When it came to celebrating Christmas, leaders of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation were divided on whether followers of Jesus should say \u201cbah humbug\u201d or \u201cjoy to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Martin Luther loved to celebrate Christmas with feasting and special church services, the so-called Reformed wing of the Reformation, led by Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, raised objections to such festivities, arguing believers should worship God only in ways explicitly commanded by Scripture and that a festival in December commemorating Christ\u2019s birth was not commanded.<\/p>\n
The Reformed wing\u2019s Puritan heirs in England and New England were adamant in their rejection of Christmas celebrations. English Puritan William Prynne (1600-1669) argued, for example, that \u201call pious Christians\u201d should \u201ceternally abominate\u201d Christmas festivities, said church historian Michael Haykin. In New England, celebrating Christmas could result in a fine.<\/p>\n
Though few modern Christians share such sentiments against Christmas, a North Carolina pastor who holds a Ph.D. in church history told Baptist Press, believers can draw insights from both sides in the debate.<\/p>\n
Andy Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, advocates a \u201cmediating position,\u201d in which believers acknowledge the food and fun of Christmas as good gifts from the Lord but also recognize that secular Christmas festivities can stray far afield from celebrating the incarnation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake the Christmas blessings, and look upward to the giver,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThe happiness that we feel when we look at the lights and we enjoy the holiday — all of it comes from God. And ultimately God has so much more to give you than just that. He has His own Son, and the center of everything is the giving of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reformers differ<\/p>\n
Among the Reformers, differing views of Christmas stemmed largely from differing views of worship according to Haykin, professor of church history and biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.<\/p>\n
Luther held the \u201cnormative principle\u201d — the belief Christians may worship God in any way not forbidden by Scripture — while Zwingli and Calvin held the \u201cregulative principle\u201d — the belief Christians may only worship God in ways commanded by Scripture.<\/p>\n
Thus, Luther retained the Roman Catholic traditions of Advent and Christmas and may have been among the first people to decorate a Christmas tree with candles, Haykin said. \u201cIt was a festival he delighted to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first seven sermons in \u201cThe Complete Sermons of Martin Luther\u201d edited by John Nicholas Lenker are all designated for the Christmas season.<\/p>\n
For Zwingli and Calvin, in contrast, \u201cthere are questions raised about\u201d Christmas, Haykin said. He noted all Reformers praised God for the incarnation but differed over the appropriateness of an official festival on Dec. 25.<\/p>\n
Preaching on Christmas Day 1551, a Tuesday, Calvin noted, \u201cI see here today more people than I am accustomed to having at the sermon,\u201d according to Calvin\u2019s \u201cSermons on the Book of Micah\u201d translated by Benjamin Wirt Farley.<\/p>\n
Then Calvin warned, \u201cWhen you elevate one day alone for the purpose of worshiping God, you have just turned it into an idol. True, you insist that you have done so for the honor of God, but it is more for the honor of the devil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Calvin\u2019s admonition seemed to be a caution rather than a prohibition of Christmas.<\/p>\n
In a 1551 letter quoted by Presbyterian pastor Phil Larson, Calvin said he \u201cpursued the moderate course in keeping Christ\u2019s birthday.\u201d Similarly, in a 1555 letter he noted, \u201cA church is not to be despised or condemned because it observes more festival days than the others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearly a century later, the Puritans, who drew theological inspiration from Calvin among other sources, took his view a step further, formally outlawing Christmas in England in 1647, Haykin said.<\/p>\n
In America, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony permitted nonbelievers among them to celebrate Christmas in the early 1620s, Davis said. But when some nonbelievers were seen playing a game on Christmas Day, the colony\u2019s governor \u201cconfiscated their game equipment and said they were free to not work, but they had to stay indoors and would best spend the time by reading the Bible and praying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caution about Christmas in British territories prevailed until the 1800s, Davis said, because of a desire not to return to Roman Catholic practices.<\/p>\n
\u2018Scraps\u2019 from God\u2019s table<\/p>\n
The Reformers\u2019 and Puritans\u2019 reticence about Christmas should not be dismissed altogether in the modern world, Davis said, noting the holiday often is celebrated with \u201cfantastic busyness\u201d and \u201cmaterialism\u201d but \u201cno real, vibrant piety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even when charity and thankfulness are involved in the celebration, Davis said, meaningful references to Christ can be removed, as in Charles Dickens\u2019 famous novella \u201cA Christmas Carol.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet \u201cyou can go too far in the opposite direction\u201d by eschewing traditional Christmas celebrations altogether, Davis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u2018eat, drink and be merry\u2019 thing is like scraps that fall from the table of God. It\u2019s common grace blessings that people enjoy,\u201d he said. \u201c…Why wouldn\u2019t you want something like that?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understandable that some Christians reject Christmas activities that are merely cultural with no celebration of Christ, Davis said. But the culture \u201cjust doesn\u2019t get it\u201d when Christians denounce the holiday altogether.<\/p>\n
A more productive message in 21st-century America is, he said, \u201cThese blessings are gifts from God. But He has so much more to give you than that. He came into the world to save sinners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it came to celebrating Christmas, leaders of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation were divided on whether followers of Jesus should say \u201cbah humbug\u201d or \u201cjoy to the world.\u201d While Martin Luther loved to celebrate Christmas with feasting and special church services, the so-called Reformed wing of the Reformation, led by Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2335,2818,2821,258,2819,2820,1708,776,2544,2817],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}