Christian name
Christian names are personal names that refer to the Christian faith of their bearers, for example by deriving from terms of Christian theology or by taking up the names of people from the New or Old Testament .
The background is the situation of Christians in ancient times . Wearing names that often had a reference to a pagan deity, especially in the Hellenistic world (e.g. "Demetrios" on Demeter or "Apollonios" on Apollon ), was considered inappropriate. By adopting a new name with a Christian background, the turn to the newly accepted faith was clearly documented for everyone.
However, this perspective only slowly gained acceptance from the 4th century onwards. Previously there seemed to have been some indifference in this regard. B. of 87 bishops at a North African synod in 256 just two had a Christian name. As Adolf von Harnack pointedly put it: "The martyrs died because they refused to sacrifice to the gods whose names they bore."
That was slowly changing. Eusebius of Caesarea reports that when future martyrs were identified, the interrogator heard the name of a biblical prophet instead of the expected name:
- But this was because they had adopted such names in place of the names added by their parents, probably borrowed from idols. Therefore one could hear how they called themselves Elias, Jeremias, Isaias, Samuel and Daniel and thus revealed themselves not only through works but also through their names as Jews in the spirit and as real and true Israelites of God.
In fact, this Christian custom corresponded to the name change of proselytes who were accepted into ancient Jewish communities . This had to be felt all the more suitable for Christianity, since the young church saw itself as the “true Israel” ( verus Israel ).
The custom then prevailed in late antiquity : numerous examples of Christian names were found during the excavation of an early Byzantine basilica near Carthage . These included:
- Names of (Carthaginian) martyrs: Cyprian , Perpetua etc.
- New Testament names: John , Mary , Paul , Peter
- Names related to Christian theology: well-known such as Anastasia (from Anastasis “resurrection”), but also forgotten today such as Rederaptus or Renovatus (referring to the renewal of man to be expected at the resurrection )
- References to festivals: Pascasius (from Pascha = Easter), Sabbatius (from Sabbath )
- theophore names: simple ones like Dominicus (Latin Dominus “Lord”), Cyracus (Greek Kyrios “Lord”), but also programmatic ones like Quodvultdeus (“what God wants”), Spesindeo (“Hope in God”) and Deogratias (“Thank you God ")
It was only in the 6th century that a Pope who had a pagan name changed it. Mercurius , elected pope in 533, called himself John II from then on , thus establishing the custom of adopting a new ( papal ) name in the papal election.
In addition, the practice continues to this day to adopt a new (Christian) name, the religious name , when accepting an order . This practice is not limited to Christianity, but is also practiced in Buddhism , for example .
literature
- Christoph Markschies: Ancient Christianity: piety, ways of life, institutions. Beck, Munich 2006. 2., reviewed and expanded. Edition 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-62282-3 (e-book).