<P> The disciples were first called "Christians" in Antioch (as related in Acts 11: 26). Accordingly, "Christians" (with the variant "Chrestians") was by 49 already a familiar term, mostly in the Latin - speaking capital of the Roman Empire . As the church spread throughout Greek - speaking Gentile lands, the appellation took prominence, and eventually became the standard reference for followers of the faith . Ignatius of Antioch was the first known Christian to use the label in self - reference and made the earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek Χριστιανισμός), around AD 100 . </P> <P> The Christian movement was referred to as' The Way' (της οδου) based upon the well known statement by Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life . No one comes to the Father except through Me ." John 14: 6 . Consequently, it appears in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9: 2, Acts 19: 9 and Acts 19: 23). Some English translations of the New Testament capitalize' the Way' (e.g. the New King James Version and the English Standard Version), indicating that this was how' the new religion seemed then to be designated' whereas others treat the phrase as indicative -' the way',' that way' or' the way of the Lord' . The Syriac version reads, "the way of God" and the Vulgate Latin version, "the way of the Lord". </P> <P> During the late 1st century, Judaism was a legal religion with the protection of Roman law, worked out in compromise with the Roman state over two centuries, see Anti-Judaism in the Roman Empire for details . In contrast, Christianity was not legalized until the 313 Edict of Milan . Observant Jews had special rights, including the privilege of abstaining from civic pagan rites . Christians were initially identified with the Jewish religion by the Romans, but as they became more distinct, Christianity became a problem for Roman rulers . Around the year 98, the emperor Nerva decreed that Christians did not have to pay the annual tax upon the Jews, effectively recognizing them as distinct from Rabbinic Judaism . This opened the way to Christians being persecuted for disobedience to the emperor, as they refused to worship the state pantheon . </P> <P> Jewish Christians were among the earliest followers of Jesus and an important part of Judean society during the mid - to late 1st century . This movement was centered in Jerusalem (possibly in the Cenacle) and led by James the Just . They held faithfully to the Torah and Jewish law (which was still somewhat fluid in this time period), including acceptance of Gentile converts possibly based on a version of the Noachide laws (Acts 15 and Acts 21). According to a tradition recorded by Eusebius and Epiphanius, the Jerusalem church fled to Pella at the outbreak of the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66--70) (see: Flight to Pella). </P>

A letter to an early christian community is called