Do you do it to offend Christians or because deep down in your souls you recognize the significance of Jesus Christ and you just can't bare to recognize that? Im just curious!
2006-07-05 13:55:10 · 27 answers · asked by caring person 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm not an atheist and I have not seen this usage before, but assuming it is from the same origen as Xmas, then the "X" is actually the Greek letter "chi" which is the abbreviation for "Christ" in the anagram "ichthus" (hence the fish symbol for Christianity) used by the early Christians as their "password" for identifying each other.
From the historical context, it is in no way an insult to Christians.
2006-07-05 14:12:02 · answer #1 · answered by ldh77305 1 · 8⤊ 1⤋
I've never spelled it "Xian." I have spelled Christmas "Xmas," and I do celebrate it. I would never want to offend Christianity because I have many Christian friends and family. I do not "recognize the significance of Jesus Christ" for a few reasons. One, because I'm agnostic and we can't know if there is a higher being or not, second, there are many things that I disagree with in Christianity.
2006-07-05 14:03:50 · answer #2 · answered by nunovyorebiznis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Never heard of Xian...just Xmas. And yes, I guess it is a shortening. But X is Greek for Christ. Therefore, it is not taking Christ out of Christmas. And I guess Xian is Christian. If X is Greek for Christ how can you be offended? Maybe Greeks are offended by people using Christ instead of X. It's just a language...get over it. I have better things to do than try to piss Christians off (oops, I meant Xians).
2006-07-05 14:12:19 · answer #3 · answered by zenkitty27 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Huh. I did not know that X means Christ in Greek; I'll have to look into that. I always thought people who originated "X-mas" must not want to acknowledge Christ in the Holiday Season; had never heard of Xian though, and was assuming the same til someone said about the Greek. Still seems irreverant to me, personally, since the rest is in English, and I don't think it's something I'll ever do, (I prefer to see His beautiful name!) but it is interesting t hear other's view on it.
2006-07-05 17:30:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a bad case of fanaticism I'm afraid.
I happen to be Christian (Episcopalian), though it is quite possible that your particular sect do not recognize us as such.
The word Xian doesn't offend me in any way, nor anyone I know -- Jesus was as significant as any other great religious leader, and no more. I choose to be Christian because its comfortable for me, and I recite and believe the creed -- but I hardly think, even for a second, that the Bible is in any way whatsoever inspired, or that our faith community is better than any other faith community. I choose to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior -- but I do not think that others are lost who do not.
That's just bronze age mythology.
Regards,
Reynolds Jones
http://www.rebuff.org
believeinyou24@yahoo.com
2006-07-05 14:00:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Xian is merely an abbreviation for Christ and goes back to the first century. It is not exclusive to atheists. It goes back to ancient times because X is the same character as the Greek letter chi, the first letter of Christ in Greek, which was often abbreviated as XP. (Chi Rho) It's used as an abbreviation online and is not meant as an insult.
2006-07-05 14:12:40 · answer #6 · answered by PO_GORG 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im a Christian but that was a good one! Xian! Like Xmas instead of Christmasl. I never understood calling Christams Xmas.
2006-07-05 13:58:58 · answer #7 · answered by . 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm an athiest and I've never spelled it "Xian". I also consider myself relatively well-read on the subject and I've NEVER seen Christian spelled "Xian".
Ofcourse, Christmas is often shortened to X-mas...the X standing for the cross or crucifix i guess. I've never heard of "X-Mas" being considered offensive to christians.
2006-07-05 13:59:27 · answer #8 · answered by Tim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never seen that term used before but I could see where it could come from. The first letter of Christ's name in Greek is X (thus "XP" or chi ro) and a believer of Christ (XP) could be called "Xian".
2006-07-05 13:59:11 · answer #9 · answered by bloake 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Xian" saves the use of literally hundreds of thousands of pixels each and every year. The International College of Pseud-Ethno Mytholological Studies ( http://1011-0011-0101.blogspot.com/ )has estimated that (ironically) atheists and agnostics typing "Xian" rather than "Christian" have saved enough pixels since 1976 to produce over a thousand on line bibles in full text!
2006-07-05 14:01:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