1/x Ok, a multi-part Tweet just to clarify to all of those Tweeting “It’s not Xmas! It’s Christmas!! The word ‘Christ’ is there for a reason!!” The ”X” stands for the Greek letter chi, the starting letter of “Χριστός” (Christos) in Greek. The use of the word "Xmas" in English .. 
2/x .. can be traced to the year 1021. The Oxford English Dictionary's first recorded use of ”Xmas” for ”Christmas” dates to year 1551 although there is reputable scholarship tracing it’s use by monks back in 1020 or so. So ... Merry Xmas! And assuming you believe this stuff ...
3/x .. the date DEC 25th is a fallacy. Early believers didn't mark the event. They considered it a pagan practice. They also expected their Messiah to return soon and bring about the end of the world almost immediately as foretold in biblical prophecies.
But by the 3rd Century ..
But by the 3rd Century ..
4/x .. Christians had begun to organize their ministry and debate the merits of various feast days to mark Jesus’ birth. Suggestions for Christmas included 21 March and 20 May. By 336AD the Church of Rome (now accepted by the Roman Empire) had settled on 25 December. Why? Well ..
5/x .. they wanted more adherents so started to organize feast days around old pagean holidays people knew. They adopted “Saturnalia”, a Roman festival of gift-giving/feasting that was celebrated in December. They adopted its Roman sun god, Sol Invictus, and simply replaced ..
6/x ... Sol with Jesus using the same moniker, “light of the world”.
Further, if you read the biblical and archeological and historical literature, you know that ...
Further, if you read the biblical and archeological and historical literature, you know that ...
7/x
[A] Shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:7-8). But it’s cold and rainy in Judea and shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night, not been in fields. And ...
[A] Shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:7-8). But it’s cold and rainy in Judea and shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night, not been in fields. And ...
8/x
[B] Jesus’ parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter. Temperatures dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census would have been self-defeating. So they were done in the summer ...
[B] Jesus’ parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter. Temperatures dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census would have been self-defeating. So they were done in the summer ...
9/x
[C] When Mary is in labor, she seeks a secluded place under a date palm tree and told to shake the branch of the tree so fresh dates would fall for her to eat to help with labor. The season for fresh dates in the region is between the beginning of July, end of September ...
[C] When Mary is in labor, she seeks a secluded place under a date palm tree and told to shake the branch of the tree so fresh dates would fall for her to eat to help with labor. The season for fresh dates in the region is between the beginning of July, end of September ...
10/x Enough history. You’re eligious? Fine. Enjoy your holiday. But whatever you believe, enjoy the time off. In today’s accelerated culture, most of our daily life is experienced in drive mode, seeking the fastest and most direct route from one task to the next. Me? ...
11/fini ... I use this period for complete aimlessness, a movement through thoughts/feelings/readings directed less towards getting somewhere in particular than to cultivating curiosity about my mind itself. No commitments of time, no enervated transit. So a Merry Xmas to all 🎄
