Thursday, December 21, 2023

It is the 21st of December, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A happy Thursday to you as we barrel towards the big day. On Monday, I will be sharing one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories.

This weekend will conclude the Christmas History Almanac; you can still send me your questions. As I was prepping yesterday’s show, an email came through from a long-time listener in Germany, Heiko. It made me wonder, who is geographically the farthest from the CHA studios in Lake Forest, California? I think a listener in Madagascar might have won, but if you are- let me know.

And Heiko asked, quite succinctly: “Dear Dan, is it true that Christmas was forbidden in England under Cromwell?”

Well, Heiko- it’s a good question and a claim that is often made. In some ways, 17th-century England saw the first “war on Christmas”- something that has become something of a trope in recent years. This weekend on the show, I will be looking at a few places where Christmas was banned- but, Heiko, you are partially correct that Christmas was forbidden UNDER Cromwell, but the ban predates his rise to power.

Oh, Revolutionary England is one of my favorite places to hang out. Someone recently wrote and asked for a book recommendation on the topic- a new crackling book called The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England by Jonathan Healey was a favorite read (well, listen) this year.

So- when the Reformation took place in England, it was not as decisive an event as elsewhere in Europe. The new Church of England attempted a kind of “middle way” between the Protestants and Catholics. And, as you might imagine, it managed to upset both parties.

In Early Modern England (say, the 1500s to mid-1600s), Christmas was celebrated. But it wasn’t a modern or even Dickensian Christmas (when I said that Dickens “invented Christmas,”- he popularized the domestic holiday as we know it). Christmas looked more like Carnival than the Cratchit home. It was a time for general merriment, for eating and drinking (perhaps to excess), for games and plays, and general merriment.  

It was a largely Puritan and Puritan-friendly Parliament, fearing that King Charles was a crypto-Catholic who came to power in the 1640s. It was the parliament under Charles who issued the Directory of Public Worship in 1645 that “canceled” Christmas. For these Puritans, all so-called “holidays” were pure popery. For them, it was the Christian Sabbath- Sunday, and that alone should be observed. The holidays, to them, had become nothing but a license for licentiousness. It was filled with noisy parades and songs and demanding treats from neighbors (sort of like caroling mixed with Halloween). Consider the demand for figgy pudding in an old English carol and the claim that we won’t leave until we get some!

And so shops were to remain open on Christmas, and no special church services were to be held. In 1647, it got tricky- Parliament (still under Charles) had decreed a fast for the last Wednesday of every month. In 1647, that landed on December 25th. Parliament said the fast should be kept and cracked down on any celebrations, excessive feasts, and celebrations. This led to riots as some zealous men, attempting to enforce the ban, only enflamed the situation. There seems to have been an unspoken agreement that revelries would be toned down- not altogether eliminated. But with an increasingly powerful parliament, shops were kept open for the day (not popular for the working folk), and churches were to be shut (confusing, I know).

And all of this in the 1640s when Charles was still King. So, Did Cromwell “ban Christmas”? No! He was in parliament from 1640 but was not chairman of the Council of State and then Lord Protector until after Charles was beheaded in 1649. And in those early years, he wasn’t as concerned with England as he was with Ireland and Scotland (Scotland, it should be noted, had already done away with Christmas and didn’t recognize it officially again until the 1950s). This weekend, we will be exploring similar attempts, from the religious and irreligious, to cancel Christmas, along with whatever questions you send me at danv@1517.org. thanks for the question, Heiko and Froeliche Weihnachten!

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Hebrews 1.

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 21st of December 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who has declared an open war on Christmas Shoes…. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by reminding you that pudding is a general word for “dessert” but also sausage or boiled food with a cereal base. I’m  Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.