When I was a kid I was going to my grandparent’s house around the Christmas holiday, and my grandpa had and still has a sewing machine repair shop. Out in the yard he has one of those real ugly signs that is big and lights up when you plug it in, and on it read the words “Happy Xmas”. I thought it was nice, you know, a business man advertising holiday greetings. My mother let out a gasp when she saw the sign and told my dad, “Do they not know that Xmas doesn’t mean the same as Christmas?” And I never really questioned it, just assumed that she knew what she was talking about. Then today as I was driving to work I saw this sign and I became somewhat enraged:
Ok, so if you didn’t know any better, this may not shock you, but the letter X in the Greek means “Christ”. Here is a little snippet of context that I found on it today, even though I already knew the Greek behind it.
Xmas is derived from a mixture of Greek and English. Greeks used X as the symbol for Chi, Christo or Xristo. X is the Greek symbol for Christ. In early Christian times, X was used as the symbol for Christ himself.
So the sign above is actually a very ignorant message saying that Xmas means something other than Christmas. Once again, please don’t take everything you hear and read (outside of Scripture that is) in the evangelical church at face value. Do yourself and others around you a favor by verifying “facts” against history, with what orthodox Christianity teaches, and with some wise counsel. And with that, I step off my soap box.
Understood. The only problem with your explanation is this, the vast majority of Americans do not speak either modern or koine Greek. What they see is 24th letter of their english alphabet on the front of the word “mas”. They do read english and do know how to spell Christmas. They then know that “Xmas” word “Christmas” without the attachment of the proper name, or if they are really studious, the proper title for Messiah who’s birth we celebrate on December 25 – namely Jesus the Christ. Just some food for thought
– Chris
Chris that’s a point well taken. I think that those of us who know any about theology, history, and Scripture need to pass on general info as it comes down the pipe. I am by no means a scholar and like you said, most people today don’t equate the letter X in short for Christ, but people need to understand it’s not wrong to put a sign up saying Merry Xmas. That’s all I’m saying. Thanks so much for your comment!