The Christmas tree-What does a Christmas tree have to do with Christmas and why do we decorate them? 4-11-08?

Question

Have you ever just sat down and wondered why a tree set up in our house would have anything to do with Jesus, His birth, or His life? Why would we decorate a "TREE" with all its fancy balls and lights and ornaments and put it in our house for the sake of Jesus?? Why would we bow before it to lay down gifts,

what does an evergreen tree have to do with Jesus if he was not born in the Winter, do you think people celebrated Christmas years and years before the wise men bought gifts to baby Jesus?

Answer 1

No clue,  Holiday are not HOLY. They are just fun as kids

Answer 2

The fir tree has a long association with Christianity, it began in Germany almost 1,000 years ago when St Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity, was said to have come across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. In anger, St Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and to his amazement a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree. St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. But it was not until the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas time.

It is from Germany that we today get many of our customs, songs, images of Santa, pine trees and European hand blow glass ornaments.

How these traditions traveled to England is interesting. Queen Victoria often visited relatives in Germany in the town of Coburg and while there she fell in love with a young Prince Albert. After they got married they returned to England to raise their family.

The tree that Price Albert provided his family was admired by all in England. This tree was decorated in the finest of hand blown glass ornaments. Since everyone liked the Queen they copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments.

A F.W. Woolworth brought the glass ornament tradition to the United States in 1890. From 1870's to 1930's, Germans made the finest molds for making ornaments with nearly 5,000 different molds at the time. At the turn of the century there were over one hundred small cottage glass blowing workshops in Europe. Today only two respected German factory teams are capable of producing ornaments to the precise specifications of the Christopher Radko collection.

During the hayday of turn of the century ornament making, almost all ornaments were made in Lauscha, a small town nested in the Thuringian mountains. After the war, however, glass ornament production declined. Many of the craftsmen left for West Germany. Quantity rather than quality, was the Communist management philosophy. Some old molds fell into disrepair and many others were left to collect dust or were lost.

In the 1960's it was fashionable to have an Aluminum tree and all the same shape and color ornaments. Many threw away the old ornaments from Germany.

It was in the 1980's that Christopher Radko brought back the old art of making the glass ornaments for all to enjoy."

Some historians trace the lighted Christmas tree to Martin Luther. He attached lighted candles to a small evergreen tree, trying to simulate the reflections of the starlit heaven -- the heaven that looked down over Bethlehem on the first Christmas Eve.

Until about 1700, the use of Christmas trees appears to have been confined to the Rhine River District. From 1700 on, when lights were accepted as part of the decorations, the Christmas tree was well on its way to becoming a tradition in Germany. Then the tradition crossed the Atlantic with the Hessian soldiers.

Some people trace the origin of the Christmas tree to an earlier period. Even before the Christian era, trees and boughs were used for ceremonials. Egyptians, in celebrating the winter solstice -- the shortest day of the year -- brought green date palms into their homes as a symbol of "life triumphant over death". When the Romans observed the feast of saturn, part of the ceremony was the raising of an evergreen bough. The early Scandinavians were said to have paid homage to the fir tree.

To the Druids, sprigs of evergreen holly in the house meant eternal life; while to the Norsemen, they symbolized the revival of the sun god Balder. To those inclined toward superstition, branches of evergreens placed over the door kept out witches, ghosts, evil spirits and the like.

This use does not mean that the Christmas tree custom evolved solely from paganism, any more than did some of the present-day use of sighed in various religious rituals.

Trees and branches can be made purposeful as well as symbolic. The Christmas tree is a symbol of a living Christmas spirit and brings into our lives a pleasant aroma of the forest. The fact that balsam fir twigs, more than any other evergreen twigs, resemble crosses may have had much to do with the early popularity of balsam fir used as Christmas trees.

Answer 3

Does it really matter.? Those who believe in the religious aspect will continue to believe and those who want a holiday will continue to enjoy it

Answer 4

I don't know the specifics, but what happened is that when Christianity was spreading, it absorbed the status and institutions of the roman religion with its hierarchy and rituals, and it came out of that somehow

Answer 5

It is from Germany that we today get many of our customs, songs, images of Santa, pine trees and European hand blow glass ornaments. The fir tree has a long association with Christianity, it began in Germany almost 1,000 years ago when St Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity, was said to have come across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. In anger, St Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and to his amazement a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree. St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. But it was not until the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas time.

Since this is the royalty section, here are some interesting facts on how these traditions traveled to England. Queen Victoria often visited relatives in Germany in the town of Coburg and while there she fell in love with a young Prince Albert. After they got married they returned to England to raise their family. The tree that Price Albert provided his family was admired by all in England. This tree was decorated in the finest of hand blown glass ornaments. Since everyone liked the Queen they copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments.

Answer 6

dude you're analyzing this too much...spring just freaking started. ask your question again, eight months from now.

Answer 7

There are many theories on how the tradition got started.  It may well have its roots in pagan traditions.  Many countries used a Yule log as part of the Christmas celebrations.  Also, the continual green of the evergreen tree is seen by many as a symbol of immortality.  Though the tradition has its beginnings in Europe, the Christmas tree gained much more popularity in the US during the nineteenth century than it ever had elsewhere in the world.  That popularity has since traveled back across the ocean to many European countries.  Really, the Christmas tree has much more to do with cultural symbolism than anything religious.  Some churches use only certain colors of ornaments or lights, some create what they call "Jesse's tree" as part of their Advent/Christmas festivities.  As far as "we bow before it to lay down gifts," in many areas the tradition until just about the last century was to put the gifts IN the tree, not under the tree.  In either case, I think of the tree as kind of a gathering point for the gifts and for the people as well, but not something to worship.  Personally, I haven't put up a tree in several years but that has a lot more to do with the fact that when you live alone a tree seems like an awful lot of trouble, especially having to take it down afterwards.