December 17, 2018 - “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God…” Matt. 16:16
I was really surprised when one of my seminary professors suggested that we use an “X” to abbreviate “Christ” when taking notes in his Homiletics class. “You’ll have a hard time keeping up with my lectures unless you know shorthand or can create your own,” he warned. I learned right away that he gave us good advice.
I’ve always felt a little guilty using an “X” for “Christ”, especially in a time when Americans are slowly trying to take Christ out of Christmas. A town in Pennsylvania recently forbad the use of red poinsettias in decorating their City Hall for Christmas because “red is a symbol for Christianity.”
But my Greek professor explained the “X” in Xmas to me.
The Greek symbol “X” stands for two of our English letters (Ch). And the Greek word for “Christ” is the word, “Christos.” Since the use of “X” was used originally to abbreviate the name “Christos,” it’s more than an English “X” to those who know the meaning in Greek.
So what does all of this prove? I guess it says that writing “XMAS” might not be as sacrilegious to some as it is to others. But since most people will never know the way this got started, it’s probably better not to abbreviate it.
Since He took the time to die for our sins, we could at least take time to write out His Blessed Name.
