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There is no doubt that our forefathers understood the Christmas festivities for what they truly are. They realized the seriousness of the abridgment of God’s commands concerning the worshipping of idols. Their practices and the laws on their books are a testimony which have been preserved for us in historical writings and law books. Christmas had become a rowdy, frivolous excuse for abandoning good sense and behavior. It had no ground in true Christianity. In fact such practices mock Jesus Christ by abandoning the principals that He taught and propagating the exact things He denounced.
“The Calvinists (in England) declared that observing Christ’s birthday was a human invention. They disapproved of it not only because of [its pagan origin but also because of the excesses to which too many Christmas celebrants went.” When the Puritans came to power in 1642, the Calvinists preached strongly against Xmas observance, rightly calling it a heathen practice. They continued to preach strongly against it until as recent as the early part of this present century. “They asserted that Christ would not have approved of it, for it merely furnished excuse for wrong doing. England’s Parliament outlawed Christmas along with Easter in 1643. This comes to us from Mayme R. Krythe’s book, All About Christmas. She adds, “Town criers went around and called out loudly so that all might hear, ‘No Christmas! No Christmas!”
From the New International Encyclopedia we gather insight into the Scotch Presbyterian and English Nonconformists who “generally rejected all religious observance of the day as a ‘human invention’ and savouring too much of papistry.
In 1659, thirteen years after England outlawed Christmas, the Puritans of Massachusetts (whom we know as pilgrims) passed a law outlawing the observance of Christmas, in what was to become the United States. That law remained on the books for some time. It read: “Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or in any other way, shall be fined 5 shillings.” Even after the holiday again became lawful, the Puritans still insisted on calling Christmas ‘Superstitious Man’s Idol Day’ or ‘The Old Heathen’s Festivity Day.’
Alfred C. Hottes, whom we have already quoted, gives us a peek into the thoughts of our early colonists, “The Quakers near Philadelphia were not given to observing holidays, and in New England the whole idea of Christmas was frowned upon.” He goes on to say that “the Puritans were bitterly opposed to it, but being in the minority, their practices were not liked by their fellow citizens.” However, Robert H. Schauffler, in his book, Christmas tells us that when Puritanism was on the rise the very existence of Christmas was threatened. Later, Collier’s Encyclopedia credits the large wave of Irish and German immigrants, in the 19th century, for importing a renewed enthusiasm for the feast into the United States.
Many books have been filled with examples and histories of the development of and the fight against keeping Christmas in the United States and Britain. Following Christ has never been the motivation behind the keeping of Christmas. Our forefathers knew it. And now so do you.
Put Christ Back Into Christmas?
Don’t be deceived. It’s impossible! Christmas is a borrowed heirloom that was practiced by pagan heathens thousands of years before Christ was born. It was taken from the heathen scene to be injected into an apostate “Christianity” some 300 years after Jesus ascended into heaven. Christ was never in the festival, nor has He ever condoned it!
