Does the Bible Condemn Christmas Trees?

Sovereign Grace Family Church iconSovereign Grace Family Church

1 view

0 comments

00:03
Hello, welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.
00:07
This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture and media from a Reformed perspective.
00:15
Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to engage today's topic.
00:21
Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.
00:24
Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.
00:26
My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist.
00:29
Today is Tuesday, December the 8th, 2020.
00:33
We are in the Advent season and we have been discussing the subject of Christmas and last week we did a whole series on Christmas movies.
00:43
Yesterday, I took some time off to talk about a relevant social issue and I try to do that.
00:47
I try to keep this show serious at times, but I also like to have fun.
00:52
But what we're going to do for the rest of the week is we're going to be talking about Christmas related issues and Christmas related questions that Christians often have to deal with.
00:59
Because, and some of you may not know this, when it comes to the celebration of Christmas, there are a lot of debates that go on between Christians.
01:09
Some believe that celebrating Christmas at all is an ungodly thing to do.
01:15
They would argue that Christmas is, even though we say we're celebrating the birth of Christ, has been so inundated with pagan culture and so inundated with commercialism, so inundated with ungodliness, that any and all of the trappings of Christmas are ungodly and we should avoid them outright.
01:36
And then other people, like myself, enjoy the season and believe that there are very redeemable qualities that come in this time of year.
01:46
And as our church, we celebrate the season of Advent, and so we celebrate the four Sundays of Advent.
01:52
Some people would say, oh, that's wrong, that's based on a liturgical calendar, it's not based on a biblical calendar of holidays, and I understand the arguments and I don't agree with a lot of the arguments and the things that are said, but ultimately, what we're going to look at this week, we're going to look for the rest of the week at a couple of different subjects.
02:12
Today we're going to talk about the subject of Christmas trees, tomorrow we're going to talk about the subject of Santa Claus, because that's a huge one.
02:21
And then, continuing on the Christmas theme for the rest of the week, the last two days of this week, my plan, unless something changes, maybe something will come up to change my mind, but my plan is I want to talk about gifts and suggestions of gifts.
02:35
If you are a person who is a gift giver, suggestions of gifts for believers and suggestions for gifts of unbelievers.
02:43
I'm sure you have in your family people who know Christ, people who don't know Christ, and what are some gifts that you can get them.
02:49
So that's my goal for the rest of the week, to talk about Christmas, and then again, look forward to the week to come, because my hope is that in the coming weeks, we're going to be having another Caffeinated Calvinist Roundtable with Sam Brown and Richard Rodin, where we talk about Christmas music.
03:06
We talked about Christmas movies last week, that was a lot of fun, we got a lot of good responses from you listeners, and we appreciate it, but next week we're going to hopefully be looking at Christmas music, at least for a couple of days.
03:17
So today let's talk about the subject of Christmas trees, shall we? Now, when it comes to the Christmas tree, oftentimes the debate comes down to the question of does the Bible condemn the use of the Christmas tree? And the verse that is often cited to try to prove that the Bible is opposed to Christmas trees is Jeremiah chapter 10.
03:49
So if you have your Bible, open up your Bible and turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 10.
03:57
And we're going to read it from the King James Version, and the reason why is because I think the King James Version is often the one that is cited when people are using this to talk against Christmas trees, and so let's look at it.
04:13
It says in Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 1, Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel.
04:23
Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven.
04:30
For the heathen are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are vain.
04:35
For one cutteth a tree out of the forest, and the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe.
04:42
They deck it with silver and with gold.
04:45
They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
04:49
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not.
04:52
They must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
04:56
Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
05:03
Okay.
05:04
So right away we can probably notice the passage here that is most problematic, and that is where someone has gone out into the forest, they have chopped down a tree, they have brought it into the home, they have decked it with silver and gold, they've fastened it to where it stands up with hammer and nails, and now it's standing there, moving not as it says, it's basically standing freestanding, and someone would say, see right there, that is a Christmas tree.
05:40
And we have a command from God through the prophet Jeremiah that says not to do this.
05:48
It says, learn not the way of the heathen, and the Christmas tree is the way of the heathen.
05:56
Well, is that a correct understanding of Jeremiah chapter 10? My answer is, I don't think so.
06:05
In fact, I would even go as far as to say, not only do I not think so, I would say I'm certain in my heart that this is not speaking of the modern expression of Christmas trees.
06:23
And what I'd like to do is I'd like to actually read you the ESV's translation.
06:29
You say, well, why do you want to do that? Does the ESV change something? No, but the ESV makes it much clearer because as we read the ESV, it's going to use a language that's a little bit more modern for our ear.
06:43
And I think we're going to see exactly what's happening.
06:46
And I think it's going to make a point about what exactly is happening here.
