Why do we mount Christmas trees?
Today, Christmas trees are treated as a centuries-old element of the festival, but in reality they started with pagan ceremonies that were changed by Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Since the evergreen blooms all year round, it has come to symbolize eternal life through the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. However, the custom of bringing tree branches indoors in winter began with the ancient Romans, who decorated with greenery in winter or mounted laurel branches to honor the emperor.
The transition took place with Christian missionaries who were serving the Germanic tribes around 700 AD Legend claims that Boniface, a Roman Catholic missionary, felled a massive oak tree at Geismar in ancient Germany which was dedicated to the Norse god of thunder, Thor , then built a chapel from the woods. Boniface apparently pointed to an evergreen as an example of Christ's eternal life.
Fruits in the foreground "Trees of Paradise"
In the Middle Ages, open air performances on Bible stories were popular and one celebrated the feast day of Adam and Eve, which was held on Christmas Eve. To publicize the drama of illiterate citizens, the participants paraded through the village carrying a small tree, which symbolized the Garden of Eden. These trees eventually became "Paradise trees" in people's homes and were decorated with fruit and biscuits.
In the 1500s, Christmas trees were common in Latvia and Strasbourg. Another legend attributes to the German reformer Martin Luther the task of putting candles on an evergreen to imitate the stars that shine at the birth of Christ. Over the years, German glassmakers have started making ornaments and families have built homemade stars and hung sweets on their trees.
The idea was not liked by the clergy. Some still associated it with pagan ceremonies and said it took away the true meaning of Christmas. Even so, churches have started putting Christmas trees in their shrines, accompanied by pyramids of wooden blocks with candles on them.
Christians also adopt gifts
Just as trees started with the ancient Romans, so too did the exchange of gifts. The practice was popular around the winter solstice. After Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine I (272 - 337 AD), the gift took place around Epiphany and Christmas.
That tradition vanished, to be revived again to celebrate the feasts of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra (6 December), who gave gifts to poor children, and the 1853th century Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia, who inspired the singing of XNUMX "Buon King Wenceslas. "
As Lutheranism spread to Germany and Scandinavia, the custom of giving Christmas presents to family and friends followed. German immigrants to Canada and America brought their traditions of Christmas trees and gifts with them in the early 1800s.
The biggest push for the Christmas trees came from the immensely popular British queen Victoria and her husband Albert of Saxony, a German prince. In 1841 they set up an elaborate Christmas tree for their children at Windsor Castle. A drawing of the event in Illustrated London News circulated in the United States, where people enthusiastically imitated all Victorian things.
Christmas tree lights and the light of the world
The popularity of the Christmas trees took another leap forward after US President Grover Cleveland installed a wired Christmas tree in the White House in 1895. In 1903, the American Eveready Company produced the first screwable Christmas tree lights that they could switch from a wall socket.
Fifteen-year-old Albert Sadacca convinced his parents to start producing Christmas lights in 1918, using bulbs from their business, which sold wicker cages illuminated with artificial birds. When Sadacca painted the bulbs red and green the following year, business really took off, leading to the founding of the multi-million dollar NOMA Electric Company.
With the introduction of plastic after World War II, artificial Christmas trees came into fashion, effectively replacing real trees. Although trees are seen everywhere today, from shops to schools to government buildings, their religious significance has largely been lost.
Some Christians still strongly oppose the practice of mounting Christmas trees, basing their faith on Jeremiah 10: 1-16 and Isaiah 44: 14-17, which warn believers not to make idols out of wood and to bow to them. However, these steps are applied incorrectly in this case. Evangelist and author John MacArthur put the record straight:
“There is no link between the cult of idols and the use of Christmas trees. We shouldn't be anxious about unfounded arguments against Christmas decorations. Rather, we should be focused on the Christ of Christmas and give all due diligence to remember the real reason for the season. "