WHAT ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE? by mackmck

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· @mackmck ·
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WHAT ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE?
![Christmas Tree.jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQHj78kFBEkn4hBvse3QegQf4EPDrQqQ2AsjWmEhb2VJd/Christmas%20Tree.jpeg)

Jeremiah 10:1-10 KJV
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
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.
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
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.
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

A man can claim anything; so long as his claim cannot be proven.

Such is the case with the history of the Christmas tree. Although there are several ideas thrown about ranging from 
•	The carnal to
•	The spectacular to
•	The Christian

The fact is that there is no documentable proof as to the origin of the tradition of the Christmas tree. 

The Christmas tree, along with Christmas in general, has a broad range of reactions within the Christian world.

•	Some call the Christmas Tree pagan 
•	Some consider the Christmas tree a symbol of Christmas truth

There are a number of object lessons about Christian truths that can be drawn from the evergreen tree.

Let's back up a bit and cover
I. THE OBJECTIONS
Those who object to the Christmas tree base their objections on one of two foundations:
A. The claim that the Christmas tree is forbidden in the book of 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.

It is a wonderment to me that it is often those Christians who claim to be the most ardent believers in obeying the Bible who feel a perfect freedom to twist the Bible right here because it suits their purpose. 

•	Because they have a predisposed position against the use a the Christmas tree and 
•	Because they choose to read these verses independent of their passage
•	Because they have already determined that the Christmas tree is a pagan (heathen) ritual
They see the words “… 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…” and immediately picture the Christmas tree.

But is this really what the passage is about?

Consider first
1. The passage has a context
Vs 8-10
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
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.
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

The context is very clearly that of shaping a piece of wood into the image of an idol and decorating it, usually by covering it with gold and silver leaf.

It is not speaking of bringing a whole tree into the house at all.

It is speaking of cutting down a tree and carving it into an image of a false god and then decorating that image.

Further, 
2. The passage has a Scriptural continuity
Isaiah 44:13-19 KJV
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

The Old Testament will often use the term “groves” to speak about a place of false worship.

Gideon, for instance, cut down his own father’s groves when he was called of the Lord to deliver his people from the Midianites. 

We shouldn’t think of that grove as a stand of trees like a forest, but rather as a place of idols.  

The gist is that they are nothing more than blocks of wood in the eyes of the Lord. He does not give them the credit of being gods – they’re just a bunch of trees.

And finally
3. The passage was written centuries before Christmas traditions.

At the very best 
•	A person claim the Christmas tree reminds him of this passage
•	He might use it to illustrate what he thinks of the custom of the Christmas tree

But he would be violating the Scripture to declare that this passage teaches against the custom of having a Christmas tree.

The second objection is
B. That the Christmas tree has pagan origins

Here is where my original statement comes in:
A man can claim anything; so long as his claim cannot be proven.

The fact is there is no documentable proof of when or how the Christmas tree tradition came to be.

The view of those who object to the Christmas tree is that 
1. It was part of the practice of the pagans during their Saturnalia celebration at the winter solstice.

In the northern countries, the evergreen trees were considered a symbol of eternal life because they remained green even during the harshest of winters.

As a part of their celebrations in mid winter, green boughs from evergreens were brought in to the home as a sign of the hope of survival through the winter.

I am not questioning that some turned that into worldly and wicked ideas.

Men have worshipped 
•	The sun
•	The river and
•	The animals

I can certainly see them worshipping a tree too.

But is it necessarily wrong to enjoy greenery to add life to your home in the dead of winter?

Don’t we often have indoor plants in our own homes because they make the house seem fresher, brighter and more alive?

Besides, 
There is no evidence that the pagans ever cut down a tree to take into their homes (and more evidence that they never would have done that. As worshippers of nature, they would not have killed a tree to bring it indoors). 
There is absolutely no real evidence that the custom of the Christmas tree came from the pagan practice. 

Another view is that 
2. It was invented by Martin Luther 
Once again, there is no evidence to support that idea.

What is almost certain is that the custom of the Christmas tree does come from Germany and there is at least a little evidence that Martin Luther was the first to light the tree with Candles. 

It is thought that the custom of using the tree developed from using 
3. A pyramid shaped decoration at Christmas to represent the Trinity (sometimes with a candle positioned at the top) 

But as I said, when there is absolutely no proof of where the practice came from, anyone’s guess is as good as the next.

I found a third objection I thought was worthy of its own heading. I am going to call it,
II. THE QUESTIONABLE QUESTION

The question was posed this way,
“Is there anywhere in Scripture that commands us to set up a tree?” 

This is a very interesting argument and one that has a greater significance than we might at first suppose.

We, who are Baptists, believe that the Bible is to be our sole rule for faith and practice.

•	If the Bible commands it, we obey it
•	If the Bible forbids it, we avoid it

But what about those areas where there are no specific commands?

•	The Bible does not command us to have Sunday school; is it therefore sinful to have a Sunday school?
•	The Bible does not command us to drive a car; is it therefore sinful to drive a car?

Christians of the past have made the mistake of claiming things to be sinful without Bible authority.

For instance, nowhere in the Bible will you find that it is a sin to use tobacco, yet it is often considered a sin.
I object to the use of tobacco on a number of levels
•	It is an expensive habit
•	It is an unhealthy habit
•	It is a dirty habit
•	It is an addictive habit

But so far as the Bible is concerned, it is not a sinful habit.
Can we call something a sin that the Bible does not call a sin?

Now we have a question from the opposite direction
Is doing something a sin if the Bible does not specifically command us to do it?

•	The Bible does not command us to set up a Christmas tree.
•	But neither does the Bible forbid it

As a Christian, I am in this world.
I am not of this world, but I am in this world.

And as a member of those who are in this world:
•	I must practice some elements of life in this world – driving a vehicle, for example and
•	I may practice other elements of life in this world – enjoying family traditions, such as a Christmas tree.

•	It is not sinful
•	It is not pagan
•	It is not unbiblical
For my family and me to enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of a fresh Christmas tree in our home.

Nor is it sinful for us to observe a national and cultural pastime of gathering around the Christmas tree to share gifts with one another.

Finally I would like to give what I will call
III. THE ENDORSEMENTS
Of the Christmas tree.

Rather than to see the association of the Christmas tree to paganism or worldly practices, I prefer to see evergreen tree, one of God's creation, as a timeless illustration of many of the  truths of God's Word

Its Shape
Triangle 
•	A symbol of the trinity
•	Pointing toward heaven

Its Color
Green-
A symbol of life


Its Nature 
Evergreen – 
A reminder of everlasting life

Its Character
Able to endure the trials of cold

Its Quality
Reproduces through fire
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vote details (58)
@simms50 ·
Here is what I do know....the idea of bringing evergreen plants indoors in the winter goes way back, way before Christ. Does it have pagan sources, signs point to yes but like you said we don't have any full proof evidence. 
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees

And those that use "THE QUESTIONABLE QUESTION" approach...well there is no other way to say it...but that is just dumb. Father forgive me for saying that but I don't know how else to say it!
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@mackmck ·
I see the Christmas tree as originating from Martin Luther, or one of the other German Christian groups - Anabaptists filled Germany even before Luther protested the Catholic doctrine of indulgences. 
It is merely an object lesson that caught on. It is a potent picture of what the Christian faith is all about.

Not sure what your implication is about the Questionable Question. :-)
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@majes ·
Very good post, I appreciate your opinions on the matter Paster :)

Merry Christmas !
👍  
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vote details (1)
@mackmck ·
Thank you
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