Do Christmas Trees Have Pagan Origins?

INTRODUCTION

The celebration of Christmas within the Truth Fellowship seems as variable as any other issue; for example, in one part of the U.S.A., December 25th is treated like just any other day, whereas in another region, there may be gift exchanges and other special observances. One point seems to be universally agreed upon, though, and that is that the use of Christmas trees is forbidden, and the explanation frequently offered is that decorating Christmas trees is of pagan origin and seems to be condemned in Scripture, namely, Jeremiah 10:2-4:

"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (KJV).

This misinterpretation of Scriptures is due to several reasons:

Anachronistic Error

Arbitrary Proof-Texting

Ignoring Historical and Biblical Context

ANACHRONISTIC ERROR

The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines the word anachronism as "a person, thing or idea which exists out of its time in history, esp. one which happened or existed later than the period being shown, discussed, etc." This is what quoting Jeremiah 10 against Christmas trees is, because the passage had nothing to do with Christians decorating an evergreen tree during the celebration of the birth of their Messiah on December 25th. For one thing, the prophet Jeremiah was not even talking about decorating Christmas trees because this was a custom developed in Northern Europe centuries later. All that Jeremiah was doing was warning the Israelites that unless they truly worshipped God completely, they were not much different from those pagans who made idols and foolishly worshipped gods other than the true God. This warning is repeated by Isaiah, using similar language (Is 40). It should also be noted that the Jeremiah passage does not appear to be talking about intact evergreen trees at all, but rather "wood cut from the forest" (Jer 10:3) and then chopped and carved into wooden idols. So, to pluck the Jeremiah 10 passage out of historical context and try to anachronistically assign it to something that developed later does not make sense.

ARBITRARY PROOF-TEXTING

Proof-texting is the process by which Bible verses are enlisted to support one's argument for or against something, and when properly applied, it is an effective way of demonstrating its biblical basis. The tendency to simply cite an isolated passage which may seem, on the surface, to support one's argument can be irresistable for some - when, in fact, a more complete reading of the entire passage reveals a different story. This is the problem of the 2x2's superficial proof-texting with Jeremiah 10, because it actually proves too much. Looking a few verses later proves that 2x2s are being selectively literal in their interpretation:

"Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men." (verse 9)

So, silver plates and gold plates are all the work of pagans who wear blue and purple clothing? Does this mean that we should not use silver or gold objects, nor should we ever wear blue or purple clothing? Imagine all the blue jeans and denim skirts worn in the Truth Fellowship - does this mean that 2x2s have capitulated to pagan worship practices by doing this? I'm sure that the 2x2 answer to this question would be an emphatic "no"; however, I think it does demonstrate a useful distinction. In other words, at what point does utilizing things previously used by pagans NOT mean that you approve and endorse that behavior? Are they aware that the months of the year and the days of the week have pagan origins? Do they know that celebrating birthdays, wearing wedding rings, circumcisions, embalming the dead, etc., have pagan origins? Has a "hearty" 2x2 elder with meeting in his home sinned against God by being circumcised as an infant? I think not, since just because something used to be a pagan practice does not mean Christians use it for the same purpose today.

IGNORING HISTORICAL AND BIBLICAL CONTEXT

A 2x2 might argue that just because the month January is named after the Roman god Janus, or just because Thursday is an adaptation of Thor's Day, doesn't mean they have religious implications and therefore do not apply to them. While this is true, they may not be aware that there have been pagan customs incorporated into religious practice - circumcision is one such example. Herodotus wrote that circumcision was practiced among Egyptians, Colchians, and Ethiopians, Phoenicians and Syrians; it was not until later that circumcision became part of God's covenant with the Jews. In fact, not only was it incorporated, it was elevated to the status of an actual sign and seal of God's covenant such that it was mandatory (Gen 17). Now, if God allowed a pagan practice to be incorporated into His divine plan for His chosen people, what right do 2x2s have to unilaterally denounce something due to "pagan origins"?

Furthermore, with the coming of Jesus a New Covenant was established which was better than the previous one (Heb 8:6), and in it water baptism replaced circumcision according to Paul (Col 2:11-12). So, not only was the pagan practice of circumcision incorporated and elevated to the status of sacrament with the Jews, but also it was replaced and perfected by baptism which, incidentally, was also a pagan custom. For example, Spartan soldiers used to dip (baptizo) their spears prior to battle. The Egyptians, too, had a baptism ceremony for victims of crocodile attacks. The obvious symbolism of the cleansing nature of water leads the Catholic Encyclopedia to comment this way:

"How natural and expressive the symbolism of exterior washing to indicate interior purification was recognized to be, is plain from the practice also of the heathen systems of religion. The use of lustral water is found among the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Hindus, and others." (CE)

How disturbing, then, must it be for the Friends & Workers to realize that their baptism ritual is nothing more than an adaption of pagan customs, particularly if their argument is that they should be avoided simply because of pagan origins? If they are going to reject Christmas trees for this reason, then they should remain intellectually consistent enough to reject all things of pagan origin. To do otherwise exposes an arbitrary "pick and choose" mentality which lacks credibility.

EVIL SYMBOLISM?

There is nothing inherently evil about an evergreen tree, nor is there anything inherently evil about the decorations which go on them. All of God's creation is good - it is the application thereof which be a problem. Pagan customs are not condemned in Scripture unless they involve harmful or immoral behaviors or worship of anyone but God the Father; for example, prayers and sacrices and incense, etc., were accepted by God. but it was not until the pagans were worshipping idols and being sexually immoral and performing fatal rituals like burning their sons and daughters in fire (2 Kgs 17:17-41) that God became angry. Paul himself said that it was not a sin to eat meat from public market even if it had probably been sacrificed to an idol (1 Cor. 10:25) because even he was able to recognize that it is the inner disposition of our hearts that matters, not just the outward appearance:

"So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that there is no idol in the world and that there is no God but one. Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth...yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist." (1 Cor 8:4-6)

In other words, even though the pagans may have believed their meat was being sacrificed to some idol, we followers of Christ know that there is but one true God and by eating that meat we are not worshipping some other god. For us, there is one true God as long as we do not actually participate in the pagan worship with informed consent. In the same way, decorating a Christmas tree does not mean that we are really worshipping the Roman god Bacchus, or the Greek god Adonia, or the Druid god Woden, because our God knows our hearts and what is really important to us (Mk 7:6-8).

There is this legend about St. Boniface in the 8th Century with regard to Christmas trees:

Upon his arrival again in Hesse, Boniface decided to strike at the root of pagan superstition. He publicly announced in advance that he would at a particular time destroy their gods. The awestruck crowd at Geismar watched as he successfully cut down the sacred Oak of Thor, an object of pagan worship that stood on the summit of Mount Gudenberg near Fritzlar, without being struck down by their angry gods. The pagans, who had expected immediate judgment against such sacrilege, acknowledged that their gods were powerless to protect their own sanctuaries. (Index of Saints)

The legend continues that as the tree split into pieces, a young evergreen tree was found at the center, and St. Boniface suggested to the pagans that they take it as a symbol of their new Christian faith, because for us, the Christmas tree can be a wonderful symbol of resurrection and life, with its branches pointing toward heaven while enduring the hardships the cold. It symbolizes steadfastness in the face of adversity, of life in the deadness of winter just like Jesus brought life in the deadness of humanity.

This is an excellent example of taking a pagan practice and adapting it, giving it new meaning and Christian significance. It could be considered to be an improvement on more primitive awareness of who we Christians know as God, as historian Phillip Schaff writes:

"This connection [to pagan Roman festivals] accounts for many customs of the Christmas season, . . . and gives them a Christian import; while it also betrays the origin of the many excesses in which the unbelieving world indulges in this season, in wanton perversion of the true Christmas mirth, but which, of course, no more forbid right use, than the abuses of the Bible or any other gift of God . . . Besides, there lurked in those pagan festivals themselves, in spite of all their sensual abuses, a deep meaning and an adaptation to a real want; they might be called unconscious prophecies of the Christmas feast. Finally, the church fathers themselves confirm the symbolical reference of the feast of the birth of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world, to the birth-festival of the unconquered sun, which on the 25th of December, after the winter solstice, breaks the growing power of darkness, and begins anew his heroic career." {History of the Christian Church, vol. 3: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity: A.D. 311-600, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974; reprint of the rev. 5th ed. of 1910, pp. 396-397}

CONCLUSION

So, do Christmas trees have pagan origins? The answer is "yes". However, the immediate followup question should be "so what?". God knows that we Christians are not worshipping pagan gods when we decorate trees and place gifts underneath them to give to others in celebration of Christ's birthday. It is easy to see that many aspects of life, both secular and religious, have roots in pagan practices. That we do NOT use them for the same purposes should be obvious when considered in an impartial and rational manner.

I suspect that the 2x2 rejection of Christmas trees is simply another way of rejecting "the things of this world", thereby ensuring that 2x2s continue to remain isolated and out of touch. Sadly, they completely miss the point about Christmas. In other words, Christmas trees themselves don't need to be avoided; it is the transformation of a holiday initially designed to celebrate our Lord's birth into a consumer extravaganza which makes a mockery out of the holiday. Even the word "holiday" is derived from "holy day", and this is what Christmas should be - a holy day of celebration and thanksgiving and praise, rather than today's secular orgy of crass materialism with excessive gift-buying and shopping. One would do well to recall the warning in Ecclesiastes 7:16:

"Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overwise; why should you destroy yourself?"

In other words, it is possible to take legalism to preposterous limits if common sense is not utilized, thereby creating bondage where there should actually be freedom and rejoicing in the love of God.

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