posted April 15, 2009 06:44 PM         

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The spelling Christ in English was standardized in the 17th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, spellings of certain words were changed to fit their Greek or Latin origins. Prior to this, in Old and Middle English, the word was usually spelled Crist, the i being pronounced either as /iː/ (see Help:IPA for English), preserved in the names of churches such as St Katherine Cree, or as a short /ɪ/, preserved in the modern pronunciation of Christmas). The spelling "Christ" is attested from the 14th century.[4]

The term Christ (or similar) appears in English and most European languages, owing to the Greek usage of Khristós (transcribed in Latin as Christus) in the New Testament as a description for Jesus. In the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, it was used to translate into Greek the Hebrew mashiach (messiah), meaning "anointed."

Khristós in classical Greek usage could mean covered in oil, and is thus a literal translation of messiah. The Greek term is thought to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root of *ghrei- ("to rub"), which in Germanic languages, such as English, mutated into gris- and grim-. Hence the English words grisly, grim, grime, and grease, are thought to be cognate with Christ, though these terms came to have a negative connotation, where the Greek word had a positive connotation. In French the Greek term mutated first to creŝme and then to crème, due to the loss of certain 's' usages in French, which was loaned into English as cream. Indian ghee, from Sanskrit ghṛtə घृत ("sprinkled") is another obvious cognate, and indeed, has a sacred role in Vedic and modern Hindu libation and anointment rituals.

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posted April 15, 2009 06:47 PM           

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I can not prove to anyone who has not experienced what I have

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posted April 15, 2009 06:50 PM         

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But I do feel a kinship with anyone who is searching, anyone asking questions. I really do.

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posted April 15, 2009 07:17 PM           

People have always been "ready".

Well I'm sure not

I can think of dozens of examples. Dozens of times when something true and accurate was presented to me and I denied it, I fought it with everything I had, because I wasn't ready to hear it. Not everyone is looking to make a life of active spiritual study. Communicating truth requires grace and skill and patience. I'm very much not up to that challenge. Not to mention the problem of having little, if any, 'Truth' to offer. Jesus spoke one way to the 'masses' in the 'valley' and another way to the 'apostles' on the 'mountain'.

I do not follow you

Yes, I haven't explained myself well at all. I'm sorry. I'll try to clarify my thoughts. Thank you for pointing this out.

Christ is an abstraction. So the goal is to make this a reality, yes? The perception of Christ a reality. Someone said to me recently "Well, isn't the goal of a Christian to lead a Christ-like life? To emmulate Jesus?" I don't think so. I think the ultimate goal of a Christian is to perceive and accept the Christ. To experience our own Damascus, as it were. I don't mean to say that I disregard the man Jesus. Not at all. He's the bridge. But he's also the means to the end. Jesus is dead. Christ lives.