Thursday, December 24, 2009

The 12 days of Christmas

Ironic that a bunch of evangelical Protestants are singing a song written by Roman Catholics to celebrate their faith in England when Christmas had actually been outlawed by the Protestant Church and Government.  Not only does "The 12 days of Christmas" teach aspects of the Roman Faith, but allowed Roman Catholic Christians to remember that Christmas was not just a day but an entire season.  Eventually Martin Luther's brand of Protestantism brought other Protestants to their sense and we begin celebrating Christmas again.  That is, everyone except the Puritans.  Angered not only at the pagan origins of many of the Church's holidays, they were furious that the King of England was making it mandatory that every Christian only use his "Authorized Version" of the Bible, commonly known as the King James Version.  They left Europe and sailed for America where they established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The irony? Modern day socially conservative evangelical Protestants (like the Puritans) will be using the King James Version at their Christmas Eve Services.  But then again, so will I.  Merry Christmas everyone.

No comments: