Let's
Put the "X" Back in "Xmas"
There are many who fervently believe that the "X" in "Xmas" is crossing
out Christ's name. And, according to them, that makes it a really bad thing to do, much like shortening "God be
with you" to "Good-bye." But what do they know?
First, understand that the Bible was not written in English... not originally. Lots of things weren't.
English is not that old. The origin of the English language traditionally dates back to 1066 with the Battle of Hastings,
easily a thousand years after Christ. (English Language) Even at that, what they were speaking isn't even close
to what we now call English. If you went back in time and expected people to be able to understand you, first, go somewhere
they actually spoke English. Second, don't go before, say, 1500. If you were to go back to the early days of when
the New Testament was being written, around 50 AD, (History of the Bible) they were speaking Greek. Indeed, the word
"Bible" is of Greek origin. (Language of the New Testament)
The Greek word for Christ (in Greek) is
Χριστός
If you could find an original
copy of the New Testament, that's the word you're going to see. (Ambrosino)
Using "X" as an abbreviation for Christ goes
back a long ways, too, all the way back to Constantine the Great (not to be confused with his son, Constantine the OK).
On October 28, 312 AD, Constantine fought the superior forces of his nemesis Maxentius at the battle of Milivan Bridge.
(The Battle of Milvian Bridge) The night before Constantine had a vision, and in that vision God himself told Constantine
to create a war banner with the first two letters of Christ's name, which, in Greek, are chi and rho, "chi" being
an X, and "rho" being a P... like this:
If the above symbol
doesn't look familiar to you, then you've probably never been in a Christian church. By the way, Constantine won
that battle, which is pretty much a forgone conclusion if you have God on your side. (Ambrosino) Anybody who's
seen the Indiana Jones movies knows that.
Another familiar symbol for many Christians is
ΙΧΘΥΣ
This is actually an acronym
(in Greek), meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour." Yup. The "X" is short for
"Christ." (Ambrosino)
"Christmas" is a combination of the words "Christ" and "Mass." Christ
being... well... Jesus. And Mass means... well... mass – a church service. In this case, it's
a church service for Christ. At one time, especially in the Catholic church, every saint had a day, and on that
day a special mass was said for that particular saint. (Clark) For instance, Michaelmas, honoring the Angel Michael
(one of my favourites), and all the other Angels as well (after all, there are over 10,000 saints recognized by the Catholic
church), is celebrated by those who celebrate such things on September 29. (Johnson)
The first recorded instance of "Xmas" being
used for "Christmas" is in 1021, when a thrifty scribe shortened it to "XPmas." And who can
blame him? After all, parchment paper was expensive, and not to be wasted. And he was probably copying
the entire Bible by hand. Anything that could be abbreviated was. Soon after the abbreviation was shortened
even more, to "Xmas." (Ambrosino) And, as they say, the rest is history.
So if you're tired of the way Xmas has changed
over the years, of how people have taken a once sacred holiday and made it into a farce... if you want to get back to the real meaning of Xmas, then it's time to put the "X"
back in Xmas.
Work Cited
Ambrosino, Brandon. "The X in Xmas Literally Means Christ. Here's
the History Behind It." Vox. Voxmedia (14 Dec. 2014): n. pag. Web. 11
Dec. 2019 https://www.vox.com/2014/12/14/7374401/jesus-xmas-christmas
"The Battle of Milvian Bridge and the History of the Book." Library News. University
of Missouri (2019): n. pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 http://library.missouri.edu/news/special-collections/the-battle-of-milvian-bridge-and-the-history-of-the-book
Clark, Wayne. "What is the Meaning of 'Mas' in the Word Christmas?" Quora. Quora: n.
pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-mas-in-the-word-Christmas
"English Language." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation (7 Dec. 2019): n.
pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language
"History of the Bible: New Testament." History World. History
World: n. page. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=adb1
Johnson, Ben. "Michaelmas." Historic UK. Historic UK
Ltd.: n. pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/
"Language of the New Testament." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation (5
Nov. 2019): n. pag. Web. 11 Dec. 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_the_New_Testament
