Christmas VS Xmas

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2016
8,784
4,451
113
#1
I was researching about Xmas to understand why secularist may use the word. Was it solely to mark out the word Christ? It actually seems like they are ignorantly using X in exchange for Christ but in history and the Greek language X is the first letter used in Christ.

What do you think? Should we inform them they are still celebrating Christmas?


Where did Xmas come from?
But, the history of the word Xmas is actually more respectable—and fascinating—than you might suspect. First of all, the abbreviation predates (by centuries) its use in gaudy advertisements. It was first used in the mid-1500s. X represents the Greek letter chi, the initial letter in the word Χριστός (Chrīstos). And what does Χριστός mean? “(Jesus) Christ.” X has been an acceptable representation of the word Christ for hundreds of years. (And why would people need to abbreviate Christ? Well, the word is very widely written.)

Other abbreviations for Christ include Xt and Xp, the P here representing the Greek letter rho, source of our letter R. A stylized version of the Greek chi (X) and rho (P) is ☧, a symbol of Christ called a Christogram.

In the same vein, the dignified terms Xpian and Xtian have been used in place of the word Christian.

Where does the –mas in Christmas come from?
The –mas in Xmas comes from the Old English word for mass, as in a church service, especially one in the Roman Catholic Church including a celebration of the Eucharist. That word, mæsse, is believed to have been derived from Church Latin missa, ultimately from Latin mittere which means “to send (away).” It was perhaps derived from the concluding formula in the Latin mass, Ite, missa est, meaning “Go, it is the dismissal!” That is, the service is over.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/xmas-christogram/
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
5,675
1,619
113
#2
I've always considered it an acceptable way to write Xmas with no intention of it to mean I'm "x-ing" Christ out, rather just another way of writing it. And Also, having more recently learned that the first letter in the Hebrew alefbet is written with "X" , and its recognition as a signature of Gd, no one can make me feel 'guilty' for using it.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,173
113
#3
I find when people write xmas it makes me think of eczema when saying it.
Also people never write xian for Christian so I just find it offputting spelling wise. I will write thx instead of thanks (because of the way it sounds) but tend to write ta instead. Though some x words are pronounced like a z eg Xerox and Xena. So its very confusing.

Useful for playing scrabble though.
 

Isaskar

Active member
Nov 13, 2021
139
55
28
#4
It is pagan yule no matter how it is written. Don't go with the ways of the heathen, be separate. Jeremiah 10, "christmas trees" are nothing new.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
41,243
16,252
113
69
Tennessee
#5
I find when people write xmas it makes me think of eczema when saying it.
Also people never write xian for Christian so I just find it offputting spelling wise. I will write thx instead of thanks (because of the way it sounds) but tend to write ta instead. Though some x words are pronounced like a z eg Xerox and Xena. So its very confusing.

Useful for playing scrabble though.
I love getting an X in Scrabble. 8 Points. Easy to get rid of. I look for the triple letter scores and try to go both ways. Strange enough, there is no X in eczema.
 

JTB

Well-known member
Aug 31, 2021
2,057
631
113
#7
It is pagan yule no matter how it is written. Don't go with the ways of the heathen, be separate. Jeremiah 10, "christmas trees" are nothing new.
You mean we took something that was meant to glorify satan, and turned it into something that glorifies God?

I'm for anything that cheats satan out of his false glory!
 

Isaskar

Active member
Nov 13, 2021
139
55
28
#8
You mean we took something that was meant to glorify satan, and turned it into something that glorifies God?

I'm for anything that cheats satan out of his false glory!
That is a common phrase thrown around in Christianity but totally unbiblical. We aren't called to take paganism and rebrand it as something Christian. That is where we went wrong, seeker sensitive follows this same ideology.

We are told to be separate, not be like the heathens and not conform to their ways.

I find it amazing that we have in the Bible 7 feasts and Christians would never ever celebrate those biblical feasts, lest they be "under the law" but they don't find it problematic to celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Easter, no problem.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,173
113
#9
I love getting an X in Scrabble. 8 Points. Easy to get rid of. I look for the triple letter scores and try to go both ways. Strange enough, there is no X in eczema.
though if you spell it Christmas, you may get more points cos the C is worth 3 and the H is worth 4 plus all the other letters worth 1 each, though having the word in your rack would be rare because it is over seven letters, unless someone spells CHRIST first and you just add MAS to it.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
41,243
16,252
113
69
Tennessee
#10
though if you spell it Christmas, you may get more points cos the C is worth 3 and the H is worth 4 plus all the other letters worth 1 each, though having the word in your rack would be rare because it is over seven letters, unless someone spells CHRIST first and you just add MAS to it.
CHRISTMAS would be a hard word to fit in Scrabble because it is like you have said, each rack only holds 7 letters. Yeah, you could add MAS and spell CHRISTMAS but then you would not get a 7 letter word bonus. HOWEVER (7 letters), you could add CHRISTM (7 letters) to an existing AS.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,760
113
#12
What do you think? Should we inform them they are still celebrating Christmas?
There is no need to make an issue out of this since it is of significance only to believers. But the whole world celebrates Xmas.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,809
1,229
113
#13
An X looks like a cross, criss-crossed lines (again the word cross).

As the OP stated, Christ is this in Greek NT manuscripts:

Χριστός

The letters are Chi, Rho, Iota, Sigma, Tau, Omicron, Sigma.

Also, they are these numbers of Greek alphabet:

Chi 22, Rho 17, Iota 9, Sigma 18, Tau 19, Omicron 15, Sigma 18.

Sigma (σ, ς):There are two forms for the letter Sigma. When written at the end of a word, it is written like this: ς. If it occurs anywhere else, it is written like this: σ.

Christ is the first letter of the first 5 words:

Chi, Rho, Iota, Sigma, Tau
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,424
113
#14
The question goes much deeper than how we write the word Christmas. It is a question of whether Christ looks at our actions or our motives. Some people use the X without thinking of exing out Christ.

We also need to ask ourselves if we can ex out Christ in this word with no awareness at some level that it has meaning in the kingdom of heaven. To do this we would need to be so focused on the world's rules we are blind to the spirit of Christ.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,809
1,229
113
#15
The question goes much deeper than how we write the word Christmas. It is a question of whether Christ looks at our actions or our motives. Some people use the X without thinking of exing out Christ.

You haven't paid attention to the thread. The X is Christ. It isn't removing Christ.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,424
113
#16
You haven't paid attention to the thread. The X is Christ. It isn't removing Christ.
Anything the world edits with an X means it exes that word out, it is not a symbol of Christ. Even when we are not a part of the world, we live in the world.
 

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2017
9,261
5,618
113
#19
Incidentally, the Greek word for merry is εὐφραίνω (euphrainō).
But I don't write my Christmas greetings in Greek, so I don't need a Greek X for Christmas.


I'd rather distance myself from the Chi Xi Sigma χ ξ ς (Mark of The Beast) of Revelation 13.