Are Christmas Trees and Santas Originally Canaanite???

Over a decade ago, William H. C. Propp wrote a hilarious "article" in Bible Review (14:6 for December 1998), in which he "argued," incorporating real facts, for the ancient Near Eastern roots of several American Yuletide customs.

His tongue-in-cheek essay begins as follows: I will concentrate here on just two major points: that the Christmas tree was originally a symbol of the Canaanite goddess Asherah and that Santa Claus is an avatar of Asherah’s consort, the high god ‘El, who is equivalent to the Israelite Yahweh. I will conclude by showing that the customs of Christmas were brought to America by the Canaanites themselves.

Among the well-attested evidence: El is a white-bearded patriarch who lives in the far north with dwarf-craftsmen and who is strongly associated with a symbolic, sacred tree.

To read the entire piece, available on-line, click here.