Merry Xmas!

I have always been disturbed and sometimes offended when people use "Xmas" as an abbreviation for Christmas. To me it looks like just another way to take Christ out of Christmas. Unfortunately, to many people that is exactly what they mean to do, whether through ignorance or malice. So I was surprised this week to learn that there is more to the story.

In the Ancient Greek language of the scriptures, the word Christ begins with the letters Chi and Rho. These letters look like X and P in our modern alphabet. Anyone who has ever pledged a fraternity should recognize them.

The Roman emperor Constantine, a Christian, created a banner for his fourth century armies to carry with a symbol combining the letters Chi and Rho. The symbol came to be called the Labarum, and to this day you will see it in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic liturgical artwork. It looks like this:



So, using "X" in reference to Christ isn't necessarily a bad thing, though most people don't know the history behind what they are writing. The joke is on the atheists who really do want to take Christ out of the holiday. They're just using a different name.

Interesting article from Wikipedia.