The decoration of evergreen trees each December first came to North America as part of the Christian celebration of Christmas. However, evergreen trees used for celebratory or sacred purposes go back much earlier to pre-Christian times.
- The ancient Egyptians celebrated the winter solstice (Dec. 21 or 22) with their version of evergreens, palm branches, since coniferous trees are relatively rare in Egypt.
- The pagan Romans celebrated their Saturnalia feast in December with evergreen boughs.
- The pagan Celts and Vikings celebrated with evergreens in winter.[1]
- The Germanic peoples also celebrated the solstice with evergreen trees.[2]
- Similarly, the pagan Canaanites worshipped trees representing their goddess of fertility, Ashera.[3]
Most of these peoples used evergreen or similar greenery to remind them through the winter months that spring would eventually come and turn everything green again and life would triumph over death.
We find a description of the idolatrous Canaanite practice in the Hebrew Bible:
A tree from the forest is cut down,
and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;
people deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move… (Jer. 10:3-4 NRSVUE)
Given that the sacred use of trees were found throughout the ancient world, it is not surprising that Christians, Muslims, and Druze in the same regions reinterpreted them for use in their celebration of the coming of prophets and saints. But in none of these current communities is the celebratory use of trees a part of the official religion.
The use of decorated trees among Christians in the 16th century is widely attributed to Martin Luther, who is said to have added lighted candles to a tree. The story is that, awed by the twinkling stars while walking through an evergreen grove, he put up a tree in his home, wiring lighted candles onto its branches to symbolize the coming of Christ’s light into the world.
When German settlers first brought the practice of decorating Christmas trees to America, it met with strong objections from the Puritans, who rejected it because of its non-Christian associations. While German settlers also brought Christmas trees to Canada, the custom met with little resistance there. But due to the Puritans, the State of Massachusetts made hanging decorations in observance of December 25 illegal and subject to fines in 1659. That approach held firm in the new colonies until the 19th century when there were enough German and Irish immigrants to undermine the Puritan approach.
The biggest promoter of the Christmas tree, albeit unintentionally, was Queen Victoria. The Illustrated London News depicted her and her German husband, Prince Albert, and their children standing around a Christmas tree in 1846. Because she was such a beloved monarch, her practice became popular not only in Britain and Canada, but also among the fashion-conscious Americans on the East Coast.[4]
The use of Christmas trees in business enterprises is traced back to the Rockefeller Center in New York during the Great Depression. The center viewed it as a way to enable the poorest of the poor to enjoy the lights and decorations they could not afford for themselves. From there Christmas trees came into the public space, to be taken up eventually by local governments. And as North America has become increasingly secular and multicultural, so has the Christmas tree.
To avoid offending any faith group as well as church/state confusion, some governments now refer to Christmas trees as “Holiday Trees.” Naturally, Christian nationalists take great exception to this, insisting that the Christmas tree is Christian. But however much Christian nationalists want to monopolize the celebratory use of decorated trees, the Christmas tree is Christian in neither origin nor prescribed practice. It is thus something Christians must be ready to share with everyone, remembering that each person can be expected to bring their own meaning to the Christmas tree.
The Christmas Tree’s Meaning Today
Today brightly lit trees are used in every corner of the globe—by both Christians, people of other faiths, and secularists. This is reflected in multicultural Canada’s widespread acceptance of such trees. Given that the origin of the Christmas tree is so rich and varied, it should not surprise us that its meaning is equally amorphous, as each person views its through their particular cultural lens. To insist in putting just one meaning on it is to ignore its ancient origins and widespread appeal to people with no connection to the Christian faith.
Clearly, the popularity of the Christmas tree in highly secular Canada underscores the fact that there is nothing inherently Christian about it. Some Christians today continue to resist the use of such Christmas décor even as the Puritans did in America’s early history. Likewise, some non-Christian societies today resist it while others have found ways to absorb it into their culture.
- Christmas trees are often displayed in China’s big cities while elsewhere Chinese authorities resist their growing popularity as markers of Western influence. With only 2-3% of its population Christian, the popularity of Christmas trees has little to do with the spread of Christian belief.[5]
- The secular celebration of Christmas has recently grown in popularity in Taiwan, with decorated trees and Christmas lights in shopping malls and Christmas parties held. Only for Taiwan’s small Christian minority does the celebration have religious significance.[6]
- Since India is such a melting pot, many Indians use Christmas trees, lights, and gift giving all in India’s own unique style. While Christmas has special meaning for India’s tiny Christian population, most Indians who celebrate it consider it a secular holiday.[7]
- Due to its commercial value, the secular celebration of Christmas has become very popular in Japan. For the great majority of Japanese people, Christmas—with decorated trees, lights, gift giving, and eating special foods on December 25th—has no religious significance whatsoever.[8]
- Some Muslims in Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt observe Christmas by decorating trees. Despite Saudi Arabia’s increasing openness to foreign influences, however, the Saudi government still bans the import of Christmas trees, fearing that it promotes “other religions,” pagan as well as Christian.[9]
It is easy to understand why some religious and ideological authorities resist the growing popularity of the Christmas tree. However, many people in Communist, Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim countries have joined secularists in stripping it of its religious connotations. Since Christians adopted its use without any biblical basis, it seems reasonable that non-Christians should also be free to adopt it without considering it in any way Christian.
For many non-Christians unable to view the Christmas tree apart from its Christian connections, the Christmas tree is likely to remain controversial. However, the vast majority of people in secular Canada welcome its use since they view it as largely disentangled from its Christian and other religious roots and use it simply in celebration of their pluralistic end-of-the-year holiday.
[1] https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_trees_and_groves_in_Germanic_paganism_and_mythology
[3] Amots Dafni, “The supernatural characters and powers of sacred trees in the Holy Land,” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, February 2007, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1820775/
[4] https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
[5] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/christmas-china-brings-glittering-decor-foreign-influence-concerns-2023-12-25/
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observance_of_Christmas_by_country
[7] https://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174264.asp
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observance_of_Christmas_by_country
[9] https://www.newarab.com/news/christmas-trees-not-allowed-import-saudi-arabia