Christmas vs. Xmas Debate

Actually I've done reading on the term Xmas. X is actually the Greek letter Chi, the first letter of the Greek word for Christ. From what I've read, historically, X stands for Christ. It's a form used in early times by Christians. And even by English speaking Christians. The way I've read, it's meant to be an abbreviation rather than a "crossing out." X is supposed to mean Christ. I think the confusion comes from not knowing the Greek alphabet. People assume that because X is what people use in crossing out things in other contexts, that there aren't any other uses. Other than a letter of alphabet. Now, I'm not saying that no one has ever used the term Xmas with the intent of "crossing out Christ" as the old saying goes. I'm saying it's not inherently insulting or disrespectful to Christ. It's a perfectly respectful and even reverent way to refer to Him. I wonder how the idea that Xmas is a disrespectful way to refer to Christ started. Did some non Christians start using it in a derogatory manner, not knowing the original meaning behind it? Or, did some modern day Christians, also not knowing the original meaning, just assume that someone using the term Xmas meant it disrespectfully, without actually finding out why that person was using it? I'm Christian, but sometimes I get the urge to use the term Xmas, because I know the term is actually a perfectly respectful way to write Christmas (it means the exact same thing). Also, because I know it would throw people for a loop and I like the idea of people learning their assumptions are wrong. But, I haven't done it yet for a few reasons. Although I stand by my belief that there's nothing bad with using X as long as you're using it correctly, there's really no good reason for me to use it. Writing out Christ, instead of His first initial (in Greek) doesn't take that much time or space for me. Second reason is, I don't know if I could handle the potential brouhaha of people jumping to the conclusion that I mean to be irreverent (even though a small part would get a little bit of pleasure at it when I explained that they were wrong).

hi teedelydoo: What can I say? I understand your feelings. Actually I have never considered the Xmas words as an insult. I always thought it was a kind of abbreviation for Christmas. Most of the people that are not Christian just want their gifts and no more, they don't care about the real meaning of Christmas. They have their right to do it and as long as they don't offend the real meaning of this celebration it's ok. ALVARO

Greetings! Yes, I agree with you. Before I also used to write xmas because I'm not aware and that time I'm only around 6-9 years old. I don't like it when I see my friends card with a greeting like this, "xmas" because they replace Christ with an "x". Why are we celebrating Christmas and why is it called Christmas? Its because if "Christ" and not an "X".

Hi teedelydoo, There has been lots of talks and debates over this. Some people come up with X being the Greek word used to describe Jesus and so on. I am not saying they are not right and that is not true; but what I have been taught was that 'X' is used in place of Christ by non-believers. Like 'X' is used to represent unknown things, for example in algebra, we always says if 50% of X equals whatever.... Since I know Jesus and I am a believer, I used Christmas, not X-mas. I don't really get offended by other people using it, but would never use it myself.