Xians and Xianity
by David M.
Fitzpatrick
Last updated Tuesday,
20 January 2004
You'll notice I refer to "Christians" as "Xians"
and "Christianity" as "Xianity." I'm not the first. It's commonly seen
abbreviated as "Xtians" and "Xtianity" in other places on the
Web. I've been accused by Xians of being insulting to their religion, but
this abbreviation is used by a great many more people than me. Yet Xians
often find it insulting for some reason... as if it is insulting to Jesus
Christ. This isn't the case.
The Origin of X
Consider "Xmas." It's an abbreviated form
of "Christmas," where "X" is substituted for "Christ." There is no
disrespect intended for Christ there; in fact, "Xmas" has been used in
religious writings for hundreds of years. The "X" refers t the Greek letter
chi, which looks like an X, and was long ago used as an abbreviation
for Christ's name in Greek (CjstoV,
"Khristos").
In many cases, "XP" was used as the
abbreviation, combing the first two letters in "Christ" -- chi and
rho. In times or places where Xians were unwelcome or unwanted, "X" or
"XP" would often be used to identify the presence of Xians, much in the same
way that the Xian fish (or icthyus) symbol was used to do the same.
(Such practices have not been limited to Xianity; many groups of like-minded
people, from religions to secret societies to traveling hobos, would use
signs and abbreviations to let others of their kind know certain things.)
Xian References
The New Testament was written in Greek. The use of X as an
abbreviation to substitute for "Christ" appeared in ancient Xian art, and
its use is documented by the Oxford English Dictionary as having been found
in Xian writings as early as 1551. This was fifty years before the first
English colonists came to America. It was sixty years before the King James
Version of the Bible was completed.
So Why Do I Use
It?
First of all, it's just an abbreviation. After all, how many Xians type out "self-contained underwater
breathing apparatus" instead of SCUBA? Most people use SCUBA as a word, not
an acronym: scuba. I don't think scuba divers get offended. The same goes
for laser; when's the last time you talked about the hero in a sci-fi
movie firing his Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
gun?
But I use it more than simply an
abbreviation. I use it to reflect the unimportance of the fictitious
character upon which
Xianity is based—namely, Christ. That's another essay, but for now you know
why you see it written that way all over this site. |