06:53
So if you have your ESV, it says this, hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
07:00
Thus says the Lord, learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens, because the nations are dismayed at them.
07:09
For the customs of the people are vanity.
07:12
A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
07:19
They decorate it with silver and gold.
07:21
They fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
07:25
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field and they cannot speak.
07:29
They have to be carried for they cannot walk.
07:32
Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil.
07:34
Neither is it in them to do good.
07:39
OK, so right there, I think if you read it in the more modern translation, you start to pick up on something that I think goes overlooked in the King James.
07:51
And that is, yes, someone has gone out and cut a tree down in the forest, but they're not bringing in a bare tree, which is then decorated like we would decorate a Christmas tree.
08:07
Rather, what they are doing is, it says in the text, they have worked it with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
08:16
And the ESV is that's what it says there.
08:20
But in the King James, it says the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe.
08:24
Essentially, this has been carved.
08:28
This tree is not a tree that looks like a tree in our modern sense of a Christmas tree.
08:36
But what this is, is this is a essentially a tree stump.
08:44
The tree has been cut down.
08:46
The tree trunk, rather, I said stump, I meant trunk, has been has been cut and has been fashioned into essentially what we would think of as like a, well, sort of like a totem pole, if you can imagine the old totem poles that were carved out.
09:10
And what we're seeing here is the creation of an idol.
09:16
This is the creation of an idol.
09:18
One of the things that is this may be referring to is what was known as the Asherah pole.
09:26
The Asherah pole was was a essentially the trunk of the tree, which that the Canaanites used in their religion to honor the pagan goddess Asherah, also known as Astarte.
09:41
And they would they would use this in their worship.
09:46
And this was an example of an idol.
09:51
And this is why in the ESV, it says their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
09:59
They cannot speak.
10:01
They have to be carried.
10:03
They cannot walk.
10:04
Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil.
10:06
Neither is it in them to do good.
10:08
So if we look at Jeremiah 10 without the modern Christmas tree as our example, but rather if we try to go back to the time of Jeremiah and before and look at the history that they have dealt with in that time period, they wouldn't have been looking at a Christmas tree with lights and a star on top or or garland.
10:32
They would have been looking at the trunk of a tree that had been carved and had been overlaid with gold or silver or some other type of precious metal and fastened so that it stood up on its own.
10:45
And why is it what's why is the focus of it standing on its own? Because idols can't talk and idols can't walk.
10:54
Idols can't move and idols can't think because idols are false gods.
10:59
And so that's the point of it being fastened with with nails by a hammer is because the idol itself is having to be stood up by the idol maker.
11:10
It's having to be held up by the idol maker so that it looks like it actually has life by freestanding.
11:17
But it's not freestanding.
11:18
It's being held up by the nails which have been hammered in by the idol maker.
11:24
And so what do we have in Jeremiah 10? Do we have a Christmas tree? No, this is not a Christmas tree.
11:32
And this is actually something I've had hot debates about over the years.
11:36
I've had people say this right here is proof you bring a Christmas tree into your house and you are an idolater.
11:44
And I say, no, my friend, that is not the case because this passage has nothing to do with the Christmas tree.
11:57
In fact, fast forward in history, when do we actually see the Christmas tree make its appearance in history? Some people say, oh, well, the pagan elements of the winter solstice and the Saturnalia festivals and and all of those things.
12:16
Yes, but those are not Christmas trees are not a part of that.
12:21
In fact, as far as I am aware, the earliest what we would call the Christmas tree where a tree is decorated is the Protestants of Germany in the 16th century.
12:34
Now, are there other pagan elements that have been associated with Christmas? Well, the hanging of greens and the the the yule and the yule log, things like this.
12:49
These are things that some people have pointed to and say, here's this, here's that.
12:53
This does have a pagan background.
12:55
But but let me speak to that as well for just a moment, because I think that in my heart and mind, I don't think that Christmas trees can be associated with Jeremiah 10.
13:05
I think that that's a wrong association.
13:07
I don't think that that is accurate.
13:09
I think that's what we call an anachronism.
13:11
That's taking something from the present, reading it back into the past.
13:14
And I think that's wrong.
13:15
When you read a modern Christmas tree in a Jeremiah 10, you're misunderstanding history.
13:22
The people living at Jeremiah's time, the people living prior to Jeremiah's time would not have known what a Christmas tree is.
13:27
They would not have associated Jeremiah's writing with a Christmas tree.
13:30
They would have associated it with the with the pagan ritual of cutting the cutting a tree down and fashioning it into an idol would not have been some kind of proto Christmas tree.
13:44
What wouldn't even be the same thing wouldn't even look the same.
13:47
But but are there elements in Christmas that have some pagan traditions? Yes.
13:52
As I said, but here's the thing.
