Theology of Advent
Posted On December 06, 2023
What is Advent?
Advent is a season in the Christian year. It is the first season of the liturgical calendar, defined by the last four Sundays before Christmas. Whereas the observation of Easter is tied to the dating of Passover, the observation of Advent depends on the date of Christmas. As far as we can tell, the date of Christmas was not determined to the satisfaction of the church at large until the fourth century. (As an aside, the date of Christmas was not imposed by the Roman emperor Constantine.) The observation of Advent thus began at some point after the determination of the date of Christmas.
At present, the focus of Advent observation is on preparation for Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus. This was not always the case. As Christians looked back to the birth of Christ, His first advent, they also looked forward to His second coming, the second advent. Thus, Advent hymns typically contain references not only to Jesus’ birth but also to His return. For example, the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” contains the line, “O come thou Key of David, come and open wide our heavenly home.”
The observation of Advent became a standard element of the Christian liturgical calendar in the medieval period. With the fragmentation of the church in the West brought on by the Reformation, Advent practices began to change. The Roman Catholic Church, of course, continued its observation of the liturgical year, including Advent. The Lutheran church, while rejecting Roman Catholic doctrine on justification, did not abandon the church calendar, and continued to observe Advent. The Church of England, though it abandoned the pope, also kept the liturgical calendar. However, as the Reformation progressed, differing views arose in the Reformed churches. The continental Reformed churches (those in the Netherlands and Germany) generally continued to follow the church calendar, though not with the ostentation characteristic of Roman Catholic practices.
The Reformed churches of the British Isles, in the wake of the Westminster Assembly, eschewed the observation of holy days other than Sunday. Though not explicitly stated in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645) says, “Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued.” This view arose out of what is called the regulative principle of worship. The regulative principle of worship is stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith as follows: “The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men . . . or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture” (WCF 21.1).
Historically, Presbyterian churches (as well as Baptist and Congregational churches) did not observe a church calendar. In some places, observing Christmas was a punishable offense. Over time, these restrictions have died out, and a variety of practices regarding Advent and Christmas are now the norm across denominations.