I’m thankful for Chip Stam’s Spurgeon quote on Christmas I received today — as I’m sure many of you did as part of his Worship Quote of the Week service.  He reminded me of something that I’ve certainly noticed as I’ve been pouring through nineteenth century newspapers.  Baptists in the early to mid-nineteenth century did not celebrate Christmas.  Though Christians had been celebrating the Incarnation for centuries on December 25, Baptists–and other Protestants–seeing no warrant in Scripture to set aside a single day to celebrate the Incarnation decided it would be best not to.  So, every year toward the end of December, the editor of a religious newspaper would write an article explaining why Christians ought not to celebrate Christmas.

By the mid-19th century, the anti-Christmas frost began to melt.  Now, instead of editorials against Christmas, one began to see editorials explaining the utility of setting aside a day to remember the Incarnation.  It was probably a wise move, at least for the sake of consistency, since the same Protestants in America had been having religious services to commemorate July 4, 1776 for upwards of 75 years!  If they could give thanks for religious liberty in July, certainly they could give thanks for the Lord who took on flesh in December (even if no one was quite sure of the exact date of the Incarnation).

In any event, it must be the case that when Spurgeon preached on the matter, his words had quite some influence.  Though he preached in London his sermons were soon printed throughout the United States, and, as Stam noted, though Spurgeon saw no clear Biblical warrant for the celebration of Christmas, he considered it a good idea nonetheless.  Here is an excerpt from Spurgeons’ sermon. He went on to preach from Luke 2:10:

There are Protestants who have absorbed a great deal besides the Bible into their religion, and among other things they have accepted the authority of what they call “the Church,” and by that door all sorts of superstitions have entered. There is no authority whatever in the word of God for the keeping of Christmas at all, and no reason for keeping it just now except that the most superstitious section of Christendom [he means Catholics] has made a rule that December 25th shall be observed as the birthday of the Lord, and the church by law established in this land (the Church of England] has agreed to follow in the same track. You are under no bondage whatever to regard the regulation. We owe no allegiance to the ecclesiastical powers which have made a decree on this matter, for we belong to an old-fashioned church which does not dare to make laws, but is content to obey them. At the same time the day is no worse than another, and if you choose to observe it, and observe it unto the Lord, I doubt not he will accept your devotion: while if you do not observe it, but unto the Lord observe it not, for fear of encouraging superstition and will-worship, I doubt not but what you shall be as accepted in the non-observance as you could have been in the observance of it. Still, as the thoughts of a great many Christian people will run at this time towards the birth of Christ, and as this cannot be wrong, I judged it meet to avail ourselves of the prevailing current, and float down the stream of thought. Our minds will run that way, because so many around us are following customs suggestive of it, therefore let us get what good we can out of the occasion. There can be no reason why we should not, and it may be helpful that we should, now consider the birth of our Lord Jesus. We will do that voluntarily which we would refuse to do as a matter of obligation: we will do that simply for convenience sake which we should not think of doing because enjoined by authority or demanded by superstition. [Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892). “The Great Birthday” from TWELVE CHRISTMAS SERMONS DELIVERED AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976, p. 91, 101.  ISBN 0-8010-8081-9.]

Obviously, times have changed.  We no longer live in the shadow of an established church that set a date to worship the Savior’s birth.  No, we live in the midst of a culture that has co-opted Christmas as a commercial venture, turning it into a tradition of another sort.  That, I think, is why Bruce and Keith’s discussion has been very healthy, reminding us that we remember the Incarnation because we can and because we should, because Christ is worth such devotion, as Spurgeon went on to preach, every day of the year.

Thanks to Chip Stam for pointing us to an excellent sermon!

Posted in Church History |