Religious Glossary - common terms used related to Religion
Gentile - Is a person who is not a Jew or of the Jewish
faith. Christians in the early church were both Jew and Gentile.
Paul was a Jew as were most of the early church leaders, including
Peter, James, John and Barnabas. However, Luke and others
who were recruited by Paul were Gentiles. Paul believed that
Judaism was not a separate religion, but a moral law or code
by which people lived. One could be both a Jew and a Christian,
as one might be a Stoic as well as a Christian.
The word Gentile has several meanings. In the most common
modern use it refers to a non-Jew. The word is derived from
the Latin term gens (meaning "clan" or a "group of families")
and it is often employed in the plural. In late Latin gentilis
meant "pagan", and the term gentile has sometimes been used
in the past as a synonym for "heathen" or "pagan"; this usage
is archaic. (wikipedia).
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