THE HISTORY OF ST. NICHOLAS
AN AMERICAN AND CHRISTIAN TRADITION
By Aaron Bernau, January 2006
What an awesome savior we serve!
As my wife and I sat with our two young daughters, we began to question the effect of a secular "Santa Claus"-driven Christmases would have on our children. Like many Christian families, we've done our best to center the focus of our Christmas celebration on the birth of Christ, steering away from modern portrayals of "Santa Claus" Christmases. We want our children to know and celebrate the true, biblical meaning of Christmas.
Santa Claus. How would we respond if our inquisitive four year-old
asked us directly, "Do
you really believe in Santa Claus?," or "Is Santa Claus really
real?" This was especially heavy on our hearts
since we've spent the greater part of the year showing and teaching her that GOD
IS REAL, and
in Him, we DO believe. We don't want her to doubt that. As a result,
did this Christmas tradition of Santa Claus suddenly
become a subject that could ultimately doubt her perception of our
honesty? Or worse yet, could
it affect her understanding of just how REAL God is?
We quickly got to thinking about Christmas, and what it is all about. I
asked God to speak to
me and I began to develop some wonderful thoughts about the Christmas tradition
that
even strengthened my belief in the existence of Christ's life and the reality of
our savior.
How does the life of Santa Claus relate to the life of Jesus, our creator?
Each year, some 96% of Americans celebrate Christmas in one way or
another. Many of
these folks would identify themselves as Christian (71-86% of Americans); while
still many yet celebrate the
Christmas tradition without any mention of Jesus. To them, Christmas is a
time of
Holiday rejoice, a gift exchange, with beautiful snow, colorfully lit trees, and
a jolly old
man in a red suit. What is that all about?
Well, we've all heard that the tradition of Santa Claus, developed from the actual life of a
bishop, who was born some time ago in a land near Turkey. He was a kind man of wealth, who
simply loved providing for those in need, especially children. The stories of his life, swamp the
internet, and what is interesting to me, is that there is virtually no representation of any groups that
doubt Bishop Nicholas' actual existence. There exists many Catholic recordings that document
his very existence. In fact, his remains and relics are still visited today in Italy. It is recorded that
Bishop Nicholas was originally buried in his cathedral following his death, but due to severe
Turkish persecution, the remains and relics were moved to Italy in 1087 to be protected. Bishop Nicholas is not a fictitious character in our world, but he is really a man who lived a long time ago.
Bishop Nicholas was a good man, we'd all agree. He had a strong faith in
Jesus. Nicholas was taught by his parents to love the Lord with his whole
mind, heart, soul, and with ail his strength. When they died he inherited their
money. He used this to help the poor, the hungry, and the sick. Whenever he
helped anyone he did it secretly, so that only God would know, He did not want
praise from people; he wanted his reward to be only in Heaven.
After he gave away the money his parents had left him he decided to become a monk. He went to a monastery where he lived and worked and prayed, intending to spend the rest of his life repenting of his sins. But soon it became clear to him that God wanted him to be a priest, and so he began to study the Law of God. He lived at a time in which being a Christian often brought fierce persecution, a time more than 1,000 years before the catholic church and modern protestant and biblical Christianity began to develop separate theological themes and fundamentals.
St. Nicholas became the parish priest of a village church after his ordination. He worked very hard, instructing his flock and helping those in need. He also performed all the Divine Services and was a spiritual father to all. But it should be clear, Bishop Nicholas loved God and believed in the existence and resurrection of the living Jesus Christ.
Bishop Nicholas was born more than 1,700 years ago, in 270 AD, he died December 6, 343 AD. Virtually no one in secular America doubts his existence. In fact, this is the justification that many non-believers use to justify their celebration of the "Santa Claus" tradition and Christmas, in lieu of their identification of Jesus Christ as a true character in history.
Read on: If Saint Nicholas was born in 270 AD, then he lived less than 240 years following the death and resurrection of Jesus. How much easier would it be for us to "bag" our doubts in Jesus, if He had walked on the earth only 240 years before today?!
Of course that would bring us back to the late 1700's, just before the American Revolution in 1776. How easy it would be to share the gospel today if Jesus had revealed Himself in the flesh in 1765. I mean, no one doubts the existence of George Washington, do they? Does anyone doubt the events surrounding the revolution or the creation of the constitution?
Truth is, from a "time" perspective, St. Nicholas only required the same amount of faith to believe in Jesus as we, today, need to believe in the existence of George Washington and the constitution. And he loved God! He chose Jesus! That said, if the people today have no doubt as to the existence of St. Nicholas, why do they doubt the very source of his motivation and testimony? St. Nicholas lived in such close proximity to the time of Christ on earth, and his conclusions were clear: God Is Real. To me this boasts just one simple equation: If science and popular opinion today support that St. Nicholas was real, and St. Nicholas' faith in God was real in such close proximity to the time of Jesus on Earth, then shouldn't science today conclude that God Is Real?
This thought has certainly begun to shape the way I look at Christmas and the celebration of Santa Claus and the St. Nicholas tradition. I look forward to sharing with my kids the truths that God is Real. St. Nicholas was real, and he too new that God is Real.
