Welcome to What’s in the Bible?’s 6-week blog series to help you and your family through the “Tricky Bits” of this holiday season – everything from connecting our modern traditions to their sacred roots to helping you navigate holiday budgets and meal planning! Join our team of writers plus some very special guest bloggers for a Christmas blog series unlike any other.
Why do we have Christmas trees?
Many families start to decorate their homes for Christmas as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are put away! But have you ever wondered what our favorite Christmas decorations have to do with the real reason we celebrate – the birth of Jesus? It turns out, Christmas trees have a wonderful story that can point us to Christ!
In 7th Century Germany, an English bishop named St. Boniface lived as a missionary. Legend has it, Boniface was frustrated with the pagan German practice of sacrificing a young man under an oak tree to the Norse god Odin. Boniface chopped down Odin’s oak tree, and the Germans were amazed and credited the Christian god. They asked Boniface how they could honor his God. Boniface showed them a fir tree nearby and told them that the evergreen branches represented God’s never-ending love, and that they should put evergreen trees in their homes to honor Him.
You can read more about how Christmas trees became a modern tradition here.