Secret History of Christmas Trees

It’s late December. For those who celebrate Christmas, the celebrations have already begun. It’s become a tradition that one of the first things people do for Christmas is to put up a Christmas tree.

But you may be surprised to learn that Christmas trees are nowhere to be found in the biblical Christmas story, nor is there any obvious borrowing from another religious practice. So just where did the Christmas tree come from? (and no, we don’t mean the tree farm). 

Dr. James Lancaster, Lecturer in Western Religious Traditions at the University of Queensland joined Jack Gembitsky to illuminate the history of the Christmas Tree tradition.