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Hi Bung David,
masih mengenai "Xmas", kalo menurut saya, teman2 Bung yg sekular bisa
saja sengaja menulis XMas untuk menghindari menulis Christ tapi
sejarah mengatakan bahwa penulisan XMas itu benar2 berasal dari bahasa
Yunani dan sudah dipraktekkan sejak abad pertengahan. Jika kemudian
di zaman sekarang disalahartikan dan disalahgunakan, saya pikir kita
tetap perlu melihat sejarah seperti apa adanya.
Berikut ini saya kutipkan berbagai sumber tulisan saya, baik yang
sekular maupun yang kristiani. Apakah menurut Bung, sumber-sumber ini
tidak benar atau tidak kredibel? Mohon pencerahannya.
A. SUMBER SEKULAR
=================
#1. Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://128.242.205.65/holidays/xmas/xmasabbr.htm
The abbreviation of 'Xmas' for 'Christmas' is neither modern nor
disrespectful. The notion that it is a new and vulgar representation
of the word 'Christmas' seems to stem from the erroneous belief that
the letter 'X' is used to stand for the word 'Christ' because of its
resemblance to a cross, or that the abbreviation was deliberately
concocted "to take the 'Christ' out of Christmas." Actually, this
usage is nearly as old as Christianity itself, and its origins lie in
the fact that the first letter in the Greek word for 'Christ' is
'chi,' and the Greek letter 'chi' is represented by a symbol similar
to the letter 'X' in the modern Roman alphabet. Hence 'Xmas' is indeed
perfectly legitimate abbreviation for the word 'Christmas' (just as
'Xian' is also sometimes used as an abbreviation of the word
'Christian').
None of this means that Christians (and others) aren't justified in
feeling slighted when people write 'Xmas' rather than 'Christmas,' but
the point is that the abbreviation was not created specifically for
the purpose of demeaning Christ, Christians, Christianity, or
Christmas -- it's a very old artifact of a very different language.
[Source: Burnam, Tom. "The Dictionary of Misinformation". New York:
Harper & Row, 1975. ISBN 0-06-091315-0 �(p. 296).]
#2. Timelines of History
http://members.theglobe.com/algis/1550_1574.html
1551 - The term "Xmas" was used at least this early for Christmas. The
short form derived from the Greek letters "XP," chi and rho, as an
abbreviation of the Greek symbol for Christ. (SFC,12/24/97, Z1 p.6)
#3. The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition, 2000, Houghton Mifflin Company.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/80/X0008000.html
Xmas: Christmas - From "X", the Greek letter "chi", first letter of
Greek "Christos", Christ. Xmas has been used for hundreds of years in
religious writing, where the X is understood to represent a Greek chi,
the first letter of Christos, �Christ�; in this use it is parallel to
other forms like Xtian, �Christian.� But the letter X, or especially
x, is nowadays more frequently interpreted as a mathematical variable
than as a Greek letter, as indicated by the common pronunciation of
the form Xmas as (eksmas). Many therefore frown upon the term Xmas
because it seems to them a commercial convenience that omits Christ
from Christmas.
B. SUMBER KRISTIANI
===================
#1. Answers in Action, Apologetics, and Cult Research
http://www.answers.org/Issues/IsGodaginXmas.html
Xmas is not of modern coinage. The Oxford English Dictionary documents
the use of this abbreviation back to 1551. Undoubtedly it was employed
before that. Now 1551 is fifty years before the first English
colonists came to America and sixty years earlier than the completion
of the King James Version of the Bible! Moreover, at the same time,
Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of Christian
and Christianity. You see, the X in Xmas did not originate as our
English alphabet's X but as the symbol X in the Greek alphabet, called
Chi, with a hard ch. The Greek Chi or X is the first letter in the
Greek word Christos. Eric G. Gration claims that as early as the first
century the X was used as Christ's initial. Certainly through church
history we can trace this usage. In many manuscripts of the New
Testament, X abbreviates Christos (Xristos). In ancient Christian art
X and XR (Chi Ro--the first two letters in Greek of Christos
abbreviate his name. We find that this practice entered the Old
English language as early as AD 100. Moreover, Wycliff and other
devout believers used X as an abbreviation for Christ. Were they
trying to take Christ away and substitute an unknown quantity? The
idea is preposterous.
#2. Christians Home Page
http://www.bibletruths.org/christ1s/ChristAndChristmas.html
THE WORD "CHRISTMAS": From the earliest days of Christian churches,
festivals celebrating the birth of Christ have been held. In England
this festival was known as Christes Messe which meant Christ's mass.
>From this comes the word Christmas. It is often represented as XMAS
because X is the Greek equivalent of Ch, and Ch represents Christ.
#3. The Lutherans
http://www.thelutheran.org/0012/page24a.html
X is an adoption of the Greek letter khi or chi, which is the first
letter of the Greek word Xristos or Christos. Meaning the Anointed
One, it was the appropriate translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. As
such, X in English is used in written abbreviations such as Xt for
Christ, Xtian for Christian, Xtianity for Christianity, Xmas for
Christmas and so on.
#4. Bible Query by Christian Debater
http://www.inerrancy.org/lk.htm
Q: In Lk 2:1, is it not good for Christians to abbreviate Christmas as
"Xmas"?
A: It is fine. As R.C. Sproul points out in Now That�s a Good Question
p.364-365, it is not an X but a cross that was the abbreviation, and
no disrespect of Jesus is intended.
#5. Biblical Studies Foundation
http://www.bible.org/docs/q&a/q&a-86.htm
I have no idea who started using the abbreviation �Xmas� or the reason
for it, but I suspect it was simply to abbreviate the term by using
the English letter �X,� which represents the Greek letter chi, the
first letter of Christos (Cristo") for Christ. If you will note, the
first Greek letter of christos, the chi, looks very much like our
English letter X. Christos means �anointed one� and comes from the
verb chrio (criw), �I anoint.�
#6. All Saints' Episcopal Church
http://www.allsaintschelmsford.org/ascinsqt.html
XMAS: This abbreviation for the word Christmas is often viewed as a
modern commercial shorthand, but has actually been in use for hundreds
of years in religious writing. Xmas makes use of an old abbreviation
for Christ. His name in Greek begins with the letter chi, which looks
like an X, and his name has long been abbreviated as X. Using the same
shorthand, the word Xmas was recorded in print as early as 1555.
#7. Faith Matters
http://faithmatters.faithsite.com/content.asp?SID=7&CID=95
Christmas, Why an 'X' in Xmas? The first letter in the word is the
character chi (pronounced "key"). As you can easily see, its closest
visual (though not phonetic) equivalent in the English alphabet is the
letter X. Years ago, then, people began abbreviating the term
Christmas by putting the letter X for the word Christ. Thus Christ-mas
frequently became X-mas.
======<>======
!w@n Muljadani
"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
-- Victor Hugo
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