[PW] Difficult/Amusing/Memorable reference questions

[Simon Cauchi]

On 1/04/2007, at 5:45 PM, Lois Aleta Fundis wrote:

> This particular subthread reminds me that it's been awhile since I've
> been asked if "Christ" was Jesus' first name or His last name. (It
> appears both ways in the New Testament.)

Do you want an answer? If so, this is the one I would propose:

People didn't have "first names" and "last names" in those days. Jesus 
was his given name. Christ (Christos in Greek) is a title, a 
translation of the Hebrew title Messiah, meaning the Anointed One. The 
word order doesn't matter. Either way, Jesus is the name, Christ the 
title.

Simon Cauchi
<simon.cauchi at xtra.co.nz>