Jedidiah Boggs
Dr. Wadoski
English 4120
19 November 2015
The Puritans and Christmas
Both secular and sacred Christmas is seen as a time of joy, a time for people of all kinds to come together and be merry in the midst of the harsh winter. Christmas now is very much like it was in the seventeenth century. The churches celebrated the birth of Christ while the entire population sings, gives gifts, decorates, and feast according to traditions.
While for many the time was sacred and solemn, others took Christmas as a time to drink, dance, and partake in other various pagan rituals. Remnants of these rituals can be seen in our modern Christmas songs and decorations. Perhaps most notable of these is the tradition of decorating a tree for Christmas.
The Puritans of the seventeenth century believed that Christmas was a disgrace to Gods name and was nothing more than an excuse to be sinful. As such Christmas and its celebration became a topic of debate in the mid sixteen hundreds. This debate culminated in the banning of its celebration entirely in the late 1650’s after the Puritans took control of parliament. This caused unrest among the people leading to protests on Christmas for many years. In 1660 Christmas celebrations were restored along with the king. Nevertheless Christmas would be forever changed by these events.
Thomas Fuller preached in a sermon in late December that “on this day a fast and feast do both justle together.” (Durston) His concerns along with the concerns of many other religious leaders in 1642 marked the beginning of the real war on Christmas. He argued that Christmas should be a day of fasting in remembrance of Christ rather than drunken feasting and dancing. He also warned that children may be corrupted, becoming addicted to their toys received as gifts on Christmas day. Several cases of violence broke out due to conflicting feelings on how Christmas should be celebrated.
This was only the beginning of the troubles for Christmas. In 1645 the Presbyterian Church officially stated that Christmas, among other festivals under the guise of Holy days, had no biblical merit. They issued a writing called “Directory for the Public Worship of God, a radical alternative to the established Book of Common Prayer, which made no reference to Christmas at all.” From that point on parliament passed law after law banning the celebration of Christmas day. Their reasoning was that Christmas had no biblical truth and was nothing more than a pagan holiday. The Puritans did not want Christ’s name attached to this celebration so they did their best to remove all religious worship form Christmas. Larger cities such as London went as far as to arrest those who attended church services on Christmas day.
Puritans also objected to the iconography of Christmas, calling it idolatrous. This is a similar complaint that they had to the Catholic Church. They believed that making representations of God or Jesus devalued them. They particularly took offence to the mixing of pagan icons with Christianity.
Yet another objections the puritans had to Christmas was the date. There is no biblical precedent for the actually birthday of Christ, therefore picking December the 25th is arbitrary and not holy. Clergymen like George Palmer “claimed that the exact date of Christ’s birthday was no great matter… so as we do solemnize one day thankfully so near the true day we can guess.” (Durston) Palmer’s argument was that it was not the day that was important. It was the fact that there was a day set aside for the celebration of the birth of Christ that made the day holy.
The late 1640’s and early 1650’s saw many pamphlets published on each side regarding Christmas and its celebration. Satirical pieces sich as “The Arraignment, Conviction, and Imprisonment of Christmas…” were published anonymously often under names like “Minc’d Pye” and “Plum-Porridge” traditional Christmas dishes. These satirical works often featured personified Father Christmas being turned away from the big cities only to be welcomed in to small country homes that welcomed the spirit of the holidays. On top of these satirical stories, songs became common ways for the people to protest their dislike for the laws against Christmas.
On the other side of the argument were essays such as, “the vanity of Christmas.” A much more logical piece that tries to outline why Christmas should not be celebrated and argues that it is defaming the name of Christ rather than glorifying it.
All in all the parliament was successful in preventing any kind of religious celebration in late December. This backfired on them when the citizens then went back to more traditional pastimes. The dancing, drinking, and decorations remained but all of the religion was gone. This is exactly what the Puritans original fears were, that Christmas would simply be a time of bacchanal splendor. By placing all of these restrictions on Christmas they succeeded in turning it into the very thing they were trying so hard to prevent.
In 1660 Charles II returned to England. The monarchy was restored along with the traditional idea of Christmas. Official services were given once again on Christmas day without fear of retribution for the first time in over 15 years. Citizens were happy to have their holiday back but it would never be the same as before. The actions of the puritans caused the majority of Christmas celebrations to become more secular. While the Church service did become and still remains a major part of Christmas, it is no longer the highlight. For many people Christmas is nothing more than any other secular holiday. Exact what the Puritans feared would happen came true. The Puritans in their war on Christmas managed to take Christ out of the celebration but they were not able to stop the celebration entirely. Christmas today is a reflection on the events that took place in Decembers during the English revolution.
Works Sited
Anon, The arraignment, conviction, and imprisoning, of Christmas (London: Simon Minc’d Pye, 1646)
Anon, The declaration of many thousands of the city of Canterbury (London: S.N., 1647)
Anon, Mercurius religious: faithfully communicating to the whole nation, the vanity of Christmas (London: Robert Ibbeston, 1651)
Chris Durston, “Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War of Christmas, 12642-1660”, History Today 35.123 (1985): 7-14
Forbes, Bruce David. Christmas: a candid history. Univ of California Press, 2008.
Steven Nussenbaum, The Battle for Christmas (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996)
Stoyle, Mark. “No Christmas under Cromwell?” BBC History Magazine 12, no 13 (2011): 20-25.