December 20th, 2023
It’s one of the most beloved holiday traditions in our society. Load up the kids, head to a Christmas tree farm or roadside stand, pick out the perfect Christmas tree (and perhaps take a family picture or two), then bring it home, decorate it, and sit back as you enjoy the glow and fresh scent of your Christmas tree.
Most Americans wouldn’t be able to conceive of a Christmas without a Douglas Fir or Blue Spruce (or an artificial substitute) somewhere in their house. Why is this tradition so popular, even transcultural? Does it have any value, other than bringing family and friends together?
In a fascinating little book called Inventing the Christmas Tree, Bernd Brunner traces the origins of the Christmas tree up until the modern day. Though direct sources are scant, two things are pretty certain. First, Christmas trees in some fashion began popping up in the 15th century, and second, they were primarily located in Central Europe, particularly Germany.
Brunner writes of the first tree in the historical record, “In 1419 the Freiberg Fraternity of Baker’s Apprentices appears to have seen a tree decorated with apples, wafers, gingerbread, and tinsel in the local Hospital of the Holy Spirit.”[1] In the decades that followed, there are records of decorated trees in Estonia, Latvia, Alsace, and Bremen.
Along with the reliable evidence of Christmas tree origins in Germany, there is an almost certainly apocryphal story about the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and the Christmas tree. According to this legend, Luther was traveling through the forest at night and was overcome by the beauty of the fir tree in the light of the stars. In an effort to share that experience with his family, he cut one down, brought it home, and placed candles on it to recreate the beauty he had experienced. The candles also represented the light of the star that brought the Wise Men to Jesus.
It's a fictional story, but it does confirm two things. First, Christmas trees were becoming popular during Luther’s lifetime, and second, German Protestants were some of the first to adopt the tradition. In a Time magazine article, Olivia Wexman writes, “Demand for Christmas trees was so high in the 15th century that laws were passed in Strasbourg cracking down on people cutting pine branches. Ordinances throughout the region of Alsace limited each household to one tree in the 1530s.”[2]
Christmas trees are just as popular today, but an entire industry has been developed to support the demand. And, from the 15th century until now, Christmas trees have had a few constant characteristics.
First, Christmas trees are green. That may seem obvious, since it’s the way God made them, but that doesn’t mean it would survive the modern commercialization of Christmas. From the forests of Germany to the innumerable trees of North America, millions upon millions of Christmas trees have been harvested. Accordingly, green has come to be known as the color of hope, and during the long winter season, green trees symbolize hope for a bright spring in the dark, cold, and gray winter months. Of course, Christmas is a time of hope. Hope realized in the coming of a Savior on Christmas, and hope expected as we look forward to His return.
Another persistent characteristic of Christmas trees is red ornaments. The first Christmas trees in Central Europe were decorated with apples. Often, the tree was filled with edible treats, even candy and baked goods, but apples were a staple for hundreds of years. When a variety of apples cultivated specifically for Christmas trees was lost in the Alsace drought of 1858, glassblowers fabricated red glass spheres to use in their place.[3] Still today, the most common Christmas tree features red Christmas ball ornaments about the size of apples.
Why apples? Many used the Christmas tree to reenact the “Paradise Play,” a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. This play dramatized Adam and Eve’s decision to take the forbidden fruit. On the stage was a green tree, decorated with apples or pomegranates. In one scene, Eve takes of the fruit and eats, plunging the world into sin and darkness. In another, at the same tree, Mary offers Jesus the apple and he takes it, symbolizing his willingness to bear the sins of the world in his atonement. This play was performed on Christmas Eve, which was also in the Western Church the Feast Day of Adam and Eve. What an appropriate time to be reminded of II Corinthians 5:21! “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
A third Christmas tree non-negotiable is bright lights, and lots of them. What would a Christmas tree be if it’s not shining in the darkness? I will admit, one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the glow of the Christmas tree in our living room during the long dark nights of December.
As soon as Christmas trees are on the scene in history, so are their lights. Of course, they didn’t have electricity, so they lit beeswax candles, tallow candles, or oil lamps on or near the tree. Brunner writes, “A tree decked with candles created a completely new atmosphere; its radiance was much greater in the darkness of the past, before neon lights and lighting of all sorts on the street and in our homes dimmed its comparative luster.”[4] Perhaps this wasn’t the safest tradition in history, but it did have meaning. Christ, the “light of the world” came into the world on Christmas. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
The Christmas tree is clearly not a pagan tradition. In fact, the Christmas tree and its history are pregnant with biblical and theological meaning. So when you look at your Christmas tree this year, consider the hope we have in Jesus’ return, the substitutionary atonement Jesus fulfilled when he “took the fruit,” and the glorious Light that still shines in the darkness.
[1] Brunner, Bernd, Inventing the Christmas Tree, 5.
[2] Waxman, Olivia B., “How Christmas Trees Became a Holiday Tradition” The Real History of Christmas Trees | TIME
[3] Brunner, Bernd, Inventing the Christmas Tree, 37-38.
