Link of the Week #25

Hello readers! As you well know tonight is Christmas Eve. A night when millions of people will gather in churches around the world to remember the night that God's only Son, Jesus Christ, became incarnate to redeem His people from the world. For many believers, this night marks a high point in their year. But those of you who have spent some time in the world of Reformed Presbyterianism will know that these Christmas celebrations can often bring consternation as well. Although the vast majority of Presbyterians now celebrate holy days like Christmas and Easter, it wasn't too long ago that such a thing would have been unheard of. Allow me to explain.


When our forefathers penned the Westminster Standards (which have served as guides for Presbyterian doctrine and practice for hundreds of years) they attached to it what they called a"Directory for Publik Worship." This Directory gave guidance and direction for churches who were seeking to worship God according to Scripture. Many of these churches were emerging from the mass of man-made traditions found in both the Roman Catholic and in the Anglican communions, and they realized the pressing need to reexamine why things were done the way they were. This reevaluation led to a far simpler, more biblical, form of worship in many of these new Puritan and Presbyterian congregations. This new document called for many changes and one of these changes concerned the celebration of holy days like Christmas and Easter. As the Directory says:

"There is no day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord's Day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued."

In essence, the Directory believed that celebrating these holy-days violates the law of God and the regulative principle of worship. (To gain a more thorough understanding of why they thought this was the case go here.)


Ever since that time Presbyterians have been faced with a choice. Will we stand with our forefathers against the church calender, or, will we stand with many other evangelicals with the church calender? This is a question that has been hotly debated for centuries and I doubt that any "quick fix" will emerge to solve our problem. But I do believe that the tension many Presbyterians feel is perhaps a false one. The question is often presented in rather stark terms. Either we buy into the entire Christmas package (like we see in so many churches today) or we will refuse to celebrate or recognize Christmas as some of our brothers do. However, I believe there is a third option, and that brings us (at last) to this week's link.

This week, we'd like to highlight a series of links from the Q & A section of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church's website. These links help us understand how we can perhaps incorporate some of the good aspects of the Christmas season without adopting many of the un-biblical practices and requirements that it often brings. Although there are still many questions that these links don't answer, I believe that they can help us to find a middle ground between the wholehearted acceptance, or the wholesale rejection, of the church calender. Enjoy!

To read this week's links go here, and here.

Link of the Week #24

Hello readers! Those of you who have read this blog for any length of time will know that we are big fans of the Puritans. Over the past 50 years God has blessed the church with far greater access to the works of these wonderful men. Many classic Puritan books, sermons, and journals are being re-typeset and published for a whole new generation of readers. However, this blessing brings with it its own challenges. With so many Puritans (and so many Puritan works) out there, where does one start? Who is publishing these books and how does one sort through the various editions? How can a 21st century reader penetrate the sometimes daunting language of the 16th and 17th centuries? What is unique about the Puritans? Who are the Puritans anyway?

Well, to help answer these questions we would like to highlight two links this week. The first is to a wonderful article by Joel Beeke called "Why You Should Read the Puritans." In this article Beeke helps orient the reader to who exactly the Puritans were, and then he lays out nine helpful contributions that the Puritans have made to Christian doctrine and life. Our second link is for those of you who may have a bit more time on your hands. In 2006 Randall J. Pederson & Joel Beeke co-edited a book called "Meet the Puritans." In this 895 page tome the author provide us with a wonderful resource for all Puritan lovers. As Westminster bookstore puts it:

"The Puritans were unmatched in their ability to combine deep, theological thinking with warm, practical living. In recent decades, many of their writings have been brought back into print but few Christians know who these men were or why their works are worth reading.
In Meet the Puritans, Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson go a long way toward alleviating this problem. This resource provides biographical introductions to every Puritan whose work has been republished in recent decades. Along with each biography is a guide to the written works of that Puritan author."

We hope that you will take the time to consider these resources, and we hope that you will consider digging into the works of some Puritan authors as you seek to grow in grace in the coming year!