The Puritans, who were the dominant political force in England from the mid-1640s until 1660, were devoutly Christian, but they also were extremely critical of traditional celebrations of Christmas. Why did Puritans (who were Calvinists) object to traditional practices relating to how the English celebrated Christmas? How did Puritans believe Christmas should be observed, and why did they believe this? And how successful were the Puritans at persuading the English people to reform their practices relating to Christmas? In the final analysis, did Puritan attitudes towards Christmas increase public support for the Puritan cause or decrease it?
Introduction – the Puritans and Christmas
The Puritans were consistently focused on the non material aspect of life and obviously for that, they were extremely critical of Christmas which seemed to focus on the material aspect of giving gifts with most people forgetting that Christmas was actually a remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ. The English celebrated Christmas with a certain amount of focus on extraneous things such as the holly and the ivy, cribs and suchlike. For the Puritans, this meant that this was simply a pagan celebration with an intrinsic focus on the symbolic features of Christmas without any real concentration on the spiritual aspect.
In their attempts to reform Christmas, the Puritans focused on the ascetic aspect of things with a particular concentration on the birth of Christ as the Saviour of Men. The values of hard work, thrift and profit were consistently in the mind of the Puritans who went ahead with several aspects of their religion which however was not always accepted by all. To many, the Puritans seemed rather strange and without any focus on the material aspects of life and when Christmas also meant charity, the Puritans were rather dismissive of all this.
What was the Puritan approach to Christmas?
Basically the Puritans believed that Christmas should be celebrated ascetically and without a shred of materialism imbued in its soul. This meant doing away with such ancillary and materialistic parts of it such as the Christmas tree, the pudding and suchlike. Basically they insisted that Western tradition should be eradicated in favour of a much more spiritualist aspect of Christmas which they felt was quite sorely lacking everywhere but especially in England. They consistently believed that life should be much more focused on the spiritual aspect without any material intrusions and this obviously meant that Christmas as celebrated by the British was a complete anathema to them. It also meant that life should focus on charity and assisting those who were weak thus creating the concept of alms and charitable purposes towards those who were less fortunate.
“With the churches and shops closed, the populace resorted to its traditional pastimes. In 1652 The Flying Eagle informed its readers that the 'taverns and taphouses' were full on Christmas Day, 'Bacchus bearing the bell amongst the people as if neither custom or excise were any burden to them', and claimed that 'the poor will pawn all to the clothes of their back to provide Christmas pies for their bellies and the broth of abominable things in their vessels, though they starve or pine for it all the year after”1, this was basically what the Puritans were against
Still the Calvinist principle was rather dismissive of those who did not help themselves and one has to question this aspect when focusing on the Puritan opinion of Christmas. Where they really applying their own ascetic theories to the feast or was it an amount of indecision and doubt at the end of the day about Christmas as a whole? These are intriguing questions which the book tries to answer but at the end of the day we are left rather in the dark about this aspect accordingly. It is actually very hard to reconcile the Puritan view of Christmas with that of the traditionalist, although one understands that the Puritans were very much tied to their own traditions and had various little queer foibles especially with regards to what they expected life to be about and how this could eventually be achieved.
Christ as the Saviour of Men – the Puritan approach
Puritans believed consistently that Christmas should focus first and foremost on the concept of the birth of Christ as the Saviour of Men. Thus any material aspects such as gift exchanging and decorations were completely anathema to them as this meant that the pure aspect of the feast would be contaminated by extraneous forces which polluted the feast itself. They also had great esteem for the figure of Joseph who as a hard worker, brought up his family based on the strong Christian and puritan values of diligence, hard work and moral purity. They felt that Christmas as celebrated by the English was completely out of kilter with what had to be done and this meant that they clashed head on with the more materialist view on things. It is now wonder therefore that they would try to reform Christmas in their own way and focus on the spiritual aspect of things without creating too much friction themselves. One must also remember that the Puritans were viewed with considerable suspicion and enmity by the general public as well as the British government and regency who saw their queer ways as a direct threat to their consistent dominance over the populace.
Reforming Christmas?
Did the Puritans succeed in reforming Christmas and change the English people’s focus on the material aspect of proceedings? This is debatable as several of the traditions have remained without any real change although some of them have become much more material in their focus which is quite unfortunate. Notwithstanding all this some Puritan aspects have deftly integrated themselves into Christmas including much more focus on the spiritual aspect of things as well as the intrinsic nature of proceedings. The Puritans recognition of St Joseph and the Virgin Mary are much more pronounced although those who wish to follow Christmas now have these aspects close to their heart too. One can also observe that changes are made on a consistent basis to every aspect of Christmas today and perhaps the Puritan influence can still be seen in this respect.
Conclusion – not accepted by the people
However when one analyzes the final cause of the Puritan’s effect on Christmas, it is clear that their cause was substantially diminished by all this. First of all, the Puritans were seen as killing the joy of a feast which made the young happy and this continued to confirm their reputation as dour, dull and without any sort of happiness in their lives. Yet again the Puritans were viewed as having strange tendencies and they were treated with suspicion by the general public so anything to do with their traditions and suggestions created a hostile environment. Although Christmas is definitely a feast for many and which is supposed to create joy to all, the Puritan approach to it was seen as quite farcical up to a sense and continued to accelerate the cause for their removal from England. Additionally they were seen as being disloyal and almost heretical in this respect as they refused to follow traditions which had been imbued since time immemorial and this was perhaps the final nail in their coffin as regards acceptance by society in general. Certainly this clash over Christmas and its traditions accelerated their flight from England to the Colonies where perhaps they could practice their view of this feast in a more congenial and united fashion.
