SAINT NICHOLAS vs. SANTA CLAUS

It is December and Christmastime is upon us again. The Western culture, in which we in the United States are a part, has become consumed with the celebration of Christmas Day, the 25^th of December. The original meaning of this day was the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. According to Catholic tradition, the name “Christmas”  “is derived from the Old English Cristes Maesse or Cristes-messe, meaning the Mass of Christ,”1 or Christ’s Mass and thus shortened to its present form.

But the culture we live in today has largely supplanted the celebration of Christ’s birth with a variety of ‘reasons for the season’: the season of giving, festivities and most notably a figure that has come to be known as Santa Claus.

So it would be beneficial for all Christians to understand the origin of Santa and the noble man whose life was morphed into one of the greatest distractions of the Christmas season: Nicholas of Myra, reckoned by the Roman Church as Saint Nicholas and commemorated on December 6^th. It is doubtful that Nicholas would ever have wanted to be thrust into the role of displacing the birth of our Savior and the demise of the true meaning of Christmas.

The Real St. Nicholas

The man known as Saint Nicholas was born in 270 A.D. and died in 343 A.D.  He was an early Christian bishop of Myra, a maritime city in Asia Minor, now modern-day Demre, Turkey. The Apostle Paul landed there and changed ships during his fateful journey to Rome (Acts 27:5). It is alleged that Paul evangelized many who believed in Christ, and that “two centuries later Nicholas would be born to descendants of those converts.”2 History records that his parents died when he was a young man and left him an inheritance. He resolved to use his good fortune by dedicating himself to works of charity.3

The clerical account of Nicholas discloses that he became bishop of Myra at a young age; that during Diocletian’s Great Persecutions in the early 4^th Century, he suffered imprisonment and torture for his faith and eventually was released; in 325 A.D. he attended the First Council of Nicaea, where the technical doctrine of Christology was discussed as to the divine nature of Jesus Christ and His relationship with God the Father.

The legends surrounding Nicholas are the basis for establishing his generosity which has led to the present day persona of Santa Claus. He allegedly set free three officers who were unjustly imprisoned; during the night, he clandestinely provided dowries for three poor girls who were destined to be unmarried and forced into prostitution; and he was able to save three innocent youths condemned to death.4 These purported deeds were documented six centuries after his death in an 11^th Century manuscript, being the oldest written reference of Nicholas.5 

How St. Nicholas was Transformed into Santa Claus

Because of Nicholas’ legendary deeds, he was venerated by the European countries and became known by various derivations of his name. The Dutch, as early as the 4^th Century honored St. Nicholas on December 6 and called him Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas.

Then, between the 5^th - 6^th Centuries, the Germanic people celebrated a mid-winter festival called Yule (later became Yuletide in the late 15^th Century). This pagan celebration was in honor of the god Odin (Wodan), a gift-giver, who wore a long white beard and rode at night on an eight-footed horse, Sleipnir. Wodan’s physical appearance is believed to have influenced the modern day characteristics of Santa Claus—the white beard and the eight reindeer.6

In 17^th Century England, after the English Civil War (1642-1651), the satirical publication The Vindication of Christmas by poet John Taylor introduced the character ‘Christmas', illustrated as an old bearded man in a brimmed hat, a long open robe and undersleeves.7 This figure would later become known as Father Christmas and would be venerated along with other British folklore notables: the legend of King Arthur, Robin Hood and the Green Man. By the 17^th Century, Father Christmas emerged as a symbol of feasting and good cheer. But by the mid-19^th Century, Father Christmas began to take on the same characteristics as the American Santa Claus.

In the United States during the 19^th Century, the character of Santa Claus was being developed further. Beginning with Clement Moore’s 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, known more familiarly as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, he is seen wearing a red coat, a long white beard and employs elves to make toys for all the ‘good girls and boys.’ On Christmas Eve, he rides through the night in a sleigh drawn by 8 reindeer; stopping at each house, he slides down the chimney, depositing toys under the Christmas tree. And in 1866, Thomas Nast, an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly magazine, added Santa’s address as the North Pole.

St. Nicholas, Santa Claus and Jesus Christ

There is a singular similarity between the real-life Nicholas and Jesus Christ: they both were gift-givers. Unbeknown to a large majority of our culture today, the figure of Santa Claus (and all other noted gift-givers) “is a corruption of St. Nicholas.”8 This corruption may have come to pass by design and not by chance. The name Santa itself may provide an answer—for ‘Santa’ is an anagram of Satan. It is a diabolical drive to erase Christ from Christmas, to the extent that many times the word is spelled: Xmas. This advanced the campaigns to “Keep Christ in Christmas” and “Jesus is the real reason for the season.”

But those who desire to rid Christ from Christmas and spell it ‘Xmas’, little do they know that they have unwittingly provided a Biblical talking point. If you remember when algebra was taught in school, that ‘X’ was the unknown factor. It is a tacit admission by those who embrace ‘Xmas’ that they do not know Jesus Christ. Therefore, a door is wide open for believers’ to introduce to unbelievers Jesus Christ, the gift-giver of eternal life.

Reversing History

The only way to reverse the distortion of Christmas that transposes St. Nicholas into Santa Claus is by knowing the truth and teaching it to our families, especially to our children. We must explain that Santa represents the real-life Nicholas of Myra, who believed in Jesus Christ as his Savior and demonstrated Christ’s grace giving to others by his personal interventions and the surrendering of his wealth. And then clearly reveal that gift-giving at Christmas exemplifies the supreme gift from God of His own Son, Jesus Christ; that with the birth of the Christ child and His grace gift of salvation, purchased by His death on the cross where He endured the punishment for our sins, so “That man will live forevermore, because of Christmas Day.”9 And finally, make the gospel crystal clear; that salvation is simply to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31, cf. Ephesians 2:8-9). For God desires all to be saved and to know the truth of the true significance of their existence (1 Timothy 2:4).

In the midst of a culture driven by fads, trends and secular dictates, are we rising above these distractions and “contending earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3) or are we going with the flow of the godless traditions of ungodly men? Observe the Apostle Paul’s directive:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

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[1] Smith, C. “Christmas and Its Cycle” (1967), In New Catholic Encyclopedia, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 3.655.

[2] Wheeler, Joe (2010). Saint Nicholas, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, pp. 1-2.

[3] Thurston, Herbert J. S & Attwater, Donald, Eds. (1990). Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 4.504.

[4] Thurston, pp. 503-506.

[5] Gibson, A.G. “St. Nicholas of Myra” (2003), In New Catholic Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thomson/Gale, 10.377-378.

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus [Retrieved November 11, 2023]

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Christmas [Retrieved November 11, 2023]

[8] Hoever, Hugo, Ed. (1955). Lives of the Saints, New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing, p. 480.

[9] Lyrics by Jester Hairston, Mary’s Boy Child © Bourne Co. (1956).  

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi