{"id":5030,"date":"2018-12-21T11:45:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=5030"},"modified":"2018-12-21T11:59:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:59:09","slug":"christmas-trees-as-idols-silly-biblical-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/12\/christmas-trees-as-idols-silly-biblical-arguments.html","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Trees as Idols?: Silly “Biblical” Arguments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"Christmas<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

These foolish \u201carguments\u201d ostensibly drawn from Holy Scripture come up now and then. The Puritans and large sectors of the Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) tradition historically reasoned in this way. These are the same folks who would say that an organ in a church<\/a> or even a bare cross or statue of Jesus Christ<\/a> is an idol \u2014 as John Calvin and some other early Protestant leaders argued. Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses picked up the same reasoning in the 19th century (the founder, Charles Taze Russell having been raised as a Presbyterian). Here are two Bible passages enlisted for this opinion:<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 10:1-6<\/span>\u00a0(RSV)\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.<\/span>
\n[2<\/b>] Thus says the LORD: \u201cLearn not the way of the nations,<\/span>
\nnor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens<\/span>
\nbecause the nations are dismayed at them,<\/span>
\n[3<\/b>] for the customs of the peoples are false.<\/span>
\nA tree from the forest is cut down,<\/span>
\nand worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.<\/span>
\n[4<\/b>] Men deck it with silver and gold;<\/span>
\nthey fasten it with hammer and nails<\/span>
\nso that it cannot move.<\/span>
\n[5<\/b>] Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,<\/span>
\nand they cannot speak;<\/span>
\nthey have to be carried,<\/span>
\nfor they cannot walk.<\/span>
\nBe not afraid of them,<\/span>
\nfor they cannot do evil,<\/span>
\nneither is it in them to do good.\u201d<\/span>
\n[6<\/b>] There is none like thee, O LORD;<\/span>
\nthou art great, and thy name is great in might.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever met anyone who worships a Christmas tree and regards it as a god or a replacement for the true God. That is what is being discussed. It is thoroughly misguided thinking, and neglects the underlying idea that is being condemned. Idolatry comes from the heart. It is replacing God with some mere created thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another the passage that is used:<\/span><\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 16:21-22<\/span>\u00a0You shall not plant any tree as an Ashe\u2019rah beside the altar of the LORD your God which you shall make. [22] And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ashe\u2019rah<\/a>\u00a0was a Canaanite mother-goddess, associated with Baal and worshiped as an idol, through an image of some sort (see<\/span>\u00a0many Old Testament references<\/a>).\u00a0The pillar is also almost certainly a reference to an idol. A reference to a pillar as an idol is seen, for example, in Deuteronomy 7:5: <\/span><\/p>\n

But thus you shall deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Ashe\u2019rim, and burn their graven images with fire (cf. 12:3)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unless someone is worshiping a Christmas tree as a god or goddess (and I highly doubt that anyone within any sort of Christian tradition at all is doing that), neither passage has any relevance to the harmless, delightful custom that I can see.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n

(originally 12-12-10)<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit:\u00a0<\/strong>The Christmas Tree<\/em>\u00a0(1911), by\u00a0Albert Chevallier Tayler (1862-1925)<\/span>\u00a0[public domain \/\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These foolish \u201carguments\u201d ostensibly drawn from Holy Scripture come up now and then. The Puritans and large sectors of the Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) tradition historically reasoned in this way. These are the same folks who would say that an organ in a church or even a bare cross or statue of Jesus Christ is an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[312,1005],"tags":[148,1645,1074,190,589],"class_list":["post-5030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-calvinism-general-protestantism","category-christmas","tag-calvinism","tag-christmas-trees","tag-iconoclasm","tag-idolatry","tag-puritanism"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas Trees as Idols?: Silly "Biblical" Arguments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These foolish "arguments" about Christmas trees are set forth by Puritans and large sectors of the Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) tradition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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