Refutation: the only text Jim could be referring to is Jeremiah 10, written 600 years before Jesus — it describes carving a tree into an idol, not decorating a Christmas tree, and has nothing to do with New Testament Christianity or Roman practices

Jeremiah 10 is addressed to the house of Israel in approximately 600 BC. It describes cutting down a tree, working it with an axe into a crafted idol, and decorating it with silver and gold — the goal being to make a deity figure (an idol). This is fundamentally different from decorating a pine tree. The passage ends by calling these idols useless — 'like scarecrows in a cucumber field.' The earliest historical account Mike knows of for Christmas trees traces to Martin Luther and the Reformation. Jim is confused about the Old/New Testament distinction and basic biblical chronology.