We see it everywhere, the word…Xmas.

In our culture the symbol X can represent so many different things. Here are just a few for instance;
it may be used to name an unknown quantity, describe an obscene film such as X-rated, serve as a warning for poison and sometimes even used in place of Christ in Christmas (Xmas.)

In our culture since the letter X, in most cases, is used in a negative form, we just assume that (Xmas)
is negative as well. People seem to be outraged when seeing Christ’s name dropped and replaced by the symbol X. Every year I see signs, bumper stickers, shirts, etc. saying, “Put Christ back into Christmas.” I decided to do some research and check out the word Xmas. Wow, I was astounded at the result.

First, understand that it is NOT the letter X in our English vocabulary that is being represented here.
We see the letter X and obviously assume that it represents the negative. but that is not the case. The X originates from the first letter of the ancient Greek word for Christ – Χριστός (Christos), which translates in English as Christ. Therefore, the first letter of the word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as X.

The idea of using X as an abbreviation for the name of Christ came into use in our culture with no intent to show disrespect for Jesus.

Actually, if you take time to study, even the symbol of the fish (which stands for Christianity) was derived from the first 2 letters of the ancient Greek word: fish -ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys). This is actually an abbreviation for “Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr” – which means in English, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” The X in the symbol of the fish actually stands for Christ, and the connection of the X for the fish is the I which stands for Jesus.

There is a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, 
and from it’s very origin it has never meant to be disrespectful.

I hope this blesses you with knowledge, so to not be offended, the next time you see the word Xmas.

Blog contents borrowed from Mikel French

Merry Christmas/ Merry Xmas