Part 1899

<p><b>4.</b> <def>To use for the first time.</def> <mark>[Colloq.]</mark>

<h1>Christendom</h1> <Xpage=253>

<hw>Chris"ten*dom</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[AS. <ets>cristend<?/m</ets>; <ets>cristen</ets> a Christian + <ets>-dom</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The profession of faith in Christ by baptism; hence, the Christian religion, or the adoption of it.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Shak.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The name received at baptism; or, more generally, any name or appelation.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>Pretty, fond, adoptious <b>christendoms</b>. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>That portion of the world in which Christianity prevails, or which is governed under Christian institutions, in distinction from heathen or Mohammedan lands.</def>

<blockquote>The Arian doctrine which then divided <b>Christendom</b>. <i>Milton</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>A wide and still widening <b>Christendom</b>. <i>Coleridge.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>The whole body of Christians.</def>

<i>Hooker.</i>

<h1>Christian</h1> <Xpage=253>

<hw>Chris"tian</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>christianus</ets>, Gr. <?/; cf. AS. <ets>cristen</ets>. See <er>Christ</er>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>One who believes, or professes or is assumed to believe, in Jesus Christ, and the truth as taught by Him; especially, one whose inward and outward life is conformed to the doctrines of Christ.</def>

<blockquote>The disciples were called <b>Christians</b> first in Antioch. <i>Acts xi. 26.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>One born in a Christian country or of Christian parents, and who has not definitely becomes an adherent of an opposing system.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Eccl.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>One of a Christian denomination which rejects human creeds as bases of fellowship, and sectarian names. They are congregational in church government, and baptize by immersion. They are also called <altname>Disciples of Christ</altname>, and <altname>Campbellites</altname>.</def> <sd>(b)</sd> <def>One of a sect (called <altname>Christian Connection</altname>) of open-communion immersionists. The Bible is their only authoritative rule of faith and practice.</def>

<note>&hand; In this sense, often pronounced, but not by the members of the sects, <tt>kr\'c6s"ch<it>a</it>n</tt>.</note>

<h1>Christian</h1> <Xpage=253>

<hw>Chris"tian</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Pertaining to Christ or his religion; <as>as, <ex>Christian</ex> people</as>.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical; <as>as, a <ex>Christian</ex> court</as>.</def>

<i>Blackstone.</i>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Characteristic of Christian people; civilized; kind; kindly; gentle; beneficent.</def>

<blockquote>The graceful tact; the <b>Christian</b> art. <i>Tennyson.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Christian Commission</col>. <cd>See under <er>Commission</er>.</cd> -- <col>Christian court</col>. <cd>Same as <er>Ecclesiastical court</er>.</cd> -- <col>Christian era</col>, <cd>the present era, commencing with the birth of Christ. It is supposed that owing to an error of a monk (Dionysius Exiguus, d. about 556) employed to calculate the era, its commencement was fixed three or four years too late, so that 1890 should be 1893 or 1894.</cd> -- <col>Christian name</col>, <cd>the name given in baptism, as distinct from the family name, or surname.</cd></cs>

<h1>Christianism</h1> <Xpage=253>

<hw>Chris`tian*ism</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>christianismus</ets>, Gr. <?/: cf. F. <ets>christianisme</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The Christian religion.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Milton.</i>