[4] Ibid., 42.
Most Americans wouldn’t be able to conceive of a Christmas without a Douglas Fir or Blue Spruce (or an artificial substitute) somewhere in their house. Why is this tradition so popular, even transcultural? Does it have any value, other than bringing family and friends together?
In a fascinating little book called Inventing the Christmas Tree, Bernd Brunner traces the origins of the Christmas tree up until the modern day. Though direct sources are scant, two things are pretty certain. First, Christmas trees in some fashion began popping up in the 15th century, and second, they were primarily located in Central Europe, particularly Germany.
Brunner writes of the first tree in the historical record, “In 1419 the Freiberg Fraternity of Baker’s Apprentices appears to have seen a tree decorated with apples, wafers, gingerbread, and tinsel in the local Hospital of the Holy Spirit.”[1] In the decades that followed, there are records of decorated trees in Estonia, Latvia, Alsace, and Bremen.
Along with the reliable evidence of Christmas tree origins in Germany, there is an almost certainly apocryphal story about the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and the Christmas tree. According to this legend, Luther was traveling through the forest at night and was overcome by the beauty of the fir tree in the light of the stars. In an effort to share that experience with his family, he cut one down, brought it home, and placed candles on it to recreate the beauty he had experienced. The candles also represented the light of the star that brought the Wise Men to Jesus.
It's a fictional story, but it does confirm two things. First, Christmas trees were becoming popular during Luther’s lifetime, and second, German Protestants were some of the first to adopt the tradition. In a Time magazine article, Olivia Wexman writes, “Demand for Christmas trees was so high in the 15th century that laws were passed in Strasbourg cracking down on people cutting pine branches. Ordinances throughout the region of Alsace limited each household to one tree in the 1530s.”[2]
Christmas trees are just as popular today, but an entire industry has been developed to support the demand. And, from the 15th century until now, Christmas trees have had a few constant characteristics.
First, Christmas trees are green. That may seem obvious, since it’s the way God made them, but that doesn’t mean it would survive the modern commercialization of Christmas. From the forests of Germany to the innumerable trees of North America, millions upon millions of Christmas trees have been harvested. Accordingly, green has come to be known as the color of hope, and during the long winter season, green trees symbolize hope for a bright spring in the dark, cold, and gray winter months. Of course, Christmas is a time of hope. Hope realized in the coming of a Savior on Christmas, and hope expected as we look forward to His return.
Another persistent characteristic of Christmas trees is red ornaments. The first Christmas trees in Central Europe were decorated with apples. Often, the tree was filled with edible treats, even candy and baked goods, but apples were a staple for hundreds of years. When a variety of apples cultivated specifically for Christmas trees was lost in the Alsace drought of 1858, glassblowers fabricated red glass spheres to use in their place.[3] Still today, the most common Christmas tree features red Christmas ball ornaments about the size of apples.
Why apples? Many used the Christmas tree to reenact the “Paradise Play,” a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. This play dramatized Adam and Eve’s decision to take the forbidden fruit. On the stage was a green tree, decorated with apples or pomegranates. In one scene, Eve takes of the fruit and eats, plunging the world into sin and darkness. In another, at the same tree, Mary offers Jesus the apple and he takes it, symbolizing his willingness to bear the sins of the world in his atonement. This play was performed on Christmas Eve, which was also in the Western Church the Feast Day of Adam and Eve. What an appropriate time to be reminded of II Corinthians 5:21! “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
A third Christmas tree non-negotiable is bright lights, and lots of them. What would a Christmas tree be if it’s not shining in the darkness? I will admit, one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the glow of the Christmas tree in our living room during the long dark nights of December.
As soon as Christmas trees are on the scene in history, so are their lights. Of course, they didn’t have electricity, so they lit beeswax candles, tallow candles, or oil lamps on or near the tree. Brunner writes, “A tree decked with candles created a completely new atmosphere; its radiance was much greater in the darkness of the past, before neon lights and lighting of all sorts on the street and in our homes dimmed its comparative luster.”[4] Perhaps this wasn’t the safest tradition in history, but it did have meaning. Christ, the “light of the world” came into the world on Christmas. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
The Christmas tree is clearly not a pagan tradition. In fact, the Christmas tree and its history are pregnant with biblical and theological meaning. So when you look at your Christmas tree this year, consider the hope we have in Jesus’ return, the substitutionary atonement Jesus fulfilled when he “took the fruit,” and the glorious Light that still shines in the darkness.
[1] Brunner, Bernd, Inventing the Christmas Tree, 5.
[2] Waxman, Olivia B., “How Christmas Trees Became a Holiday Tradition” The Real History of Christmas Trees | TIME
[3] Brunner, Bernd, Inventing the Christmas Tree, 37-38.
[4] Ibid., 42.
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Beautiful wat to bring in Christmas. Thank you.