Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
Right it could symbolize Christ. So why don't we use that symbol to celebrate Christmas instead of the tree?
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Symbols are what people make them. People have made the pentagram a symbol of devil worship so that is the common association and anyone using it does so with that understanding.
What does the Christmas tree symbolize? I'm not so sure that it has a well-defined symbolic meaning. Christians and non-Christians alike have Christmas trees. The same is true with the celebration of Christmas itself. At the very least, the different practices and customs of Christmas have different meanings to different people. For me, this throws the argument of such customs having some subversive 'pagan' influence out the window.
A Christmas tree could represent something pagan if it were being used as a symbol in that way, but by the same token, it could also be a symbol of God the Father as is even done in the LSM hymnal - "Our Father as the evergreen..."