Should we have a Christmas tree?

Response

The contemporary practice of having a Christmas tree is not rooted in paganism. There is no historical evidence of any pagan faith adorning a special tree for their winter celebrations. While the Romans marked the winter solstice with Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to Saturnus, the god of agriculture, where they adorned their homes with greens, lights, and exchanged gifts, there is no indication of a holiday tree tradition. In later centuries, Germans and Scandinavians began placing evergreen trees indoors or near their entrances as a symbol of hope for the upcoming spring. The first Christmas tree was adorned by Protestant Christians in 16th-century Germany. The modern Christmas tree tradition originated from these early German customs, likely introduced to the United States by Hessian troops during the American Revolution or by German immigrants settling in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

There is no biblical directive either commanding or forbidding the use of Christmas trees. Some have erroneously cited Jeremiah 10:1-16 as a prohibition against cutting down and decorating trees as done during Christmas. However, a simple reading of the passage clarifies that Jeremiah is condemning the creation of wooden idols overlaid with silver and gold for worship. A similar concept is found in Isaiah 44, where Isaiah criticizes idolaters who use a tree to craft an idol they bow down to after burning part of it for warmth. Unless we worship our Christmas tree, fashion it into an idol, and pray to it, these verses do not apply to Christmas trees.

There is no spiritual significance attached to having

Or not having a Christmas tree. Whatever choice we make, the motive behind a believer’s decision about this, as in all matters of conscience, must be to please the Lord. Romans 14:5-6a sets out the principle in a passage about liberty: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.” The Lord is grieved when Christians look down upon one another for either celebrating or not celebrating Christmas in a particular way. This is spiritual pride. When we feel that somehow we have achieved a higher plane of spirituality by doing or not doing something about which the Bible is silent, we misuse our freedom in Christ, create divisions within His body, and thereby dishonor the Lord. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” «Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. », (1 Corinthians 10:31).