Eyedoc84
Puritan Board Sophomore
Christmas (and other “holidays”) has always been a difficult subject for me since becoming a Christian, given questionable origins and seeming lack of biblical warrant. Since becoming fully Reformed in the past year +, it has been more difficult in light of now holding to the Regulative Principle of Worship. Given all the discussions on here over the years, and seeing Bahnsen brought up a few times but not seeing anyone interact with him on the topic, I thought I would summarize his audio lecture, now freely available at CMF. Please note that I am not agreeing or disagreeing with him, just presenting his argument.
His base text is 1 Tim 3:16. For cultural context, see Acts 19:28, 34. The Ephesians worshipped Artemis with the cultic chant “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” But Paul says to Timothy, pastor of the church in Ephesus, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh...” Bahnsen states that the Greek parallelism and diction show this as being a six-line chant or hymn, and suggests this was already in use in the Ephesian church. He cites Php 2:5-11 as another example of a NT hymn.
Bahnsen says the Incarnation was a regular theme of worship in the church from the 1st-4th centuries before a Dec. 25th date was settled. There was nothing “Roman Catholic” or pagan about it. He notes that yes, fixing a date in late December did coincide w/certain pagan festivals, but regardless of the timing, Paul had no qualms about the church assimilating a pagan chant to Artemis into a hymn directed at the Object of proper devotion, Jesus Christ. Bahnsen acknowledges that as Incarnation celebrations spread throughout the West, it continued to pick up various cultural winter customs that probably had pagan origins.
With that historical background laid, he now turns to specific objections:
1. Christmas violates the RPW
-Bahnsen says if Christmas can be shown to violate the RPW, then we must immediately and decisively discard it wholesale.
ANSWER: Christmas is not an element of worship, but a voluntary occasion for worship. If a minister were required to preach on the Incarnation around a specific date, then it would become an element and violate the RPW. (He never touched on Advent wreaths/candles/liturgies, I wish he would have, but maybe he does elsewhere)
2. Our Puritan and Reformed forefathers rejected it.
ANSWER: They did so because they were protesting Roman mass and idolatrous rites inextricably linked to it at that time in history. Bahnsen says they were probably right to reject it given the times and battles they were facing. Although he notes there were differences within the reformed tradition between the Continent and England/Scotland with how exacting they were in their rejections. Today, however, there is not generally a strong association between Christmas and Roman Catholic mass. He also cites WCF XXI:5 allowing for special religious occasions for thanksgiving.
3. Christmas has RCC and pagan origins
ANSWER: Bahnsen rejects certain Reconstructionist tendencies to Christianize all customs, finding it silly for example to attach “Christian” meaning to evergreen trees in an attempt to justify their religious use.
-covering your mouth when sneezing has pagan origins, but no one would suggest we shouldn’t do it because of that.
-origins don’t dictate current practice and custom. Most of us were introduced to Christmas customs in a Christian cultural context, not pagan tree worship.
-W/R/T objections based on the verbiage of Christ-MASS, Bahnsen notes that the word post-dates Incarnation celebrations and in modern parlance, at least in America, the word simply relates to the time of celebrating Christ’s birth, not RCC mass rites.
4. Christmas is associated with commercialism, godless sentimentality, and worldliness. Society often associates Christmas with lascivious parties and excuses for debauchery.
ANSWER: Christians are obviously never allowed to partake in those things, no matter the time of year. These immoral associations are not essential to the meaning of CHristmas. Greed and commercialism are obviously bad, but if merchants focus on products celebrating the Incarnation, what a great way to spread the message! Merchants often play Christ-centered music and employees are often more cheerful, so enjoy it. Merchants often take advantage of consumer greed, meeting demand that already exists, they aren’t making consumers greedy.
ARGUMENTS FOR CHRISTMAS (This is not an exhaustive list of Bahnsen’s arguments)
1. A preacher can certainly preach on the theme of the Incarnation at any time of year.
2. Nothing in scripture forbids teaching certain themes regularly at the same time each year.
3. It is not wrong to have worship on days in addition to the weekly Lord’s Day. He notes some Puritan churches shuttering doors during the week, but cites the early chapters of Acts demonstrating daily worship gatherings.
4. THe date is irrelevant as to the historical event. Any date could be picked to teach certain themes.
5. It IS wrong for a church to require a pastor to observe/teach on Christmas.
6. It is not wrong to give gifts out of gratitude and in imitation of God giving us gifts.
7. It is not wrong to take a day off from work at a time other than Sundays.
8. It is not wrong to decorate a tree and home during winter any more than it is to eat hot dogs every 4th of July.
9. Is it wrong to be sentimental or nostalgic? It is wrong to be nostalgic about a godless universe. It is wrong to wish for peace on earth and goodwill to men without God being the source of that peace and goodwill. It is wrong to be sentimental about caring for the poor and being cheerful about family and good health without God as the source and motivation. When men naturally desire these things, it is appropriate to direct them toward God.
APPLICATIONS:
1. Unbelievers shouldn’t celebrate Christmas as commemorative of Christ’s birth. If they wish you “Merry Christmas,” take the opportunity to ask if they are really grateful for God sending His Son into the world to save sinners.
