Can even Santa Claus be saved???

    Santa Claus is very popular around the world.  The Santa Claus that we mainly see today is the Coca Cola version of the big, red and white Santa Claus.  So, was Santa Claus a real person? Who was he? Is he just a pagan idea?

  Most people simply do not realise the rich ancient heritage behind the Santa Claus story.  Santa Claus is a form of the Dutch name Sinter Klaas, which is a reference to Saint Nicholas.  St Nicholas was a fourth century Christian Bishop of Smyrna which is now part of modern day Turkey.  Today December 6th is actually Saint Nicholas day and in many European countries today is the day in which gifts are exchanged and Christmas day is a day of a feast and celebration of Christ.  Saint Nicholas was traditionally known as lavishing gifts on children and the needy.

  St Nicholas was born is 280AD and was raised in a Christian home.  He was forced to grow up quickly because of  the sudden death of his parents.  He inherited his parents wealth and was known for sharing his wealth for good.  He was elected Bishop of Smyrna and was known to be a faithful man and passionate for the gospel.

  Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, and was imprisoned.  After Emperor Constantine ordered the cessation of all persecution of the church, and the Christians were released from prisons Nicholas was released.  He later attended the Council of Nicea in AD 325, where he affirmed the Doctrine of the Trinity.

  Also at the Council of Nicea Arianism was declared heresy.  Arianism is the idea that contrary to John 1 Jesus was a created being and sub ordinate to God the father.  There is a weak tradition that Saint Nicholas got into a debate with Arius himself and as the heat increased Saint Nicholas actually punched out Arius! 

  So can Santa Claus be saved?  Yes! He can be known as a defender of the faith, as a man who stood by orthodox Christian doctrine, as a man who used wealth for charity, and as a man of passion for God.  If it is true that he punched Arius I don't agree at all with his action but I cant help but have a laugh and understand we all make mistakes, but I can also admire his passion

"Santa Claus is an Ido, a dangerous storyl and Christians shouldnt acknowledge him"

today at the gym I was chatting with a local Christian guy who doesn't like the Christmas season and had a lot of angry things to say about Santa.  He was saying that Santa is a dangerous story that that's emphasis off of Jesus.

So we spoke for quite a while about Christmas in general but mainly about Santa.  Santa Claus is actually the Anglicized form of the Dutch name Sinter Klass which is a reference to Saint Nicholas.  Saint Nicholas was a Christian bishop who gave gifts to children in need.  Also Saint Nicholas was at the council of Nicea in 325 AD.

the council of Nicea constructed the Nicene creed which supported the doctrine of the Trinity.  So personally my favourite thing about talking about Santa Claus is that he leads into a discussion about the Trinity.  I will expand about the Trinity in a future blog as I do have many conversations about this doctrine. 

As we get closer to Christmas  we can look to Saint Nicholas as a strong Christian leader and one who gave gifts to children and the poor.  We should follow his example.

"Isn't Christmas just an old Pagan festival?"

While I was on the bus today, I asked a guy if he was looking forward to Christmas.  He said Christmas was such a joke and that people don't seem to realize that Christmas is just an old Pagan festival.   I noticed that all the ears on the bus then turned to us as they usually do on the bus.  People intently listen but don't want to get caught eavesdropping so they don't make eye contact. :)

So first I said that I wanted to acknowledge that this is actually close to the truth.  Back in the day the Romans did celebrate the winter solstice on Dec 25 (incorrectly because the solstice is on the 21st) and had the Pagan feast of the Unconquerable Sun.   He seemed to be very pleased, because he said he knew it was Pagan just didn't know the name of the festival.

Second I explained that Christmas did not evolve out of this festival but was set up in rivalry to it.  Christmas(Christ's Festival) was set up to celebrate and announce Christ's superiority over all other superstitions and gods such as the sun god.

Today those Roman Gods and superstitions are forgotten, but we still celebrate that God Himself entered into history and saved us.  The evidence of his life abounds, both in history and in the changed lives of Christians today who have had a personal encounter with him.

I gave him my email and I hope we can talk again soon