History

Reading the minutes of the primitive methodists from 1860-1882, it is facinating to note that Good Friday was a good day for fund raising (rather than celebration), Easter and Christmas were acceptable times for leave for ministers and that a Christmas day service was NOT the norm. We forget that as protestants, Christmas (Christ Mass - a Catholic celebration) and Easter were 'events' related to the Catholic faith they were protesting against and therefore did not observe. And yet today it is these very protestants who kick up a fuss when secular cities do not want to call things Easter or Christmas when 200 years ago those same protestants would agree. How history changes and how quick we forget.
Thanks to Michael Hickman for the information on the minutes

Colin Morris

Perhaps Christianity became a problem solving religion when, instead of it converting Europe as is widely supposed, European culture converted Christianity from being a near-eastern apocalyptic faith into a western problem solving ideology to be harnessed to the needs of an optimistic and thrusting scientific civilization. p61 start your own religion