Christmas
and the
Faith of Our Fathers
PUBLICK NOTICE
The Observation of Christmas having been deemed
a Sacrilege, the exchanging of Gifts and Greetings,
Dreffing in Fine Clothing, Feafting and similar
Sac apical Practices are hereby
FORBIDDEN
with the Offender liable to a Fine of Five Shillings
This notice reflects the “narrow minded” Faith of Our Puritan Fore-Fathers. What shall we think of such narrow mindedness?
In Massachusetts, William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth Bay Colony, was recorded as telling his officers.
The December 25 of 1620, the first spent in the New World by the Mayflower Pilgrims, was spent felling trees “in order to avoid any frivolity on the day sometimes called Christmas.
Then on May 11, 1659, in Massachusetts, the colonial legislature passed its anti-holiday law, reading, “Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas ….. Shall pay for every offense five shillings.”
The law’s preamble explained its purpose was “for preventing disorders …. (By) observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries to the great dishonor of God and one offense to others.”
No people on the face of this earth have been more maligned and criticized for their stand for God than the Puritans. Why? Because they had the courage to espouse the “narrow way” instead of the “broad.” They repeated the things which Jesus said, and tried as best they knew how to obey His Word. Their reward has been a vindictive hatred by this world.
Puritan, puritanical and Puritanism have come to be disreputable words in our American language. In Roget’s Thesaurus they are associated with: severe, prudish, strict, harsh, dour, ridged, rigorous, exacting, inflexible, obdurate, austere, stringent, strait-laced, coercive, arbitrary, tyrannical, oppressive, cruel, arrogant, stiff, formal, prim and smug—just to mention a few! The rhetorical disclaimer of “Well, of course, I don’t want to seem puritanical, but ---- “is made with a mixture of pain, horror and contempt.
Ask almost anyone what “Puritan” suggests to him and he will likely just list things like “sex hang-ups,” lack of consideration for local witches or sodomites,” “ repressive laws and ordinances,” or “a sour or joyless way of life.” Yet such stereotypes are far from the truth of history.
The negative, “prudish” view of sexuality as being low or dirty comes from the Catholic “church fathers” and not from our Puritan New England roots.
For instance “Saint” Augustine called womankind “the devils gateway” and said he couldn’t imagine “that woman was made for a help for man, if the work of childbearing be excluded.” Jerome wrote that honorable husbands should “abstain” from such relations with their wives. Peter Lombard warned Catholics against sexual acts, even if the purpose was to conceive a child. The Roman church has kept such anti-sex propaganda for centuries.
In sharp contrast to all this, the Puritans viewed sexuality as wholesome in marriage. But they would say of love that, “it must be kept subordinate to God’s glory.” 1) They did not shun physical love as an evil but sought to keep it within God’s scriptural limits and not let it become an idol in itself. They strictly forbade promiscuity, adultery or sodomy as our modern enlightened society has come to accept.
Neither did they hold to the Gnostic (Judo-Christian) religious ideas of asceticism and celibacy. Their clergy for the most part married young and “their church offered no monastic retreat for men (or women) too much troubled” 2) about the opposite sex, as many churches do to this day.
What about the “witches” they supposedly burned? Well, the hanging (not burning) of nineteen or twenty persons plus a dog at Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was an isolated case of fanaticism, deeply regretted and repudiated by those living at the time. It was an isolated case, not reflective of the Puritan attitude but has been exploited by every anti-Christ since then as a reason to obey God’s Law.
And finally, those “awful” Blue Laws. Having failed to “purify” the Anglican church, which Henry VIII had broken off from Roman Catholicism, thousands of Puritans emigrated to America where they intended to establish a Bible theocracy, a Zion, a righteous society they could not achieve in England. 3) Their desire was to re-establish God’s heavenly kingdom with Jesus Christ as King in their generation and for posterity. Exactly what true Christians have been called to do, is it not? Our Puritan Forefathers were not without fault, but they were deeply earnest, zealous, self-disciplined, systematic and well-ordered in their personal lives, families and communities: qualities that our generation could well emulate. Qualities not segregated merely to “church” but to be practiced in every area of life—especially business and government.
Jonathon Edwards one of the best known Puritan preachers spoke of the practice of his Christian faith as “the business of his life.” Awed with the majesty and greatness of God, they covenanted to obey His Law and submit themselves to His kingdom, knowing that He was watching their every action. They believed their Bibles without doubting. They believed John (Mark 1:15) when he said “…the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” And, they believed Jesus their King when he said (Matthew 12:28) “the Kingdom of God IS Come unto you.” Christ’s Kingdom rule was an ever present kingdom government, not regulated to some future so-called “Millennium” to come after they were dead and buried.
In short, the anti-Christ historians have given us a caricature view of the Puritans - - distorted at best, and more likely purposely falsified. The Puritan sought to be like Jesus his master in espousing a “pure” religious conduct before God. They believed the Lord when he said his Kingdom had come, and felt responsible to reject the Babylonian system and replace it with God’s government.
Their integrity is our heritage and is reflected in our founding documents which have brought untold blessings to our Nation. So next time you hear someone putting down the Puritans, you may want to remind them that they were distinguished for their “Puritan Work Ethic” - - utilitarianism, inventiveness, industry, sobriety, common sense and Yankee ingenuity.” Remember they held a stern belief in the Sovereignty of God and the accountability of man which gave them their extraordinary sense of personal integrity and dedication to hard work which in turn laid the foundations for America. Benjamin Franklin is one of many examples which could be sighted as a product of Puritan virtues.
John Bonnell has rightly pointed out that, “No Christian today has the right to poke fun at the narrowness of our forefathers. Our breadth has come to us at the expense of depth. We are broad and shallow; they were narrow and deep.”
So, what about Christmas? To the Puritan, any celebration rooted in the pagan heathenism of history was to be shunned as disobedience to God’s command of scripture to “learn not the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2). They stand in contrast to modern “Christian” who would tell us, “I know that Christmas is pagan BUT I’m celebrating Christ’s birthday.” “Hypocrisy!” the Puritan would shout. Jesus said, “And why call me Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46). Did He tell you to celebrate his birth? December 25th is not His birthday anyway! Is it just an oversight that God left that out of the Bible?
In 1776, in the War of Independence, General Washington took occasion on the night of December 25th to cross the Delaware and attack the British army which was comprised mostly of German mercenaries (Hessians) camped in Trenton. The Hessians were celebrating the heathen holiday around their Christmas Tree (the first one seen in America). Washington’s troops took them by surprise, giving America our first major victory over Britain. God saw fit to establish that victory as the turning point of the war.
Earlier, the great British Christian leader, Oliver Cromwell, removed the “boisterous” heathen holiday that had been foisted upon them by the Catholics and King Charles. On December 25th, 1647, the town criers passed through the streets ringing bells and shouting “No Christmas! No Christmas!” In 1660, Catholic King Charles II reestablished Christmas in Britain.
Dear Christian brother or sister, do you have “the faith of our fathers?” Do you desire to be “broad and shallow” or “narrow and deep?” God give us Puritans!