# Chronicles Magazine: "A Tender, Unitarian Christmas"



## Haeralis (Dec 24, 2016)

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2001/December/25/12/magazine/article/10826785/

I stumbled across this piece at Chronicles Magazine which is basically a mouthpiece for Roman Catholicism. Still, many of its points should be confronted. Did the Puritans cause Unitarianism to arise as the author alleges? 

The subject of this piece is, in a nutshell, how the Puritan disavowal of Christmas led to its usurpation by later heretics such as the Unitarians. 

What is PuritanBoard's opinion on these issues? I've often wondered how Puritan New England could have devolved into heretical Unitarians (later Transcendentalists) so quickly. This piece is quite shameless in its rampant anti-Protestantism. He obviously and incorrectly thinks it disgusting that the Puritans disavowed some mystical "organic Church" in favor of the direct words of the Bible. The most hilarious part is his snide, condescending remarks towards the idea that God quickly and actively imparts faith into believers. Obviously, as Calvinists we do not find this surprising or strange in light of Scripture. However, is the author accurate in saying that this emphasis on personal affection led to the hyper-rationalism of Unitarianism?



> It is odd that, of all people, Unitarians (such as the Reverend Sears) took to the robust celebration of "Christmas." Unitarianism, after all, draws its very name from its denial of the Incarnation. Furthermore, the New England Puritans—that primordial soup from which Unitarians arise—loathed Christmas, calling it “diabolical.” In their minds, it was a shameful, “popish” innovation from which the Church must be purified. It was a crime to celebrate Christmas in Puritan Massachusetts until 1681. But the hyperrational, Socinian devolution of Puritanism that occurred in New England during the middle of the 18th century, which produced both evangelicalism (through the Great Awakening) and Unitarianism, also marks the beginning of the modem American incarnation of Christmas.
> 
> Puritan sermons do include indirect references to the Incarnation, but little mention is made as to its importance in the grand scheme of salvation or its effect on the everyday life of the believer. What counts is an authentic conversion, followed by the living of a godly life. The Puritans eliminated the popish innovation of pericopal readings—the biblical lessons prescribed for each Sunday of the Church year. They also eliminated the Church year. In doing so, they removed the check and balance that kept the sermon focused on the events surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of the Incarnate Christ. Thus, they were free to preach abstractly, esoterically, and at length on Providence, the identifying marks of true believers, and “religious affections,” rather than, say, the significance of the Annunciation, the Nativity, or even the Cross of Christ.
> 
> ...


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## ZackF (Dec 24, 2016)

Haeralis said:


> http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2001/December/25/12/magazine/article/10826785/
> 
> I stumbled across this piece at Chronicles Magazine which is basically a mouthpiece for Roman Catholicism. Still, many of its points should be confronted. Did the Puritans cause Unitarianism to arise as the author alleges?
> 
> ...



There are no doubt multiple causes for the loss of Puritanism. Volumes could be written. As believers I think it is wise to remember what Joel Beeke has said about this from a faith standpoint, "Why did it last so long?"


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