The Puritans were only briefly in the ascendancy. This was during the interregnum, 1649-1660, when England was a commonwealth instead of a monarchy. This was the only point at which the Reformation in England and Wales caught up with Scotland. That is, it went all the way to Calvinism, in either Presbyterian or Congregational form, before returning to where Elizabeth I had set it, half-way between Rome and Geneva.
The popular notion is that the Puritans abhorred the thought of anyone enjoying themselves, and no doubt this was true for the most part. But there was also an historical and theological context that makes their hatred of Christmas at least internally consistent.
Like everyone else alive at the time, they believed that getting religion wrong could not be a matter of indifference. The nation would be punished by God should it not worship him correctly, and individuals who were remiss in their faith were destined to spend eternity in a state of conscious mental and physical agony, a.k.a hell. Taking that into account we could say that the Puritans were motivated by concern for the well-being of their country and their fellow English men and women.
During the Reformation, virtually everyone believed you had to live and worship the right way or you would go to hell. Catholics and Protestants were united in believing in hellfire, but irreconcilably divided on how to avoid it. Both sides were playing for the same, outrageously high stakes, with heaven and hell wagered on who was right.
Just think, throughout Europe, and then the New World, whole populations were gripped by a fear of going to bed and waking up in hell. And if your country chose the wrong system of worship and belief the only way you could get to heaven might be through fiery martyrdom.
These were deadly serious times in which the modern idea that religious faith is a private concern was unthinkable. I would hate to live under the restrictions of the Puritans, and they made many mistakes, but I try not to think too unkindly of them. They thought they were saving people who were determined to be damned. I feel the same way about Jehovah’s Witnesses today. In fact, even though it annoyed the hell out of me, I’ve taken it rather badly that they no longer feel it is worth knocking on my door to save me for paradise just before the world ends.
It’s a shame that the Puritans are the only zealots to get namechecked when there are references to banning Christmas. Revolutionary France, in the name of the Enlightenment, drove Christmas underground, renamed Churches and Cathedrals as Temples of Reason and de-baptized them in preparation for a Festival of Reason on December 25th. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany also did their best to remove all Christian content from the celebrations. These examples of anti-Christmas fanaticism are all much more recent and all the more sinister for it.
Let us not forget, either, that Christmas is literally banned today in Somalia, Brunei, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. It is heavily repressed in China and it is celebrated with some trepidation by minority Christian communities in many other countries. If for no other reason, Christians in the democratic West should consider themselves truly blessed this Christmas.
The fate of persecuted Christians ought to impact our consciousness more than it does, especially at Christmas time. They need our support and prayers and they have much to give us in return. The New Testament will remain incomprehensible until we understand that it was written to a faith community undergoing severe persecution. Any time or energy we give to today’s persecuted church will lift a veil from the New Testament and give clarity and life to the text.
We should learn to read the Bible according to the experience of all Christians, and most of all those Christians who are today celebrating Christmas in fear or in prison. These faithful souls have no need of a non-interventionist God. They believe it is God that will ultimately deliver them from evil, and so all totalitarian tyranny is on borrowed time. The virgin birth is a narrative told alongside Mary’s prophetic outpouring when she is told she is with child. The sign and the prophecy go together. This is what she cries out:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
This ecstatic, prophetic speech is known as the Magnificat. It makes some mighty claims, mighty enough to sustain Christians who woke up this morning in prison cells or in hiding. But the prophecy needs a sign. Persecuted Christians need to know what lies behind the prophecy. Is it true? Will it happen? Is it from God? You can see this pattern throughout the Bible, prophecy and miraculous sign go hand in hand. The sign is sometimes compared to the name on the chequebook, anyone can write a cheque for a billion pounds, but you need to see who’s account this is to know whether the cheque can deliver what it promises. That’s the meaning of the virgin birth, and other biblical miracles. Within the ‘language world’ of the Bible it functions alongside the prophecy about a new world coming. I would not take this aspect of the gospel away from persecuted Christians, nor do I wish to live without it. Whether the virgin birth is ‘true’ or not, it’s an indispensable part of the Christmas narrative. We should leave it be.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide https://www.csw.org.uk
Freedom from Torture https://www.freedomfromtorture.org
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