hjmick
Diamond Member
- Mar 28, 2007
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I don't normally post in the religion forum, I certainly don't start threads here... usually... I don't really have much interest in religion one way or the other.
But I saw a comment in a now locked thread in the badlands that, as a lover of history, I found curious:
I was somewhat surprised that a person of faith would be offended by the substitution of "Christ" for "X." The only reasoning I can think of for such offense is a lack of awareness as to the history of the use of "X" in place of "Christ."
I’ve seen some people say “Writing ‘Xmas’ is trying to eliminate Christ from Christmas.” I’ve also heard similar things about using “Xtian.” This seems to me to be incredibly fearful, as well as ignorant of history. I don’t think there is anyone alive today that doesn’t know Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas, which contains the word “Christ”. This is not a new movement to hide Christ. This abbreviation has been around a very long time.
The labarum, often called the Chi-Rho, is a Christian symbol representing Christ. It is a symbol comprised of our letters X and P, which in Greek are the first two letters of “Christ.” This symbol has been around, and directly representative of Christ, since at least the 4th century. There have also been numerous versions of ichthys symbols since the first century, all representing Jesus. Ichthys is Greek for fish, but in their alphabet it looks like ‘ΙΧΘΥΣÂ’. It is an acrostic for “Jesus Christ, GodÂ’s son, savior” and writing it, or one of its symbols, has always identified someone as Christian. It was often shortened to simply ‘XÂ’, as the X was the letter in the ichthys that represented ChristÂ’s name, and the letter is also reminiscent of a cross.
In short, if people want to be offended, they will always find a way. But this one, it's a bit of a stretch for me...
But I saw a comment in a now locked thread in the badlands that, as a lover of history, I found curious:
I was somewhat surprised that a person of faith would be offended by the substitution of "Christ" for "X." The only reasoning I can think of for such offense is a lack of awareness as to the history of the use of "X" in place of "Christ."
I’ve seen some people say “Writing ‘Xmas’ is trying to eliminate Christ from Christmas.” I’ve also heard similar things about using “Xtian.” This seems to me to be incredibly fearful, as well as ignorant of history. I don’t think there is anyone alive today that doesn’t know Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas, which contains the word “Christ”. This is not a new movement to hide Christ. This abbreviation has been around a very long time.
The labarum, often called the Chi-Rho, is a Christian symbol representing Christ. It is a symbol comprised of our letters X and P, which in Greek are the first two letters of “Christ.” This symbol has been around, and directly representative of Christ, since at least the 4th century. There have also been numerous versions of ichthys symbols since the first century, all representing Jesus. Ichthys is Greek for fish, but in their alphabet it looks like ‘ΙΧΘΥΣÂ’. It is an acrostic for “Jesus Christ, GodÂ’s son, savior” and writing it, or one of its symbols, has always identified someone as Christian. It was often shortened to simply ‘XÂ’, as the X was the letter in the ichthys that represented ChristÂ’s name, and the letter is also reminiscent of a cross.
In short, if people want to be offended, they will always find a way. But this one, it's a bit of a stretch for me...
