Galilean faith


The Galilean faith is a term used by some people of the ancient world to designate Christianity. The town of Nazareth is located in Galilee. Christ's followers were thus called Galileans. Galilee was part of the province of Judea. The reason for this term was to marginalize Christianity and to indicate that it came from a small area, a religion of only local significance.
In the same manner, Jesus was called "of Nazareth" or "the Nazarene" in this context instead of "Christ".
These terms were used as part of the ideological struggle against the new religion, which was perceived as a threat. Over time, the originally factual designation absorbed a pejorative meaning, which, despite its expansion throughout the Roman Empire, still referred to it as a local religion.
The terms appeared in several texts that in ways contradicted the different aspects of the new religion and showed either theological errors, contradictions, or an overall misconception of the faith. The use of these terms in late antiquity was generally meant to weaken the religion, gaining an advantage just by the naming, before making any arguments.