews converted to Christianity in the apostolic age (“Ελληνες: Acts 14:1; 17:4, etc.; Rom 1:16; 2:9 sq.; Gal 2:3, etc.; τά δυνάμ.: Acts 10:45; 11:1.18; 13:46; Gal 2:12.14).
Cornelius (v.), baptized by Peter after a direct intervention by God to overcome Jewish mentality, which abhorred any contact—especially at table—with Gentiles, deemed impure (Acts 10–11:18). Peter’s example was the signal for the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, both in Palestine and abroad (departure of the Apostles for the world). The first Church with a predominantly ethnic-Christian membership arose at Antioch, where the faithful were first called “Christians” (Acts 17:19–26). Thereafter all communities founded in the Empire’s centers by Paul—at Rome and wherever the Gospel reached—followed suit.
The narrow-minded mentality of some converted Pharisees (the Judaizers) sought to prevent the baptism of Gentiles unless they were first grafted onto the Jewish people through circumcision, arguing that salvation remained the privilege of Abraham’s descendants alone. This claim, perilous for the conversion of the nations, was defeated by Peter’s example, the solemn apostolic decree (Acts 15), and the apostolic energy of Paul, champion of Gentile freedom against Jewish pretensions (Gal 2–5).