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ann ashtray · 12.03.2010, 10:28 AM

"Don't take Christ out of Christmas"??? Ever hear anyone say this? Ever wonder where the "X" in "Xmas" came from in the first place? Some seem to believe it's a means of crossing Christ out of Christmas...I'm not so convinced this is always the case....

(Don't feel like rewording something someone else has already clearly explained. If in doubt, research....thankfully with the internet, which I'm assuming you all have, attending a university is not necessary to do this...OK, bad joke.)

"Xmas is not of modern coinage. The Oxford English Dictionary documents the use of this abbreviation back to 1551. Undoubtedly it was employed before that. Now 1551 is fifty years before the first English colonists came to America and sixty years earlier than the completion of the King James Version of the Bible! Moreover, at the same time, Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of Christian and Christianity.

You see, the X in Xmas did not originate as our English alphabet's X but as the symbol X in the Greek alphabet, called Chi. The Greek Chi or X is the first letter in the Greek word Christos. As early as the first century the X was used as Christ's initial. Certainly through church history we can trace this usage. In many manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates Christos (Xristos). In ancient Christian art X and XR (Chi Ro--the first two letters in Greek of Christos abbreviate his name. We find that this practice entered the Old English language as early as AD 100. Devout believers used X as an abbreviation for Christ. Were they trying to take Christ away and substitute an unknown quantity? The idea is preposterous.

Some may use Xmas today as an unchristian shortcut for Christmas, but the ancient abbreviation by no means originated as such. The scribes who copied New Testament manuscripts had no intention of taking Christ out of the New Testament. They used the abbreviation simply to save time and space. We use abbreviations for the same purpose today, as witness FDR, HST, JFK, LBJ, and a host of others. Xmas is a legitimate abbreviation. I do not use it because of the possible misunderstanding it often causes as a result of its misrepresentation or abuse. But by no means can the use of the abbreviation be a valid objection to the observance of Christmas itself! Is God against abbreviations?"

Of course, I enjoy and celebrate Christmas. And as I've made clear countless times, I do not believe in Jesus as my lord and personal savior. No need for me to celebrate his birthday. I enjoy Christmas, or "Xmas", as a means of fun and something to look forward to each year. Kids like it, my mom likes it, stores/homes typically smell better, and all the lights are really pretty.

12.03.2010, 10:28 AM	#1
ann ashtray expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Macon, GA Posts: 2,299	"Don't take Christ out of Christmas"??? Ever hear anyone say this? Ever wonder where the "X" in "Xmas" came from in the first place? Some seem to believe it's a means of crossing Christ out of Christmas...I'm not so convinced this is always the case.... (Don't feel like rewording something someone else has already clearly explained. If in doubt, research....thankfully with the internet, which I'm assuming you all have, attending a university is not necessary to do this...OK, bad joke.) "Xmas is not of modern coinage. The Oxford English Dictionary documents the use of this abbreviation back to 1551. Undoubtedly it was employed before that. Now 1551 is fifty years before the first English colonists came to America and sixty years earlier than the completion of the King James Version of the Bible! Moreover, at the same time, Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of Christian and Christianity. You see, the X in Xmas did not originate as our English alphabet's X but as the symbol X in the Greek alphabet, called Chi. The Greek Chi or X is the first letter in the Greek word Christos. As early as the first century the X was used as Christ's initial. Certainly through church history we can trace this usage. In many manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates Christos (Xristos). In ancient Christian art X and XR (Chi Ro--the first two letters in Greek of Christos abbreviate his name. We find that this practice entered the Old English language as early as AD 100. Devout believers used X as an abbreviation for Christ. Were they trying to take Christ away and substitute an unknown quantity? The idea is preposterous. Some may use Xmas today as an unchristian shortcut for Christmas, but the ancient abbreviation by no means originated as such. The scribes who copied New Testament manuscripts had no intention of taking Christ out of the New Testament. They used the abbreviation simply to save time and space. We use abbreviations for the same purpose today, as witness FDR, HST, JFK, LBJ, and a host of others. Xmas is a legitimate abbreviation. I do not use it because of the possible misunderstanding it often causes as a result of its misrepresentation or abuse. But by no means can the use of the abbreviation be a valid objection to the observance of Christmas itself! Is God against abbreviations?" Of course, I enjoy and celebrate Christmas. And as I've made clear countless times, I do not believe in Jesus as my lord and personal savior. No need for me to celebrate his birthday. I enjoy Christmas, or "Xmas", as a means of fun and something to look forward to each year. Kids like it, my mom likes it, stores/homes typically smell better, and all the lights are really pretty. __________________ Team Thurston!
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