I know Christians usually don’t like the use of Xmas. They feel like Jesus is being x’d out of the holiday.
For the record, the use of Xmas was an attempt to abbreviate Christmas that I find interesting.
X represents the Greek letter chi; it’s the first letter in Christ. Jesus isn’t being x’d out of Christmas with Xmas, he’s being chi’d in!
You’ve probably seen that Greek letter chi on bumper stickers. It’s normally inside a fish symbol, and it looks like this:
ΙΧΘΥΣ
Iota, chi, theta, upsilon, sigma: It spells ichthus, which is the Greek word for fish. It stands for Iesous, Christos, Theou, Uios, Soter—Jesus, Christ, of God, Son, Savior.
When you see it, it’s not pronounced iks-oh-yay; it’s pronounced ik´-thoos, soft th, long oo.
And if you don’t mind the Χ in ΙΧΘΥΣ, then you don’t have to mind it in Χmas, either!
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About Paul Pavao
I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of two. I run a business, live in a Christian community, teach, and I am learning to disciple others better than I have ever been able to before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. I also try to stay honest and open. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.
Xciting news. Xcept, xtremely religious, self-righteous folks always feel threatened by changes in their cages. How would one go about threatening a tribal war god? If that's even possible. Is it possible? Do people really believe that the Ark of the Covenant can be harmed by puny humans? Who can defy the God of the tribes of Israel? Who can defy and oppose the God who raises the dead?