Hanging of the Greens: Christian or Pagan?

Should Christian churches practice and promote the tradition of "Hanging of the Greens?" Growing up in Baptist Churches, I never remember the Hanging of the Greens. The first time I ever saw it was when I pastored in Shreveport. It had become one of their tradition, and so they did this tradition without my consent because it was their practice. When I questioned its' meaning, it was because it is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent was something liturgical churches emphasized, but not Baptist, at least where I grew up. Today, about 30 yrs since my time in Shreveport, the practice has extended into nearly every Baptist church. Yet, there has always been a reluctance on my part to endorse the practice; I think for several reason. One, The Bible never instructs us to honor one day over the others, and Advent does that very thing. Two, the practice of The hanging of the Greens in Christianity began with the British, or more specifically with the Church of England and British Catholics many years ago. Over the millennials's, the Catholic Church placed in their traditions the practices of the pagans around them so as to become more acceptable to them. One of them was the Winter Solace. The Hanging of the Greens was part of this pagan practice. The following, is taken from ABCtales.com; The Hanging of the Greens. HOLLY The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was used to lift people's spirits during the long winter and remind them that spring was not far away. Although holly is the only traditional decorative green which remains of the once famous duo of Holly and Ivy both have an ancient association with the winter festivities. The Romans used holly during their Solstice celebration, known as Saturnalia and it had a close association with the God Dionysus. Holly boughs were given as gifts during Saturnalia as it was believed to protect against lightening strikes and ward off evil spirits. The Druids also held holly in very high esteem as a plant of death and regeneration. The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of holly and ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly with its red berries representing the color of life and life's blood was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and there fore was masculine in nature. The Tradition stands that the first in the household whether male or female to bring Holly into the house would rule the roost for the coming year. WREATHS Harking back to its pagan origins the wreath was believed to protect a home from evil spirits and during the Middle Ages the red Holly berries were thought to keep witches at bay. GARLANDS The original Garlands were made by intertwining Holly and Ivy into thick vines of greenery and used in the ancient custom to decorate doorways. The Holly and Ivy represented the unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and was feminine while the Ivy was the eternal consort to the goddess and there fore was masculine in nature. IVY Ivy, the accepted symbol of friendship, like Holly and Mistletoe, has since pagan times been used as a decoration at festivals. The ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of Holly and Ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort to the goddess and there fore was masculine in nature. In pagan religions Ivy had been a symbol of eternal life...The Romans used Ivy as part of celebrations related to the god Bacchus, whose worshippers were thought to have worn Ivy crowns. We rarely decorate our houses with ivy anymore at Christmas but many homes have potted ivy plants in the home all year round. MISTLETOE For hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the ancient Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the winter solstice. The Druids gathered the parasitic evergreen plant and used it to decorate their homes. They had an affinity with nature and believed the plant to have special healing powers for a variety of ills from female infertility to poison ingestion. The Scandinavians thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony and associated it with their goddess of love, Frigga which is why the Norse folk believe the custom of kissing under the mistletoe is believed to have derived from this belief. The druids regarded the mistletoe as sacred and they made certain that it never touched the ground and it was dedicated to the Goddess of Love which is the Druid explanation of kissing under it. Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When there were no more berries, there were no more kisses. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe originally was a belief that the evergreen plant increases your sexual power or promotes fertility. In a small number of places in the world its potency was so highly regarded that it could improve the productivity of the soil, it could make cattle more fertile and curer impotence in men and any girl who had not been kissed under the mistletoe would be barren. The Druids believed mistletoe's magic extended far beyond fertility and they thought it could cure almost any disease and was therefore known as 'all healer'. A Sprigs fixed above your doorway would protect from lightning and ward of evil from your home. As the plant was a parasite and grey on other trees it had no roots and so it was believed that it grew from heaven. Even the gathering of the mistletoe is steeped in ritual. A Druid priest using a sacred sickle had to cut the mistletoe from an oak tree On the sixth day of the new moon when he had done so a virgin girl had to catch the falling plant before it touched the ground. If it touched the ground it was spoiled. Why should Christian churches be involved in promoting and practicing that which has its origin steeped in the worship of paganism? Does this honor our God? Does it bring more people to the point of hearing the Holy Spirit calling them to Faith in Christ? At best, the practice of decorating our homes, etc., is festive and part of our social practices, but not in honor of Christ. Christians can honor Christ by living obediently for Him all during the year. But, as far one "old retired Baptist preacher," I will not participate in a pagan ritual again in my church. We do not need paganism in our churches. When I first posted this on FB, I had one response. And, I do appreciate this friend and his comments. The following are the comments, and then my response to him: "Why should Christian churches be involved in prom I understand your concern over the Hanging of the Greens and respect your convictions. We use the service to decorate the church for the celebration of the birth of the Savior and have used the decorations to point to Jesus and the cross. This year will be a missions theme kicking off the week of prayer for International Missions and having members share testimonies of their involvement in missions. I'd rather take what the devil intended for evil and use it for good. I once heard David Shepherd say, "We can choose to curse the darkness or we can shine a light. That's what we try to do with the Hanging of the Greens service. My response: You and I both know that is what is acceptable among most Christians today. There was a time not so many years ago, approx. 50 years, protestants and Baptist would not do so because of the obvious connection with the Druid pagan rituals of Solstice . Several questions: 1. Why do we need to do so? 2. Does the Word of God every indicate it needs anything but the preaching of it to point people to Jesus. 3. Does God in His Sovereignty need help from paganism to quicken lost man to faith in Him? Actually, the questions could go on and on, but I will ask only one more. Jesus said that He is the light of the world, and that we are to shine as that light since He lives within us. Does Jesus need that which has come from darkness to represent His light today? Thanks for responding, my friend.