Xmas why abbreviated

And why would people need to abbreviate Christ? Well, the word is very widely written. Other abbreviations for Christ include Xt and Xp , the P here representing the Greek letter rho , source of our letter R. In the same vein, the dignified terms Xpian and Xtian have been used in place of the word Christian. The — mas in Xmas comes from the Old English word for mass , as in a church service, especially one in the Roman Catholic Church including a celebration of the Eucharist.

As lovers of the alphabet, we are transfixed by the flexibility of X. The same letter can represent the sacred, the profane rated X , and the unknown x-ray. Does the 24th letter of the alphabet exhilarate you? These shorthands happen in seminaries all the time. Santa v. Baby Jesus. Good question. The answer may have something to do with the culture wars, the historical tension between the left and the Christian right. Think about Franklin Graham's quote above. For him, and to many who share his particular religious leanings, Xmas is symbolic of a bigger problem with our culture: not only are we crossing out Christ in the word, they say, but we're tossing him out of the public square.

Therefore, Xmas, as Graham said, "is a war against the name of Jesus Christ. Graham and those who think similarly like actor Kirk Cameron and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin believe the secularization of American culture is so all pervasive that even if they're aware of the religious roots of Xmas, they still believe it is symbolic of a larger trend. Thus, it has to go. Certainly, Christians have a right to feel however they wish, and if they think that Christianity is being driven from the public square, there's really no arguing they're wrong.

In fact, polls show that organized religion in America has been declining. Writing at First Things , Matthew Schmitz, who is well aware of the historical roots of Xmas, discusses another reason some Christians might be wary of the shorthand:. The cultural, religious, communal traditions we see as especially embodied by Christmas have been undermined by the rise of commerce and cult of efficiency.

The desire to get from point A to B by the shortest possible route, irrespective of the charms of traditional byways, fuels our mania for abbreviation.

The hatred for Xmas, then, may stem in part from an innate suspicion of the attempt to render all things ancient and beautiful modern, cheap, and sleek. Here's a Christmas song from Christina Aguilera, who sometimes calls herself Xtina.

Appropriately enough, it's called Xtina's Xmas. First, the US remains divided over several traditional culture war issues, most prominently abortion. The battle over Xmas, though it might seem trivial, only reinforces the "secular vs. Christian America" narrative that fuels those arguments.

Second, the fight over the word Xmas underscores some American Christians' real fear of persecution. It might seem ridiculous that members of the nation's dominant religion would feel persecuted, and it's easy to laugh about those who claim the statement "happy holidays" means de facto persecution. But try looking at it from their point-of-view. The United States has gone from a nation where the default religion was assumed to be Christianity, to one that increasingly tries to make room for people of all faiths and belief systems.

That can seem like a gradual, inevitable evolution to those not embroiled in the culture wars, but it can feel like a massive sea change to those who are. These changes are fast, and they are real, and those concerned about them shouldn't just be dismissed or mocked.

In fact, dismissing concerns about the changing religious landscape is bad for all of us in the long run, as Susan Brooks Thistelthwaite wrote for FaithStreet about religious pluralism in America. Writing on expensive parchment paper, the scholar was likely trying to be frugal and save space on the page. Here, he refers to his famous poem " A Christmas Carol ":. Coleridge was not alone in using this Christmas abbreviation.

Tenniel … is now illustrating for me, and which I hope to get published before Xmas. Some modern audiences feel Xmas is a disrespectful abbreviation for Christmas, mistakenly assuming the X is meant to replace Christ with a secular symbol. However, the truth is just the opposite: the X is an ancient shorthand for Christ.

Like all common abbreviations , Xmas is a shortened version of a longer word. When people are short on space or need to write or type quickly, Xmas gets their point across more efficiently.