THROWBACK THURSDAY: ‘The Approved Precedent of the Shepherds’ (1972)

Thank God for His Gift:

The Approved Precedent of the Shepherds 

By Charles F. Russell 
Dec. 24, 1972; p. 4  

Certain groups in Christendom do not observe Christmas nor do they commemorate the birth of Christ under any designation. One such body maintains that no such commemoration is required by Scripture. Its members claim, therefore, that it is wrong for persons to observe Christmas or specifically to commemorate Jesus’ birth.  

This brings serious questions to the minds of Restora­tionists. What is a Biblical requirement, or command, or directive, according to these nonobservers? Apparently it is a “thou shalt do,” or a “thou shalt observe,” or a “thou shalt go,” or any specific order found in Scripture.  

Another question then comes to the fore: What should a Biblical requirement be?  

The Restorationist pioneer Thomas Campbell has con­tributed invaluable guidance at this point, and it behooves those of the brotherhood’s present generation to give care­ful consideration to his statements.  

Under the fifth point in the “Declaration” part of his Declaration and Address, Thomas Campbell declared that nothing should be imposed upon Christians as require­ments of faith without a “thus saith the Lord, either in express terms, or by approved precedent.”  

The interesting and revealing phraseology “express terms” and “approved precedent,” indicates that Scrip­tural requirements may be given in either of two ways. A Biblical directive may be given by verbal precept or it may be given by precedent.  

Mr. Campell used the same expressions a second time in his Proposition III of the “Address” portion of his doc­ument. Herein he said that nothing ought “to be admitted, as of Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and managements, but what is expressly enjoined by the au­thority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament church, either in express terms or by approved precedent.”  

It is by such “approved precedent” that most Christians observe the first day of the week as their holy day and as a special time of worship and praise, for that was the example of the apostles. And in like measure, it is by “approved precedent” that many Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s Day, for they are following the practice of the apostles.  

Now in regard to the matter of observing Christ’s birth (which, to the average Christian, means observing Christ­mas), there is the approved precedent of the shepherds. After the shepherds had seen and had worshiped the in­fant Jesus, they departed from the stable, and Luke reports their later action as follows: “And the shepherds re­turned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” (Luke 2:20).  

The fact that the shepherds continued to praise God for His precious gift of a Saviour shows that such praise for so great an event may appropriately be a continuing part of the Christian’s worship experience.  

Those who do not commemorate the birth of Christ may protest this “precedent” claim, of course. They may state that such precedent as the shepherds provide is not a precedent of the apostles—nor of Jesus himself, for that matter. They may say that it is not “expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apos­tles,” as Thomas Campbell has mentioned these prece­dents.  

The term “gift” indicates that something has been given and that the “something given” is new: is new, at least, to the recipient. Paul, then, whom Scripture desig­nates as an apostle, has expressed praise for the given Christ who, as a gift, is the newborn Christ (2 Corinthians 9:15)! In so doing, he was giving apostolic sanction to the precedent established by the shepherds.  

Of course, the fact that Christ’s coming to earth as a babe is told by two Gospel writers after His birth had been prophesied in Old Testament writings is more than sufficient precedent for most professed Christians.  

Brethren in the Restoration movement have commem­orated the birth of Christ because His birth is recorded in Holy Scripture; Christ’s birth should likewise be commem­orated by the sincere Christian in every age and clime. But if some remain hesitant because the Scriptures do not declare, “Thou shalt observe,” let them recall the ap­proved precedent of the shepherds, and let them also go forth, “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”  

Mr. Russell is executive director of the Lecture Fellowship of Christian Churches in Warren, Ohio.