Why is CHRISTMAS shortened to Xmas?
Does using the word Xmas DISRESPECT Jesus?

Q. Why do people shorten or rename CHRISTMAS to Xmas? Jesus doesn't cut us short so why do we cut him short? I find it hard to believe that anyone that cuts his name short respects him like they say they do.

A. You're right. Christ doesn't cut us short, and for that we must be thankful. But changing Christmas to Xmas is not cutting him short. I'll explain in a moment. Before I do, however, let's go back fifty years or so when the idea to shorten Christmas seems to have first caught on.

The Greek for Christ is Χριστός (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Number #5547), or Christos, pronounced khris-tos. In Greek the letter X, used as the first letter in the word Christ, does not cut him "short" but is a distinct part of his name.

Years ago merchants realized they could save space and shave their advertising costs by shortening the word Christmas to XMAS using the letter X to replace the letters "Christ." After a few years of this practice, however, the religious community countered with the slogan, "Let's put CHRIST back into Xmas." Generally they succeeded, especially since modern advertising layouts don't depend on the number of letters in a word.

Changing Christmas to Xmas is not cutting Jesus short nor is it disrespecting him as many (Christians and non-Christians alike) realize Christ NEVER WAS in Christmas, especially since the holiday uses sex symbols to commemorate his birth.

"Wait a minute!" you say. "What sex symbols?"

This should not be surprising to you, since every year we're reminded by the media and clergy that Jesus was not born on December 25, although most claim there is no way to know when he was born. So they accept a festival brought into the Roman church – not the biblical church at Rome – by converts from pre-Christian paganism. To keep them from returning to their old ways, and thus losing membership and money, the Roman church adopted the festival, stripped it of its not-so-Christian activities, and called it the mass of Christ: Christmas. They retained the mid-winter date, and kept many of the sex symbols of the old festival of the Roman god Saturn.

You likely hang many of them on your tree each year. Those pretty balls represent the female egg; the candles represent the erect male generative organ; and the wreath comes from the female opening. Although it's not seen so frequently today, older wreaths had a candle standing upright within them. It's easy to imagine the representation.

What about the mistletoe of the Druids? It's amazing what permission a sprig of plastic can provide, from kissing the neighbor's wife to wherever that might lead, just as it did thousands of years ago.

The eternal God created sex as a beautiful event between a husband and wife. He never intended for it to be indulged in by unwed teens, or by men and women who are not married to each other. Yet this was the norm among worshippers of the Roman gods. Is it likely he would let his son be born amid such un-godly festivities? Dumb question.

The Bible, for those who truly study it, identifies the time of Jesus' birth as being in the early autumn, not in the dead of winter when the shepherds were gone from the fields, and the sheep were safe in the barns.

For more infomation about the TRUE origin of Christmas and its symbols see our article entitled What is the REAL Reason behind the Christmas Season?

God has clearly stated what he thinks about mixing how he wants to be worshipped with the practices and symbols used by those who worship FALSE gods:

"take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them . . . and that you do not inquire after THEIR gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve THEIR (false) gods? I also will do likewise.'

"You shall NOT worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He HATES they have done to their gods . . .Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall NOT add to it nor take away from it." (Deuteronomy 12:30-32, NKJV, emphasis added throughout)

Why do churches today continue to combine pagan Christmas celebrations and Jesus' birth? Because it's tradition. But Jesus told the religious leaders of his day,

"All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep YOUR tradition.'' (Mark 7:9, NKJV).