Your opinion holds no import with the standard rules of English grammar.I did not attack you as a person, I simply explained your misunderstanding of “as”.
A simile is a literary device that directly compares two things to show the similarities between the two - a simile will include the words "like" or "as". - source
"Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."
First of all, keep in mind this is the one and only place in the entire scripture this word is used by any man of God. Secondly, Peter did not label the followers of Christ a "Christian" in the passage. Read it again, very carefully. He said they were to be "as a Christian." This is very important. The word as means "like or similar to," but it does not mean one is that word. For example:
- Genesis 49:9, "...he couched as a lion," does not mean Judah was a lion when he couched!
- Exodus 15:5, "...they sank into the bottom as a stone," does not mean they were a stone when they sank.
- Matthew 17:20, "...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed," does not mean faith is a mustard seed.
- Matthew 23:37, "...gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens," does not mean God's children were chickens.
- Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ," does not mean husbands are Christ when they love their wives.
1 Peter 4:16, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian," does not mean man is a Christian when they suffer.
When someone is "as" something else, it does not mean one is that something. It means we are similar, in some way, to that name, but we are not literally that name. You see, the heathens are the ones who called the followers of Christ "Christians" (Acts 11:26; 26:28). When Peter was referring to the title "Christian, " it is in the context of suffering, and is in reference to the name as imposed upon them by their enemies, because our enemies want us to suffer. - source
From the OP:
The OP has been tried and found worthy.CHRISTIAN: Paul never once refers to himself as a 'christian', while at least five times in the New Testament he refers to himself as a follower of "the way".
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