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Bible InterpretationAugust 30, 2026· 2 min

Why Do Christians Call Each Other 'Brothers'?

In short

Christians calling each other "brothers" rests on the theological conviction that sees Christians as adopted by God and God as their Father. The usage creates a group identity and thus also serves a sociological function.

Anyone reading the New Testament will notice that Christians often addressed one another, or spoke of one another, using the term brother.

The term brother for other members of one's own religious community is already attested in the Greco-Roman world of the New Testament period[1]. It was furthermore also used "in Judaism to express group identity [...] (e.g., Deut 15:3, 12; Philo, Spec. Leg. 2.79f.; Josephus, Ant. 10.201)"[2]. This latter usage probably led to the adoption of this language into Christian usage. The language of the disciples as brothers first appears in the New Testament with Jesus, who says:

And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

Mark 3:33–35(ESV)

Especially within the context of Mark's Gospel, such a statement is remarkable, though it should not be overinterpreted, since Mark is particularly concerned with showing Jesus' unique authority as the Son of God[3]. This understanding of his disciples as family was then also meant to show itself in how they treated one another:

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Matthew 23:8(ESV)

France writes on this: "'Rabbi' (v. 8) and 'teacher' (v. 10) probably function here as synonyms. They are titles that belong only to the one teacher (v. 8), the Christ (v. 10), in relation to whom all his followers stand as brothers on the same level."[4]

The apostles then take up this choice of words again. The word fit particularly well "with the Christian conviction that they were God's adopted 'children' (Rom 8:14–23; Gal 3:26; 4:4–7) and could call him their 'Father' (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6) and his Son, Jesus Christ, their 'brother' (Rom 8:29)"[5]. It logically followed from this that fellow Christians are brothers and sisters, and this makes it understandable why this choice of words became established in the early church. Wanamaker also points here to the sociological function these words had, since they led "to the emergence of a strong sense of kinship" among Christians and enabled them to attain "a new social identity," "while previous kinship and social ties broke down under the demands of their new religious obligations"[6]. The term thus reflects not only a theological reality, but its use also had practical social consequences.

Footnotes

  1. [1]Jeffrey A. D. Weima, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians, ed. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 89.
  2. [2]Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1990), 77.
  3. [3]R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 180.
  4. [4]R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 328.
  5. [5]Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians, 89.
  6. [6]Wanamaker, Epistles to the Thessalonians, 77.
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