Why Do We Have Christmas Trees

8/20/2019 Why Do We Have Christmas Trees

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Why Do We Have Christmas Trees?The history behind evergreens, ornaments, and holiday gift giving.

The evergreen tree was an ancient symbol of life in the midst of winter. Romandecorated their houses with evergreen branches during the New Year, and ancieninhabitants of northern Europe cut evergreen trees and planted them in boxes insidtheir houses in wintertime. Many early hristians were hostile to such practices. Th

second!century theologian Tertullian condemned those hristians who celebratethe winter festivals, or decorated their houses with laurel boughs in honor of themperor"#$et them over whom the fires of hell are imminent, affix to their posts, laureldoomed presently to burn" to them the testimonies of dar%ness and the omens otheir penalties are suitable. You are a light of the world, and a tree ever green. &you have renounced temples, ma%e not your own gate a temple.#

'ut by the early Middle (ges, the legend had grown that when hrist was born ithe dead of winter, every tree throughout the world miraculously shoo% off its icand snow and produced new shoots of green. (t the same time, hristiamissionaries preaching to )ermanic and *lavic peoples were ta%ing a more lenienapproach to cultural practices+such as evergreen trees. These missionariebelieved that the &ncarnation proclaimed hrists lordship over those naturasymbols that had previously been used for the worship of pagan gods. Not onlindividual human beings, but cultures, symbols, and traditions could be converted.-f course, this did not mean that the worship of pagan gods themselves watolerated. (ccording to one legend, the eighth!century missionary 'oniface, aftecutting down an oa% tree sacred to the pagan god Thor and used for huma

sacrifice/, pointed to a nearby fir tree instead as a symbol of the love and mercy o)od.

Paradise trees

Not until the Renaissance are there clear records of trees being used as a symbol ohristmas+beginning in $atvia in 0102 and *trasbourg in 0130. $egend credits th4rotestant reformer Martin $uther with inventing the hristmas tree, but the storhas little historical basis.

The most li%ely theory is that hristmas trees started with medieval plays. 5ramadepicting biblical themes began as part of the churchs worship, but by the latMiddle (ges, they had become rowdy, imaginative performances dominated blaypeople and ta%ing place in the open air. The plays celebrating the Nativity werlin%ed to the story of creation+in part because hristmas Eve was also considerethe feast day of (dam and Eve. Thus, as part of the play for that day, the )arden oEden was symboli6ed by a #paradise tree# hung with fruit.

These plays were banned in many places in the 07th century, and people perhap



began to set up #paradise trees# in their homes to compensate for the publcelebration they could no longer en8oy. The earliest hristmas trees or evergreebranches/ used in homes were referred to as #paradises.# They were often hunwith round pastry wafers symboli6ing the Eucharist, which developed into the coo%iornaments decorating )erman hristmas trees today.

The custom gained popularity throughout the 09th and 0:th centuries, against th

protests of some clergy. $utheran minister ;ohann von 5annhauer, for instancecomplained li%e Tertullian/ that the symbol distracted people from the truevergreen tree, ;esus hrist. 'ut this did not stop many churches from setting uhristmas trees inside the sanctuary. (longside the tree often stood woode#pyramids#+stac%s of shelves bearing candles, sometimes one for each famimember. Eventually these pyramids of candles were placed on the tree, thancestors of our modern hristmas tree lights and ornaments.

Nicholas and Wenceslas

&t also too% a long time for trees to become associated with presents. Thoughlegend connects the idea of hristmas gifts with the gifts the Magi brought ;esus,the real story is more complicated. $i%e trees, gifts were first a Roman practice+traded during the winter solstice. (s Epiphany, and later hristmas, replaced thewinter solstice as a time of celebration for hristians, the gift!giving traditioncontinued for a while. 'y late anti<uity it had died out, although gifts were stillexchanged at New Years.

)ifts were also associated with *t. Nicholas, bishop of Myra in modern!day Tur%ey/

who became famous for giving gifts to poor children. =is feast day 5ecember 7/thus became another occasion for gift exchanges. 5uring the early Middle (ges,hristmas gifts most often too% the form of tributes paid to monarchs+although afew rulers used the holiday season as an opportunity to give to the poor or to thechurch instead most notably 5u%e >enceslas of 'ohemia, whose story inspired thepopular carol, and >illiam the on<ueror, who chose hristmas 0279 to ma%e alarge donation to the pope/.

$i%e trees, gifts came #inside# the family around the time of $uther, as the custom ogiving gifts to friends and family members developed in )ermany, the Netherlands,

and *candinavia. -ften these were given anonymously, or hidden. -ne 5anishcustom was to rewrap a gift many times with different names on each wrapper, sothat the intended recipient was only discovered when all the layers were opened.

Victorian Christmas



&n the English!spea%ing world, the union of gifts, trees, and hristmas was due tthe influence of ?ueen @ictoria and her husband 4rince (lbert, a native of *axonnow part of )ermany/. )erman immigrants had brought the custom of hristmatrees with them in the early 0:22s, but it spread widely after @ictoria and (lbert seup an elaborate tree for their children at >indsor astle in 0:A0. (t this pointhristmas presents were usually hung on the tree itself.

)erman and 5utch immigrants also brought their traditions of trees and presents tthe New >orld in the early 0:22s. The image of happy middle!class familieexchanging gifts around a tree became a powerful one for (merican authors ancivic leaders who wished to replace older, rowdier, and more alcohol!fuelehristmas traditions+such as wassailing+with a more family!friendly holiday. Thfamily!centered image was widely populari6ed by lement Moores 0:33 poem%nown today as #Twas the Night 'efore hristmas# which also helped give us oumodern picture of *anta laus/.

(s many of us ma%e trees and gifts the center of our own hristmas practice, wwould do well to remember that they are ultimately symbols of the -ne who gavhimself to unite heaven and earth, and who brings all barren things to flower.Edwin Woodruff Tait is assistant professor of Bible and religion at HuntingtoUniversity. Jennifer Woodruff Tait is adun!t professor of !hur!h history at "sburTheologi!al #eminary.

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Why Do We Have Christmas Trees