Why Paradise Tree?
How many observe Christ's birthday! How few His precepts! Oh, 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments!" --- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Christmas is a wonderful holiday. Throughout the world, its very name evokes images of wonder, charity and love. Its season is observed by believers and nonbelievers alike . . and in this 21st century since the birth of Christ, secular celebration often outshines the sacred. This web site is meant to set things right. It is your resource. Use it. Share it. Contribute your ideas to it. Your Christmas will be all the finer for it.
Our name derives
from the very first Christmas trees in Germany in the Middle Ages, when traveling minstrels and troubadours acted out Bible stories and morality plays in churches and village squares. A popular skit paired the story of Eden with the promise of the Messiah. Often performed on the Feast of Adam and Eve, then December 24th, the play's centerpiece was the Paradise Tree, a fir tree decorated with apples. Children so delighted in this custom that parents were persuaded to have such a tree in the home. Laden with fruit and pastries, the Paradise Tree soon became a family favorite at Christmastide.
Just as the Jesse Tree honors Christ's Judaic heritage and the Chris-Mons tree found in many churches celebrates the symbols associated with Christianity, today's Paradise Tree brings the cross into the Christmas tree as it celebrates ALL of Jesus Christ: His life, His ministry, His glory. Each ornament tells a story rooted in the Bible or in tradition. Where white is used, it is a symbol of His purity. Gold is sign of His kingship. And a single golden apple recalls those first trees of long ago.
You'll find helpful, entertaining links and free PDF downloads scattered throughout Paradise Tree, as well as on the Links and Downloads pages. Please like and share!