Christmas Tree

Definition and Meaning

A Christmas tree is a decoration set up in the days before Christmas, consisting of an evergreen or a tree modeled on one and adorned with lights, a star, and ornaments. In Korean it is also called seongtan teuri or seongtanmok ("Nativity tree").

Churches often explain the decorations by assigning them meanings such as the following:

• Evergreen: An evergreen tree, which keeps its leaves even in winter, represents eternal life.
• Star at the top: It points to the star of Bethlehem that led the wise men to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:9).
• Lights: In keeping with the words "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12), the lights symbolize Jesus Christ, who came into the world.

These interpretations, however, do not appear directly in Scripture; they are meanings that arose within church tradition.

Biblical and Historical Background

The Bible contains no reference to the Christmas tree.

The origin most commonly cited is the "paradise tree" of the medieval German-speaking lands. According to this account, a tree hung with apples was set up on December 24 during the performance of plays about Adam and Eve. The custom of bringing a decorated tree into the home is said to appear in records from German-speaking regions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There is also a story that Martin Luther, moved by the starlight, placed candles on a tree, but this is a legend that has not been historically verified. The custom is said to have spread to Britain and the United States in the nineteenth century through the British royal family and German immigrants, and later to other parts of the world along with missionary work.

Some take a critical view of the tree.

• Critics: The Puritans were wary of celebrating Christmas at all, regarding it as a custom without biblical basis. Today some believers still criticize the tree on the basis of Jeremiah 10:3-4, which speaks of cutting down a tree and decking it with silver and gold.
• Those who accept it: Many denominations and theologians hold that this passage concerns the making of idols and therefore has nothing to do with the Christmas tree. They accept the tree not as an object of worship but as a cultural decoration that proclaims Christmas.

Practice in Korean Churches

Korean churches generally set up trees inside and outside their sanctuaries in early December or around the first Sunday of Advent. Many churches hold a tree-lighting ceremony in conjunction with a worship service or prayer meeting, and the Sunday school and young adults' ministry commonly take charge of decorating. Churches also string lights around their courtyards or steeples to announce Christmas to the local community. In some cases, Christmas decorations near the border with North Korea, such as the Christmas light tower at Aegibong in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, have become controversial in connection with inter-Korean relations.

How long decorations remain up varies by denomination, depending on how closely a church follows the liturgical calendar.

• Churches that strictly follow the liturgical calendar: The Anglican Church of Korea, the Lutheran Church in Korea, and some other churches that emphasize the liturgical calendar also use an Advent wreath (a circular decoration holding four candles) during Advent. Christmas decorations are often kept up until around Epiphany (January 6), when the Christmas season ends.
• Other churches: Among Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, the degree to which the liturgical calendar is observed varies from church to church. A considerable number of churches take down their decorations around the New Year's Eve watch-night service or the first Sunday of the new year.