The History of Christians Not Observing Christmas

Today, many Christians observe Christmas by treating the birthday of Jesus Christ as special or holy in comparison to other weekdays as a matter of faith. Often, Christians who do not observe Christmas are viewed as unfaithful or at least unusual. However, this was not always the case.

Early Christianity

There is no indication that Christians observed Jesus’ birthday for the first 300 years after Jesus’ birth. These early Christians had different views about which date was Jesus’ birthday. Yet, they did not observe Jesus’ birthday on any date.

In writings by early Christians before 300 CE, there are indications that Christians kept yearly feasts like Passover and Pentecost. Some Christians also kept a yearly feast to commemorate Jesus’ baptism. However, there is no mention of a yearly feast to commemorate Jesus’ birthday until after 300 CE.

Early Protestantism

During the 16th century CE, some Christian leaders in the Roman Catholic Church tried to reform their churches according to the Bible. Many of these Christian leaders were expelled from the Roman Catholic Church, and they became the first Protestants.

Many early Protestant groups continued to observe Christmas, like the Lutherans and the Anglicans. Yet, this was not unanimous. Many other Protestant Christian leaders taught against Christmas observance as part of their reformation efforts.

These non-Christmas Christians believed in the Regulative Principle of Worship, which is the idea that people should worship God only in the manner that God has commanded. They applied this Principle to “Christian holidays” like Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas. They reasoned that since God did not command people to observe those holidays, then people should not observe those holidays.

Early Presbyterianism

During the 17th century CE, a group of Protestant Christian leaders assembled in England to discuss how to further reform their churches according to the Bible. This assembly is known as the Westminster Assembly.

The Westminster Assembly produced several documents to express their teachings. One of these documents was the Directory of Public Worship. In the Appendix of the Directory, it is written:

Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued.

The documents of the Westminster Assembly were adopted by the early Presbyterians as an accurate expression of their beliefs. Accordingly, the early Presbyterians did not observe Christmas in their churches.

Conclusion

The practice of observing Christmas was not always as popular among Christians as it is today. Throughout history, Christians felt free to disagree with Christmas observance.

Therefore, Christians should not judge other Christians who choose not to observe Christmas—especially since many of our forebearers themselves taught against observing Christmas.