Oliver Cromwell and the Abolition of State Sanctioned ‘Christmas’

Oliver Cromwell was a very civilised, intelligent and progressive individual. He was also a devout Christian. Why, then, did he agree to ‘ban’ Christmas? He carried out this progressive measure because he thought that it was a great evil for the State to ‘enforce’ a religious celebration upon its citizens. As a consequence, Cromwell oversaw the legislation that ‘banned’ the State sanctioning of a national holiday that had, in his and many other Christian’s eye, no connection with legitimate Christian practice.

Camelford Ch’an Week Retreat (North Cornwall)

Numbers vary dramatically, but as we are not a commercial enterprise, this is of no interest. There is always a strong inner core that keeps the teachings of Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) alive in the UK. We have been asked to Hong Kong and China in recent years, and these are invitations we intend to honour in the near future. Our last Ch’an Week Retreat (in the Sai Kung area) of Hong Kong, attracted over 50 participants in 1999, and we had to abandon the building and sit in the beautiful countryside.

1 27 28 29 30 31