(For Christians) How do you feel about being called Xians?(this is not a joke)?

Question

I have seen a new way of Spelling Christian "Xian".Does this offend you in any way some people use it just for a short way of spelling Christian, others because they do not agree with Jesus being the Christ others just out of disrespect. It seems odd how every one (no matter what they Believe) will push tolerance, then they make up a New from of Intolerance...(Yes I know for some it is just a shorthand but you dont see others changing the way you spell Islam, Jew Or other religions?)...Do you think that this will catch on like the 'Xmas" thing did?

Please Answer Like Respectful Adults thank you.....

Answer 1

It is disrespectful. It's just a sign of the times that people are taking Christ out of everything in any little way they can. But this is the first time I've seen it, so it can't be too popular yet.

Answer 2

I'm an atheist. I apologize for answering a "Christians Only" question. But it intrigued me so I did some research.

Abbreviations used as Christian symbols have a long history in the church. The letters of the word "Christ" in Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written, or various titles for Jesus early became symbols of Christ and Christianity. For example, the first two letters of the word Christ (cristoV, or as it would be written in older manuscripts, CRISTOS) are the Greek letters chi (x or X) and rho (p or P). These letters were used in the early church to create the chi-rho monogram (see Chrismons), a symbol that by the fourth century became part of the official standard of the emperor Constantine.

Another example is the symbol of the fish, one of the earliest symbols of Christians that has been found scratched on the walls of the catacombs of Rome. It likely originated from using the first letter of several titles of Jesus (Jesus Christ Son of God Savior). When combined these initial letters together spelled the Greek word for fish (ichthus).

http://www.cresourcei.org/symbols/xmasorigin.html

So my question for Christians is why would you find the letter X offensive with such a rich religious history and heritage? Even I, as an atheist, can appreciate historical significance.

Answer 3

I saw Xtians on yahoo, so decided to correct it as Xians. I used to think that Xmas was taking Christ out of Christmas. I since found out that originally X stood for Christ because X is the first letter in the greek spelling of Christ. So X = Christ. Same as the fish symbol represents christianity.

These are secret codes originated because Christians were or are persecuted.

Answer 4

I absolutely am not offended by "Xians." Heck, I abbreviate it that way all the time. It is not an "ex," it's the Greek letter chi which is the first letter in the Greek spelling of Christ (christos). Therefore, it's merely an abbreviation; akin to Cians. I also abbreviate the word "God" with a theta and the word "Christ" with chi. It makes sense to use Greek abbreviations for Christian terms because the New Testament was originally written primarily in Greek. I also use the abbreviation Xmas. I am a devout Xian and see nothing wrong with abbreviations.

Answer 5

You have to look at this from a historical perspective.

Using "X" to signify Christ goes back a very long time. Jesus is the Messiah. The word Messiah is a Hebrew word meaning "Savior."

Now at the time the New Testament was written, Greek was considered to be the "international language," so the NT was written in Greek.

The Greek word for Messiah is "Χριστος" which we pronounce "Christ."

You'll notice that the first letter of that Greek work is Χ.

The whole point of this is that Χ is shorthand for Christ. So writing Xtian or Xmas have long been a historically accepted ways of writing "Christian" and "Christmas."

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

The term "christian" was a derogatory title in the first place. It actually means, "those Christ-likes" or Christ wannabes. It was flung as an insult in the face of those who believed in the Christ. We embraced their intolerance and proudly bore the name of Christ (though we don't usually do His name justice).

Replacing Christ with an "X" is just another form of the same insult. Yes, it upsets me that they are trying to eliminate even the word "Christ" from their vocabulary, but really - that's just sad. When I see "xian" all I think is, "how pathetic". Nothing more. Just pity.

So go ahead, world! Fling your insults at me!
I'll answer to my God, not you.

Answer 7

I personally do not like the whole "xians" i don't really care for xmas either. I am a Christian and I celebrae Christmas which celebrates the birth of Christ...If people want to use it for short I don't really mind but as far as saying it as "exmas (xmas)" or "exians (xians)" I don't really like that. Why omit the name Christ who is a major foundation of the religion.

Answer 8

To put this matter to rest for everyone:

The X in Christmas is not to take the word "Christ" out of Christmas. That has nothing to do with it, and is just urban legend.

The word "Christ" is the modern translation of a title given to Jesus. This title was the Greek word Xpistos, pronounced ("Christos"), meaning "Anointed One." It signifies Him as our savior.

The X used is a reference to this original greek word, with the letter "chi" aka X as the first letter. This symbolic usage of a letter to refer to Jesus is something that has been practiced for about 1,000 years.

Some may see it as basically an ancient form of abbreviating His name. But looking at it from the context of their times, this was not laziness but rather reverence because it made the letter X (or in other cases, XP) a symbol for Him just like the icthys (the fish symbol) was and still is.

I can't tell you whether to take offense by it or not, but now you are all informed of the true meaning. I personally do not take offense to the word Xian or X-mas, but don't particularly like to use the words myself because it does seem the usage has evolved from laziness.

Answer 9

I have two (equal and opposite) answers:
(1) My love of and loyalty to Jesus Christ has NOTHING to do
with what people call me...and I've been insulted by experts >8-).
From that point of view, it doesn't matter.
(2) If people ARE polite, they'll ASK me how I prefer to be called.
From that point of view, it does matter.

Am I being contradictory? Not really. I live with loyalty and demand (politely) courtesy.

Both are essential, in my opinion.

Of course..."Xian" COULD mean a Generation-X person - so you MIGHT have to ask them (small grin).

Peace!

Answer 10

Since the "X" is the traditional symbol for the "cross" in type writing (technically, the "X" is historically the symbol of the cross of Saint Andrew, but let's not nit-pick), I assume that being called an "Xian" is an acceptable txt msg abbreviation.

Many people who are not religious object to the use of text messaging abbreviations period because they think that it "dumbs down" the English language.