What is xnmp?

Pronounced "ex-en-em-pee," xnmp stands for "Christian News and Media Portal."

Why "X"?

Xn is a universally used abbreviation for "Christian," both in Christian academic studies and in the media. X is the western alphabet version of the Greek letter chi, which has been used as the abbreviation and symbol of "Christ" since the first generation of Christians. The popular fish symbol, Ichthus in English, begins with IX, iota-chi in Greek; iota for Jesus, chi for Christ.

Why xnmp?

The mass media in the English-language world generally ignore and/or are ignorant of the Christian worldview. Christians would be served by seeing the world in biblical-Christian spectacles, to paraphrase John Calvin. To that end, this Internet service is dedicated to presenting all the news of the world in a Christian context. Using links to the major English-language mass media websites to access the news, we will produce collateral commentary and background to accompany and supplement it. Though we'll generally be a little "behind the curve," meaning the news will be reported sooner than it's possible to interpret it, our aim is to provide a worldview that will be learned and enhanced over time by those who use this site.

Is this a new concept?

To most people, probably, it will be. However, the webmaster/editor (Jon Kennedy) has been working on it for about 30 years. His thesis for the master of arts in journalism, accepted toward his degree at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1971, was published as The Reformation of Journalism, A Christian Approach to Mass Communication. From 1972 through 1983 he conducted the Kuyper Institute on the campus of Stanford University to study and develop a Christian perspective on mass communications media, producing seven courses that were adopted by the University for normal academic credit for those students taking them and normally matriculated at Stanford. Since leaving Stanford, he has edited and published a succession of magazines, newspapers, and websites. Ordained in an evangelical Protestant denomination, he is a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy and served for several years as a "conscripted volunteer" journalism consultant to the Roman Catholic diocese of San Jose, Calif., where he has resided for about 25 years.