5 Fast Facts About the Term “Xmas” and Its Historic Christian Origins

Christian Origins

Far from being a secular attempt to get rid of the name of Christ, Xmas started out within the church as an abbreviation for Christmas. Some say the use of the X for Christ dates back to the earliest days of Christianity but what we know for sure is that it was used as early as 1021 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Whatever you may think about abbreviations, it soon became a well-known Christian symbol. As theologian R.C. Sproul says "There’s a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, and from its origin, it has meant no disrespect."

Chi-Rho

These two Greek letters are the first two letters of the Greek name of Christ “ Χριστός “ . This word is transliterated as Christos (pronounced “khrē-sto's”). In Greek it means “anointed” and refers to the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.  

As one can see by looking at these first two letters they look like an English X and P and so X or sometimes XP became a well-known Christian symbol. This symbol is called the labarum or Chi-Rho. The Chi-Rho symbol seems to be similar in its usage to the well-known “Christian Fish”. The fish symbol has been used since the early times of the church because the Greek acronym “Icthus” (Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour) happens to spell “fish”. 

PC: mentalfloss.com

Its Not Pronounced “Ex-mas”

Although the term Xmas appears to be pronounced “Ex-mas”, it should not be. In the early usages of the X symbol it was always understood that to say it aloud meant to say “Christ” - for X was not just a symbol for Christ but meant Christ itself just as “Mr.” means “Mister”.  The Oxford English Dictionary sites this type of usage as early as 1485. In fact, other terms have been used the same way including Xian and Xianity (Christian and Christianity). 

Today’s Use Of the Term

So now we know of the historical and symbolic significance of the term “Xmas” but does that mean that all people and businesses who use the term today are using it with this rich heritage in mind? Of course not. For the most part today people use this term for brevity, out of laziness or some even as a direct way of “crossing out” the name of Christ. But I'm not into the "war on Christmas" ideology. I think there is a better way to handle this...

So What Do We Do Now? 

Personally I still like to write out “Christmas” in full as not many people know of this history. However, knowing now both the Christian history of the term Xmas and its modern day (often careless usage)  I would suggest that we, as Christians, do not berate someone for using Xmas in an unkind or combative way but rather use it as an opportunity to tell them about its true origins and, in doing so, share the Gospel as well. Because the Gospel is what Christmas is all about! 

“…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:21

Sources: 

R.C. Sproul  http://www.ligonier.org/blog/why-is-x-used-when-it-replaces-christ-in-christmas/

Dennis Bratcher  http://www.crivoice.org/symbols/xmasorigin.html

Snopes http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/xmasabbr.asp

Wikipedia