Why do christians decorate Christmas trees?

Answer 1

The Christmas tree dates back to over a thousand years. The ancient Celtic tribes saw the evergreen as the only living plant in the dead of winter, so for the solstice they would bring the evergreen branches into their homes. The Romans used fir trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturmalia. When Christian monks converted the Celts they kept some of the solstice customs like the evergreen. For the celebration of Christ Mass they used the tree to teach the idea of the trinity. The shape of the tree has three points to it and the Christmas celebration was 3 masses on the day that was chosen to be Christmas. After the masses they would eat dinner. The first documented use of a tree at Christmas is from Eastern Europe. A picture from Germany in 1521 shows a tree being paraded through streets with a man riding a horse behind it. The first person to put a Christmas tree into the house may have been in the 16th century. The first trees were decorated with edible things like gingerbread and gold covered apples. Then, glass makers made special small ornaments to hang in the tree. In 1830 the British had Christmas trees and Queen Victoria had one at Windsor Castle. A drawing was made of the tree and this helped Christmas trees to become popular in the U.K. and the United States. Candles were added to the tree at this time and tinsel.