Charlez Blog

THE world is about to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. Before celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ annually on the 25th December--Christmas-- Christians and non Christians around this time of the year exchanged gifts for various reasons.
However, the abbreviation of the name Christ by the letter 'X' in the word Christmas is not encouraged. Instead of writing the word Christmas in full, some people tend to shorten it to X-mass or Xmas.
Those who are pro Xmas say, the "-mas" part of the word is from the Latin-derived Old English word Mass, while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word which translated into English is "Christ."
However, according to Wikipedia, the Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage states that the word 'Xmas' should be considered informal and restricted to contexts where concision is valued, such as in headlines and on greeting cards.
The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing. In the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette, Millicent Fenwick, states that "'Xmas' should never be used" on greeting cards.
For 'true' Christians any attempt to remove the religious meaning behind Christmas by taking the word "Christ" out is considered disrespectful. The abbreviation 'Xmas' dates back to the 16th century and was regarded as pagan.
Christian teaching regard the Bible as a book of guidelines and for reference. In the Bible, Jesus is referred to by only one name, while occasionally supplemented with the name of his father or his hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" (Matthew 26:71), "Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22) and "Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth" (John 1:45).
However, in the King James Version of the Bible Mark 6:3, rather than being called the son of Joseph, he is referred to as "the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon". In the Old Testament Jesus is referred to as Emmanuel (Immanuel).
In Isaiah 7:14 the prophet gives a prophecy of Jesus but with a different name, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call His name Emmanuel." In Matthew 1:21, it says, "... .for it is He who will save His people from their sins."