2. Believers celebrating Christmas is adiaphora.
3. It IS appropriate to celebrate the Incarnation. After all, the angels celebrated it (Luke 2); it is ok to be on the side of the angels!
His base text is 1 Tim 3:16. For cultural context, see Acts 19:28, 34. The Ephesians worshipped Artemis with the cultic chant “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” But Paul says to Timothy, pastor of the church in Ephesus, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh...” Bahnsen states that the Greek parallelism and diction show this as being a six-line chant or hymn, and suggests this was already in use in the Ephesian church. He cites Php 2:5-11 as another example of a NT hymn.
Bahnsen says the Incarnation was a regular theme of worship in the church from the 1st-4th centuries before a Dec. 25th date was settled. There was nothing “Roman Catholic” or pagan about it. He notes that yes, fixing a date in late December did coincide w/certain pagan festivals, but regardless of the timing, Paul had no qualms about the church assimilating a pagan chant to Artemis into a hymn directed at the Object of proper devotion, Jesus Christ. Bahnsen acknowledges that as Incarnation celebrations spread throughout the West, it continued to pick up various cultural winter customs that probably had pagan origins.
With that historical background laid, he now turns to specific objections:
1. Christmas violates the RPW
-Bahnsen says if Christmas can be shown to violate the RPW, then we must immediately and decisively discard it wholesale.
ANSWER: Christmas is not an element of worship, but a voluntary occasion for worship. If a minister were required to preach on the Incarnation around a specific date, then it would become an element and violate the RPW. (He never touched on Advent wreaths/candles/liturgies, I wish he would have, but maybe he does elsewhere)
2. Our Puritan and Reformed forefathers rejected it.
ANSWER: They did so because they were protesting Roman mass and idolatrous rites inextricably linked to it at that time in history. Bahnsen says they were probably right to reject it given the times and battles they were facing. Although he notes there were differences within the reformed tradition between the Continent and England/Scotland with how exacting they were in their rejections. Today, however, there is not generally a strong association between Christmas and Roman Catholic mass. He also cites WCF XXI:5 allowing for special religious occasions for thanksgiving.
3. Christmas has RCC and pagan origins
ANSWER: Bahnsen rejects certain Reconstructionist tendencies to Christianize all customs, finding it silly for example to attach “Christian” meaning to evergreen trees in an attempt to justify their religious use.
-covering your mouth when sneezing has pagan origins, but no one would suggest we shouldn’t do it because of that.
-origins don’t dictate current practice and custom. Most of us were introduced to Christmas customs in a Christian cultural context, not pagan tree worship.
-W/R/T objections based on the verbiage of Christ-MASS, Bahnsen notes that the word post-dates Incarnation celebrations and in modern parlance, at least in America, the word simply relates to the time of celebrating Christ’s birth, not RCC mass rites.
4. Christmas is associated with commercialism, godless sentimentality, and worldliness. Society often associates Christmas with lascivious parties and excuses for debauchery.
ANSWER: Christians are obviously never allowed to partake in those things, no matter the time of year. These immoral associations are not essential to the meaning of CHristmas. Greed and commercialism are obviously bad, but if merchants focus on products celebrating the Incarnation, what a great way to spread the message! Merchants often play Christ-centered music and employees are often more cheerful, so enjoy it. Merchants often take advantage of consumer greed, meeting demand that already exists, they aren’t making consumers greedy.
ARGUMENTS FOR CHRISTMAS (This is not an exhaustive list of Bahnsen’s arguments)
1. A preacher can certainly preach on the theme of the Incarnation at any time of year.
2. Nothing in scripture forbids teaching certain themes regularly at the same time each year.
3. It is not wrong to have worship on days in addition to the weekly Lord’s Day. He notes some Puritan churches shuttering doors during the week, but cites the early chapters of Acts demonstrating daily worship gatherings.
4. THe date is irrelevant as to the historical event. Any date could be picked to teach certain themes.
5. It IS wrong for a church to require a pastor to observe/teach on Christmas.
6. It is not wrong to give gifts out of gratitude and in imitation of God giving us gifts.
7. It is not wrong to take a day off from work at a time other than Sundays.
8. It is not wrong to decorate a tree and home during winter any more than it is to eat hot dogs every 4th of July.
9. Is it wrong to be sentimental or nostalgic? It is wrong to be nostalgic about a godless universe. It is wrong to wish for peace on earth and goodwill to men without God being the source of that peace and goodwill. It is wrong to be sentimental about caring for the poor and being cheerful about family and good health without God as the source and motivation. When men naturally desire these things, it is appropriate to direct them toward God.
APPLICATIONS:
1. Unbelievers shouldn’t celebrate Christmas as commemorative of Christ’s birth. If they wish you “Merry Christmas,” take the opportunity to ask if they are really grateful for God sending His Son into the world to save sinners.
2. Believers celebrating Christmas is adiaphora.
3. It IS appropriate to celebrate the Incarnation. After all, the angels celebrated it (Luke 2); it is ok to be on the side of the angels!