Re: What does "Christ" mean?

The entries in Wikipedia are written by anyone that comes along.  You can write an entry in Wikipedia if you wish to do it.  The Wikipedia entry that you copied was obviously written by a brainwashed new age Christian (as in revised from what Jesus taught).  When you want to learn something, go to someone outside of your religion to get a true perspective on translations.  I couldn't find an atheist on this topic, but I did find a Muslim.  He does a fantastic job of pointing out that an anointed one is a title and that there are a gross of them in the OT.  I'm not Islamic, I'm a Christian but this is a great job of pointing out a significant translation error/fabrication of the NT.

An Islamic Perspective and Commentary

by
Ishaq Zahid

    The words Messiah, prophet or messenger are generic words which can be applied to any prophet of God. However, Israelites were using the word Messiah to refer to the final messenger of God. Jesus (peace be on him) simply told them that he is not "that Messiah." It is worth reading the scholarly work of Ahmad Deedat, reproduced below.

The word CHRIST is derived from the Hebrew word Messiah, Arabic-Masih. Root word m-a-s-a-h-a, meaning to rub, to massage, to anoint. Priests and kings were anointed when being consecrated to their offices. But in its translated, Grecian form "CHRIST", it seems unique:befitting Jesus only. The Christian has a knack of transmuting baser metals into shining gold. What he is wont to do is to translate names into his own language like "cephas" to Peter, "messiah" to Christ. How does he do that? Very easily MESSIAH in Hebrew means anointed. The Greek word for anointed is "christos". Just lop off the 'os' from christos and you are left with christ. Now change the little 'c' to a capital 'C', and "hey, presto!" he has created a unique (?) name! Christos means ANOINTED, and anointed means APPOINTED in its religious connotation. Jesus (pbuh) was appointed (anointed) at his baptism by John the Baptist, as God's Messenger.Every Prophet of God is so anointed or appointed. The Holy Bible is replete with the "anointed" ones. In the original Hebrew - made a "messiah". Let us keep to the English translation - "anointed." Not only were prophets and priests and kings anointed (christos-ed), but borns, and cherubs and lamp-posts also.

There are a hundred more such references in the Holy Bible. Everytime you come across the word ANOINTED in your English Bible, you can take it that that word would be christos in the Greek translations, and if you take the same liberty with the word that the Christians have done, you will have - Christ Cherub, Christ Cyrus, Christ Priest and Christ Pillar, etc.