Christmas, with its lights, carols, and festive spirit, is today one of the most widespread celebrations in Christianity. However, its acceptance was not universal at the dawn of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. For many of the early Reformers, December 25th was not “Christ’s Mass” (Christmas), but rather a “Foolstide”—a human invention alien to Scripture and, for some, a pagan remnant that had to be purged. The manner in which different branches of the Reformation approached this holiday reveals profound differences in their vision of what a “reformed” church should be. This fact stands in stark contrast to most of the declarations heard today among those who proclaim themselves continuators of that very Reformation.

1. Martin Luther: Christmas as a “Lesson on the Incarnation”

Martin Luther, the seminal figure of the Reformation, adopted a remarkably conservative stance regarding Christmas. His guiding principle was not to eliminate everything that “smelled Catholic,” but to preserve whatever did not directly contradict the Bible and could serve to edify the faith. Therefore, his position must be evaluated in light of the arguments available to him at the time.

For Luther, Christmas was a golden opportunity for teaching. The celebration of Jesus’ birth offered a powerful vehicle to preach the central dogma of the Incarnation: God made man for the salvation of humanity. Far from suppressing it, Luther embraced and revitalized it, encouraging family participation in the celebration. He is credited with popularizing customs such as the Christmas tree and the figure of the Christkind (the Christ Child) as a gift-bringer, seeking to displace devotion to saints like Saint Nicholas. “If Christ had not been born,” he argued, “eat we would be lost. Therefore, we celebrate his birth with joy.” For Luther and his followers, Christmas was not a “foolstide,” but a “tide of grace.”

2. John Calvin: “Indifference”

John Calvin, the influential Reformer of Geneva, represented a more austere and strict approach. His Regulative Principle of Worship established that the worship of God should only include what the Bible explicitly commanded. Since Scripture does not command the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, Calvin was, in principle, reluctant to observe feasts instituted by human tradition.

In Geneva, Christmas was initially abolished as a weekday holiday, though preaching on the birth of Christ could occur if December 25th fell on a Sunday or if civil authorities authorized it. Calvin’s stance was not so much a condemnation of Christmas as a “heresy,” but rather a practical indifference toward it. He believed that all days were equally fit to glorify God and that elevating one day above another, outside of Sunday, was a superstition. His approach sought to strip worship of everything not essentially biblical, focusing instead on the Word and prayer.

3. The Puritans and the Reformed: “Foolstide”

The opposition to Christmas reached its peak among the English Puritans, Scottish Presbyterians, and other branches of the Radical Reformation. To them, Christmas was an abomination. They bluntly labeled it “Foolstide,” a derogatory term that encapsulated their rejection.

Their arguments were forceful:

• Lack of Biblical Mandate: There is not a single mention in the Bible commanding the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

• Pagan-Catholic Origins: They viewed Christmas as an amalgam of pagan Roman festivals Christianized by the Catholic Church, making it doubly objectionable.

• Licentiousness and Excess: They denounced the “frivolous behavior, drunkenness, and gambling” associated with the celebration.

The intensity of their rejection led to the formal prohibition of Christmas:

• In Scotland, under the influence of John Knox and the Presbyterian Church, Christmas was banned by an act of Parliament in 1560. This prohibition remained in force for centuries; December 25th was not recognized as an official public holiday in Scotland until 1958.

• In England, during the period of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate (1649–1660) led by Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan Parliament abolished the celebration of Christmas in 1644. Shops were ordered to stay open and churches to close on this day; fines were even imposed for celebrating.

• In the New England colonies (United States), founded by Puritans, the celebration of Christmas was not only discouraged but illegal in places like the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where anyone caught celebrating was fined. This ban remained formally in place until 1856.

Figures like the Puritan theologian William Prynne wrote treatises denouncing Christmas as a vestige of idolatry. The irony was that, in their zeal to “purify” the faith, the Puritans were often seen as intolerant “killjoys” by much of the population.

The complex and varied response of the Reformers to Christmas illustrates the inherent tension between tradition and the search for biblical purity. While some saw it as an opportunity to evangelize, others condemned it as a dangerous “Foolstide”—a reminder and a gateway to the “superstitions” from which the Church, in their view, had to be liberated.

The modern history of the Christmas controversy is, in many ways, the history of the Reformation itself.

Author: Dr. Liber Aguiar