13:55
A lot of these things that may or may not have had pagan backgrounds are now associated with Christmas, and they the most of the people that see these things are not associating them anymore with their with their with the false gods and the false pagans of the past, but they are associating them with Christmas and the time of Christmas, which, of course, is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
14:28
It's the celebration of the incarnation of God in in the flesh, the person of Jesus Christ.
14:36
And so I said this recently, and some people may not understand what I mean, but but I think this should be well understood.
14:42
That as Christians, we can take elements of the world and and and and and see them as God's gifts to us.
14:55
And if the pagans have used those same elements for something else, we don't have the responsibility of honoring the pagans.
15:04
We don't have the responsibility of honoring their history or honoring what they have done.
15:10
They're they're pagans and they stole from our God to begin with.
15:16
And we're not we're not stealing anything back.
15:20
All we have done is said, no, you know what? Lights.
15:24
Lights that we put up at Christmas, God is light.
15:28
God is the God is the one who created the light.
15:30
He said, let there be light.
15:32
Putting up lights at Christmas is not pagan.
15:34
If we're putting those lights up in celebration of what God has done, having a fire at Christmas is not pagan because pagans don't own fire.
15:47
They don't have the they don't have the rights to these things because God owns all of these things.
15:54
And so I can celebrate with a Christmas tree.
15:56
I can celebrate with a fire.
15:57
I can celebrate with a lighting up my house.
16:01
I can celebrate with giving gifts.
16:03
I can celebrate with all of these things without worried about being steeped in paganism because I'm not doing these things to honor the pagans.
16:12
I'm doing these things because God is the one who created all of these things and they all belong to him.
16:20
I don't owe anything to the pagans and I don't do anything to celebrate the pagans, but I do enjoy the the time of year where houses are lit up and I do enjoy the time a year where the songs are singing out carols of Christmas and oftentimes are talking about my savior and his birth and his coming into the world.
16:44
I enjoy giving gifts.
16:46
The Bible says a father knows how to give good gifts.
16:49
A good father knows how to give good gifts to his children.
16:52
And so there's nothing wrong with giving my children gifts.
16:55
And I still believe there's nothing wrong with putting a Christmas tree in your home.
17:00
And so when it comes to the question of does the Bible condemn Christmas trees? No, Jeremiah 10 would be the only passage that would even be in question.
17:09
And as I said earlier, I don't really think it's a question for those who really want to examine history and not engage in anachronism.
17:19
Are there some things that are wrong with modern expressions of Christianity? Yes, I do think we go too far with some consumerism.
17:29
I do think that there is sometimes some idolatry and miscommunication of truth.
17:35
And there are some problems with some of the mythologies that have grown up around Christmas, such as in the Santa Claus story, which we're going to talk about tomorrow.
17:43
But ultimately and finally, Christmastime is a great time of year.
17:49
We get to celebrate the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
17:53
We get to celebrate the birth of the king.
17:57
This is a wonderful time of year.
17:59
And we are celebrating this currently at Sovereign Grace Family Church.
18:04
Just this past weekend, I preached in the second week of Advent, which is the week where we celebrate peace.
18:09
And I'm preaching out of the Psalms this Christmas.
18:12
So last week I preached Psalm 23 on the peace of knowing Christ as our shepherd.
18:20
And next week or this week coming, I'm going to be preaching Psalm 139.
18:25
This is the week of love.
18:27
This is a special celebration in Advent because we're looking at this wonderful thing called love that has been given to us.
18:34
And we're going to look at Psalm 139, which tells us that God knew us before we were ever born.
18:40
He fashioned us in our mother's womb.
18:42
He foreknew us.
18:45
What does that mean? That means he loved us before we were ever born.
18:51
And that is a wonderful truth.
18:52
And we're going to look at that truth this weekend.
18:53
So if you don't have a church home, might I encourage you come and join us at Sovereign Grace Family Church.
18:59
We have Sunday school at 930 with Brother Andy.
19:02
We have worship at 1030.
19:04
And we would encourage you come and be with us as we celebrate the season of Advent.
19:12
Advent means the arrival.
19:13
We celebrate the first arrival of Christ as a babe in the manger, and we look forward to his second arrival when he will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
19:24
Thank you again for listening today to Coffee with a Calvinist.
19:27
My name is Keith Foskey, and I've been your Calvinist.
19:31
May God bless you.
19:32
Thank you for listening to today's episode of Coffee with a Calvinist.
19:36
If you enjoyed the program, please take a moment to subscribe and provide us feedback.
19:42
We love to receive your comments and questions and may even engage with them in a future episode.
19:50
As you go about your day, remember this.
19:53
Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
19:56
All who come to him in repentance and faith will find him to be a perfect Savior.
20:02
He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him.
20:08
May God be with you.