Cnris Osborn, age 16, of Watertown, N.Y., for his question:

WHERE DID THE NAME "MESSIAH' COME FROM?

In theology, Messiah is the Anointed One. It was the Hebrew name for the promised deliverer of mankind, assumed oy Jesus and given to him by Christians.

The English word is derived from the Hebrew "masniah," meaning "anointed." In the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, this word is translated by the word "Christos," from wnicn "Christ" is derived.

Hence, the name Jesus Christ identifies Jesus as the Messiah, although Jewish religion asserts that the Messiah is yet to come.  The concept of the Messiah combines the Hebrew ideal of a Ddviaic king with the priestly tradition exemplified by Moses. stians have also seen in certain passages in the Old

Testament Book of Isaiah a third characteristic of the Messiah, that of the suffering servant. In Christian theology Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of all three concepts.

From its theological usage, the term has come to be applied more loosely to any looked for liberator of a cou1itfy or people or to an expected savior in any of the non Christian religions.