Abbreviations cause a stir! Volume 17.1 December 2019

Abbreviations cause a stir!

Merry Xmas, Xmas sale, Xmas lights, Xmas gifts, Xmas, Xmas, Xmas!!!  Looking back, my mind cannot recall the time when I was first introduced to the icon “XMAS.”  Whether it was a billboard sign in the 1970s advertising holiday sales or “Xmas” written on the cardboard boxes up in the attic containing our Christmas lights and fake tree, I only know that I recognized “X-mas” as something to do with Christmas.  Growing up, it didn’t bother me at all; it was just another part of the symbols of our culture which was then still arguably Christian.  In the south, we were still thumbing our nose at the oppressive Supreme Court ban on prayer in school.  We still had blue laws restricting retail sales on Sunday.  Those were the good ol’ days!  But “X-mas” had not become as scandalous amongst the faithful as it has become today.

In fact it didn’t really bother me until some protestant radio pastor told me it should.  “They’re taking ‘Christ’ out of Christmas!” was the battle cry.  With the shifting of our culture through the 60s, 70s, and 80s, secularism became more aggressive against the religious traditions of our society.  “Xmas” became one of many battlefields for traditionalists to defend (along with manger scenes on city squares and “Christmas” gift exchanges, and “Christmas” concerts in our public schools).

Well the joke is actually on the secularists and our excitable fundamentalist brethren.  They should read their ancient history a little more closely.  The “X” in “Xmas” is actually a Christian symbol.  It has been in use at least from the third century (A.D.) when Constantine painted it on his shield and went out conquering in this sign.  Constantine actually inherited the symbol from existing customs.  In the 16^th Century (1500s) "X" was mass produced with the advent of the printing press.  “Xmas” was more frequently used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

“X” is the Greek letter Chi (pronounced kai) and is the first letter of the word Christos (Xristos).  Christos is the phonetic form where we receive the title “Christ” (Anointed One).  “X” therefore had for centuries come to abbreviate Xianity, Xians, and Xmas, xtc.  So, as troubling as it has become for the Faithful to see “X-mas,” it’s important to understand this symbol’s origins are as innocent as rendering United States of America thusly: USA.

What's troubling is that Xians continue to lose there understanding of ancient symbols that were intended to be reminders of our faith in Jesus Christ.  In fact we are surrounded by these symbols that often go unnoticed. Or, if we notice, we don’t bother to ask what they mean. 

Examples include Alpha and Omega and Chi and Rho. The former represents Jesus Christ as the Beginning and the End of all things. (Alpha is the beginning of the Greek alphabet, and Omega being the end.)  The latter, “Chi and Rho” are simply the first two letters of Christos.  Perhaps if we abbreviated Christmas thusly “XRmas,” we would be less offended.

We see other uses of alphabetic abbreviation on bibles and altars.  Iota, Heta, and Sigma (Ihs).  These are the first three letters in the Greek name of Jesus ( Ihsous;  pronounced eeyay-soos)  If you look close enough at some altars or processional crosses you’ll find this abbreviation.

Now the point of this article is not to deny that the Christian religion is losing its favor in our society.  In fact I agree that we have turned a corner in America in which secular values (even good values) have supplanted the principles of Xianity on which western culture and our nation were founded.  I lament this truth.  Yet the issue for me is that we as Christians need to be more familiar with our own heritage as Xians and we need to understand that the words “Xmas” or “Christmas” are not what will bring a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

The reality is that the only people that can take “Christ” out of the world are the people who bear Christ in the world.  If Christ is taken out of Christmas it is because Christians have not properly put Christ into Christmas.  If you and I do not bear Christ throughout the seasons of our lives then we will do little to change the lives of the people around us in this Christmas Season.

As you read this, remember, we Christians are in the Advent Season (what I also call the shopping season.)  

We are to bear Christ whether it’s Christmas or New Year’s, or the Fourth of July.  Be mindful of your Faithful obligation to worship God and be a disciple of Christ whether it’s Christmas, or Easter, or the 11th Sunday after Pentecost? 

Blessings friends,

Fr. Stephen+