Why Christmas Tree?

Why Christmas Tree? 

What picture comes in your mind when you hear the word 'Christmas'? 

A baby in a manger? A star? The Magi? The shepherds? Or a decorated Christmas tree? All other pictures are there in the Bible but not Christmas Tree! 

Christmas decoration doesn't seem complete without Christmas tree with lights on it and gifts packed under it. Why Christmas tree becomes so prominent and fashionable when it is not even found in the Bible? Is this unchristian and paganism? Well let's find out. 

How tree is important to religion:

Long before the advent of Christianity, in many countries, plants and trees that remain green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped sun and called it Ra, and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. 

At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from his illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death. 

In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder. 

How Christmas Tree started?

The earliest legend of the origin of the Christmas tree dates back to 723, involving Saint Boniface as he was evangelizing Germany. According to a story not mentioned in his biographies (vitae), he stumbled upon a pagan gathering where a group of people dancing under a decorated oak tree were about to sacrifice a baby in the name of Thor. Boniface took an axe and called on the name of Jesus. In one swipe, he managed to take down the entire tree, to the crowd's astonishment. Behind the fallen tree was a baby. Boniface said, "let this tree be the symbol of the true God, its leaves are ever green and will not die." The tree's needles pointed to heaven. Tradition holds that trees were used in formerly pagan homes from that moment forth, but decorated in the name of Jesus.

In the 16th century in Germany, devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Modern Christmas trees have been related to the "tree of paradise" of medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls. 

We can now clearly see that Christmas tree doesn't originate from the Bible but from the pagan. Now it is in your discernment whether to embrace it or to withstand it.

However, a decorated tree is found in the Bible which is close to the Christmas tree. Let's have a look:

Thus says the Lord : "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.

Jeremiah 10:2‭-‬4 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.10.2-4.ESV

Source: https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree