Happy Xmas!

Episode 122 Happy Xmas

A different kind of podcast

“Happy  Xmas” is a different kind of podcast for us.  First, it comes during the 2022 Christmas holiday season while things are a bit more laid back.

Second, David Capes himself, our host, does today’s episode as a solo podcast.

Expect our next Stone Chapel podcast in early 2023.  

Is there a war on Christmas?

For decades now people have been talking about “a war on Christmas” by seculars who love the holiday but not its original meaning. 

Whether it is the greeting “Happy Holidays” at a big-box store or legal action to remove nativity scenes from public properties, many believers consider these actions a deliberate attempt to keep the holiday but not the holy-day.

Is Xmas okay?

So is the word “Xmas” an attempt to take “Christ” out of “Christmas.”  What’s the story with that?  David Capes tackles this question in this podcast. 

The answer may surprise you.  There is actually a long history tied to the expression. 

The letter X or C

Before you listen ask yourself this: why is it “X-mas” and not “C-mas.” 

The letter “X” (eks), the 24^th letter of the English alphabet, is not in the word “Christmas.” 

Normally, abbreviations have a letter from the word it shortens.  Now some of these come from other languages like Latin. 

“Etc,” for example, abbreviates the Latin et cetera (and the rest).  RSVP (Please reply) comes from the French (répondez s’il vous plait).”  

In chat today we use a lot of abbreviations (LMK = let me know; asap = as soon as possible). 

The point is abbreviations typically have letters consistent with what is being abbreviated. 

So why is “Christmas” abbreviated “Xmas.” 

That is what we are here to find out.

Here are more resources on the topic.

To read more about it and see some stunning examples from history go to David’s blog, “A Word in Edgewise”: https://davidbcapes.com/2017/12/08/xmas-is-it-taking-christ-out-of-christmas-3/

A Show of Faith

For nearly 20 years David Capes has co-hosted an award-winning radio show on a “secular” channel in Houston, the nation’s fourth largest radio market. 

The show is called “A Show of Faith,” and it airs weekly on AM 1070 the Answer.

His other hosts include Rabbi Stuart Federow, Father Mario Arroyo, and a millennial budding-theologian, Rudy (Rudolfo) Kong. 

For more great information from David Capes, check out his website here.

Want some great Xmas gifts for others or even yourself? Check out these books by David!

Thanks to John Lennox and Yoko Ono for some memorable music!

For more Stone Chapel Podcasts, click here.