Christmas trees: a Biblical warning

Sometimes you could really love these random bloggers.  This chap has found a stark warning against Christmas trees in the book of Jeremiah:
     "Learn not the way of the heathen...for the customs of the peoples are delusion;    Because it is wood cut from the forest;   The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.   They decorate it with silver and with gold;      They fasten it with nails and with hammers          So that it will not totter."
     The great thing about scriptures (as every vindictive fundamentalist knows) is that you can find an excuse to condemn almost anything. (We offer this just to confuse the issue, as assorted Muslim and Hindu spokesmen line up to defend Christmas)

Comments

[Dr. Irene Lancaster FRSA]

There are an awful lot of Christmas trees here in Israel at present, including in the foyer of one of Tel Aviv's main theatres and also in the main shopping centre in Haifa (which some say is the biggest shopping mall in the Middle East).

Not to mention in private houses etc.

[S R Harvey]

This is a warning against idols, not Christmas trees!

Think of Christmas trees as representing the 'tree that gives life' from which Adam and Eve were exiled in Genesis, or the 'tree of life' in Revelation's New Jerusalem. The cross too is a kind of tree in this sense.

[Chris Gillibrand]

In Austria, many homes use real live candles on the Xmas tree (as opposed to electric illumination). Its a killer, as witnessed by the stories every year of houses burning to the ground.

They have just banned Christmas trees from the Belgian High Court (housed in a building much admired by Hitler) for fear of upsetting followers of Islam.

Has Russell read what it says about tea drinkers in the Bible?

[Tony Francis]

I knew a Hindu surgical resident, originally from India, who liked his plastic Christmas tree so much, he left it up all year long. There is nothing more incongruous than a Christmas tree in July. We used to kid him about it. No matter. He left it up. This reminds me of my mother's Jewish haberdasher relatives in Philadelphia: "These Christian Holidays are just killers!"

[F Nicole.]

I doubt very much that the bible would warn against Christmas trees, what seems obvious is the that verse of the Bilble refers to idols worshipping and sculptures made of wood then decorated with silver and gold as the egyptian and others use to do. The Christmas tree is still a tree with some decorations nothing more, nobody has been trying to give it a soul or a form of Godly power. Christmas trees are liked for their beauty and are a symbole of the season.
Why do people try to spoil something so innocent and so lovely...???

[Matt Billingham]

The Christian singer/song writer Larry Norman, presents a different view.

"Little children please remember,
when we celebrate December,
it's much more than Santa Claus
But you're right about the gift and tree
The gift of life at Calvary"

[Joseph]

There is a basic precept in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament that one must keep away from pagan, heathenish customs. Unfortunately it would appear that Christmas trees are possibly a pre-Christian pagan, heathenish custom brought to England from Germany by Prince Albert when he married Queen Victoria. On the other hand one of the Ten Commandments prohibits graven images, particularly statues of humans used in religious worship. If the church has found a way around this, they can no doubt manage with Christmas trees!

[Bob Sprague]

Things are what you make of them. It is also dangerous to read things into vague passages of the Bible, things that one may WANT to read in. If you have a Christmas tree and don't "worship" it as the center of your life, as may people do with currency, and if you remember that Christmas is about Christ, and maybe even have a cresh under the tree (oops, some might even consider that idol worship, poor souls)then there should be no doubt as to the object of your devotion...Beating these "literalist" dead horses is a worthless exercise when there are so many more Christ-like important things for us to do...

[Lee]

Definitely take note of the "..."'s that are in the passage. If you take the time to actually look up the verses, you'll see that certain lines are omitted to to make it sound like they are talking about a Christmas tree. It really has nothing to do with what the verses are actually talking about. it's like those YouTube videos where someone cuts up president bush's speeches to make him sound like he supports terrorism or some other random jargon. It's all taken out of context. i love ignorant people... they keep me entertained