Bijbelse debatten: Zijn kerstbomen verbonden met heidense tradities?

What are the pagan origins of the Christmas tree tradition? In the Roman world, evergreen boughs were used to decorate temples during the festival of Saturnalia in late December. The Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the winter solstice as a symbol of life’s triumph over death. In Northern Europe, the pre-Christian peoples revered evergreen plants, seeing in their enduring greenery a promise that life would return in the spring (Kahveci, 2012, pp. 8–14; Kozhukhar, 2022). Among…