Chrismons

Christmas tree decorations with Christian symbols

TRANSLATION

Chrismon (originally a portmanteau word) = Christusmonogramm; Weihnachtsbaum Dekoration

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

“Chrismons were first made by Frances Kipps Spencer at the Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia, USA, who also invented the word Chrismon (a combination of CHRISt and MONogram).”

Wikipedia

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Chrismon
noun

- a Christmas decoration displaying a Christian symbol


Chrismons can take many forms: a crown, a dove, a fish, a shell, a star, a Celtic or Jerusalem cross, a shepherd's crook, a chalice,… symbolising aspects of the Christian faith and intended to draw attention to Advent themes.

Although the Chrismon tree was created by North American Lutherans in 1957, the practice quickly spread to other Christian denominations, including Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists, and the Reformed Church.

It is decorated with clear lights  and white and gold Chrismons. White being the liturgical (or Church) colour for Christmas and symbolising that Jesus was pure and perfect, and gold symbolising his majesty and glory.


RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

Although there are some 4,300 religions in the world, nearly 75 per cent of the world's population practice one of the five most influential: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

Christianity and Islam are the two religions most widely spread across the world. These two religions together cover the religious affiliation of more than 50% the world's population.

The world's largest religions and their followers are:

Christianity 2,420 million
Islam 1,800 million
Hinduism  1,150 million
Buddhism  520 million

If all NON-religious people (Secular/Agnostic/Atheist) formed a single religion, it would be the world's third largest with 1.2 billion followers.

One of the most widely-held myths among those in English-speaking countries is that Islamic believers are Arabs. In fact, most Islamic people do not live in the Arabic nations of the Middle East. Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, with over 1,000 million followers.


Sources:

- Elizabeth Morris-Pierce, et al - In Search of Christmas
- George Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers, The riddle of the 'Labarum' and the origin of Christian symbols
- Crump, William D.  - The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed.

- Pippa Norris; Ronald Inglehart, "Sacred and Secular, Religion and Politics Worldwide", Cambridge University Press
- United Nations Statistics Division, "Demographic and Social Statistics"

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