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Real Answers™
jj101
Copyright: © ©2006 James J. Jackson
625 words

CHRISTMAS TREE PAGAN?  NO WAY!

By: James J. Jackson

A group recently launched an effort to end the use of Christmas trees, calling them a pagan expression.  The spokesman stated that we are wasting millions of trees for the sake of pagan expression. Could this group have entirely missed the point of Christmas?

We don’t worship the Christmas tree, or believe it to be a symbol to be honored or revered. Rather, it is a traditional item used in the overall celebration of Christmas.  The simple fact that an evergreen tree was once used in pagan ceremonies, or that non-Christians once placed lights in trees to honor their gods, does not mean that our seasonal use of the tree is pagan in origin.

Candles are traditionally used in Christian church worship.  They were (and are) used in pagan worship. Does this mean candle-lit Christian worship services as pagan?  It is a deceptive to imply that the use of an item or tradition that may have been used by pagans renders that use as pagan.

Actually, the approach of reducing Christianity to the level of the worship of false gods is not new.  If taken to its logical conclusion, Christians should cease using the names of days and months, since many of them came from Roman and Greek Gods.  Should Christians refuse to call Thursday by its name, since it name gives attribution to the Greek god Thor, the god of thunder?

Should we reject the month of January, since it was named for the god Janus, who was supposedly able to look both backward and forward?  Or May, named to honor the mother of Mercury?  Or Wednesday, named for the god Odin (or Woden) god of magic?

i collect swords.  Swords have certainly been used in paganism, mysticism, and even satanic worship.  I don’t use my swords in any such manner, so the usage and my attitude toward the sword are what matters, not the many misuses that may have occurred in the past by others. To think that I should not possess swords because they have been used for ungodly purposes in the past is patently absurd.

Actually, it is impossible to choose a date or item to use as part of any celebration that has not been first used in some kind of pagan worship.  Therefore, the emphasis should be on the reason for using a date or an item.  The Christmas tree is a part of long-standing tradition, and is not worshiped.

The most vocal opponents of Christmas trees seem to be more worried about the cutting down of trees than on whether it is a proper expression of Christianity.  They seem to omit the clear truth that, pageantry and symbolism aside, the true meaning of Christmas stands strong and all-powerful.

Christmas, unlike the many expressions of paganism, expresses the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy: the promise God made to fallen mankind, that we are all sinful and incapable of saving ourselves.  In His infinite wisdom and unmerited love for us, His Word, which was and is and always will be a part of Him, became human in the person of Jesus Christ to show us the way to salvation from our sins.   

Only true man and true God could pay the price for our sin and then offer eternity freely to those who trust in Him.  The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

This marvelous gift was delivered to us through the birth, sinless life, death and resurrection of the child who was born humbly on that Christmas night.  Paganism has nothing to do with it.  Christmas trees show us that light came into a dark world through Christ‘s birth, and trees and other traditional items to add to the celebration of this miracle.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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