You’ve probably heard the phrase “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Many have taken to social media or press conferences to say let’s not rub out the religious roots of this holiday by saying “Xmas,” instead of Christmas.
This might seem like a strange battle to wage, but there are people who really, earnestly believe this is deeply important. For instance, Franklin Graham, son of Billy, put it like this:
“For us as Christians, [Christmas] is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. They’re happy to say merry Xmas. Let’s just take Jesus out. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ,”
During an interview with a correspondent from UG Christian News, West Buganda Bishop, Henry Katumba Tamale this week noted that some Christians, whether knowingly or not, write Christmas as ‘ X mass’, and he said the big ‘X’ means Christ is cancelled.
On the surface, it certainly looks like “Xmas” shoves Christ out of Christmas. The word itself almost appears to cross out the mere mention of the holiday’s religious focus.
How can the letter “X” stand for “Christ”?
Early Christians were quite fond of symbols. Findings by this website show theologians explain, in Greek, the language of the New Testament, the word for “Christ” is Χριστός, which begins with the Greek letter that is essentially the same letter as the English letter “X,” or chi.
In the fourth century, when Constantine the Great, a Roman Emperor, elevated Christianity into a state religion, he started using “X” as a symbol for Jesus Christ. Parchment paper (an ancient writing material) was expensive at the time, so any techniques for saving space were welcome. The abbreviation stuck and eventually was shortened to Xmas.
Most media commentators agree that the first appearance of this abbreviation for Christmas dates to 1021, “when an Anglo-Saxon scribe saved himself space by writing XPmas,” reported First Things, the institute of religion and public life, noting no grand conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas.
Scribes to Relevant Magazine, a bimonthly Christian lifestyle magazine exploring the intersection of faith and pop culture are however quick to note there is no denying that there is a trend to, in a sense, take Christ out of Christmas.
“In pursuit of tolerance, inclusiveness, and political correctness, some are attempting to obscure the Christian origins of Christmas—as if our society’s materialism has not already obscured the meaning of Christmas,” they say.
“Whether they refer to it as “Xmas” or “the winter holidays” or something else, some will not be satisfied until the celebration is entirely secularized. In response to this, rather than getting angry or complaining about the use of Xmas, we should be sharing the love of Christ through word and deed,” they add.
By Agencies/UG Christian news Correspondent.
