The 'X' in Xmas

In a recent letter a writer vilified the Highlands Today for using "Xmas" instead of "Christmas" in a headline. The editorial stated that such writing was the word of "liberals and atheists."

I believe that a short history lesson is in order. The "X" for Christ was one of the earliest symbols used by Christians in the graffiti they scrawled in the catacombs under Rome and other Roman cities. At the time of Christ, Greek was the language of the higher educated classes. The New Testament was written mostly in Greek, not Latin or Hebrew, as many believe even today.

The Greek letter "Chi," the first letter in the Greek word Christos ("the anointed one,") is written as an "X." When the early Xian's wanted to get fancy, they superimposed the second letter in the spelling of Christ, "Rho" or "P," over the "X." If you look around your local Xian churches, you might find this symbol on the altar, the missal, or the vestments of the priest or minister.

A symbol for atheism? Hardly. Xian's used it as a mark to identify themselves as believers. The penalty for believing in anything other than the Roman pantheon of Gods? Death. Enforcement depended on who the emperor was. Some were sympathetic to the new faith; others, like Nero, saw them as a threat to their own claims of divinity and had them thrown to the lions in the Flavian Amphitheatre (aka Roman Coliseum.)

As Americans, we pay homage to the brave patriots who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. We need to remember at this time of year that many others paid the same price of the survival of the Christian faith practiced by millions today in the United States and around the world.

To the martyrs of the past and the believers of the present, to all of you a Merry Xmas.

Ed Engler
Sebring