Did Christians Steal Yule? Let’s Talk About It Part 1: The Trees One of the most common claims is that Christmas trees are pagan because ancient peoples revered trees. From that, the conclusion is drawn that Christians must have stolen Yule. That conclusion skips several important steps. First, early Christianity did not use Christmas trees at all. For centuries, Christians celebrated Christmas with no trees, no ornaments, and no evergreen symbolism. If tree worship were central to Christian Christmas, it would appear early. It does not. Second, the Christmas tree emerges much later, primarily in medieval Germany, over a thousand years after Christianity began. It developed as a folk custom, not a religious requirement, and it spread culturally, not doctrinally. Third, using a tree is not the same thing as worshiping a tree. Pagans may have revered natural objects, but adoption of a material object does not carry religious meaning automatically. Christians also use water, candles, and bread without turning them into pagan rituals. Most importantly, Christianity explicitly condemns tree worship in Scripture. That alone makes the idea of secretly importing it into Christian worship incoherent. So the real question is not whether pagans ever valued trees. They did. The question is this: ❓Did Christians take pagan worship and quietly turn it into doctrine? ❗History says no.❗ Trees entered Christmas as late cultural decoration, not religious inheritance. #HolidayTraditions #Christian #ChristmasDecor #PaganTraditions #Christmas2025