Santa Claus? St. Nicholas? Sinter Klaas?

So what's this Santa Claus thing all about anyway? There are so many explanations and you've seen most, if not all, of them. Is Santa a Christian since he's St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop of the 4th century? Or is Santa Satan in disguise since the letters are the same in both? Is Santa harmless, the spawn of the devil, or something else altogether?

It is accepted that the name "Santa Claus" comes to us by way of the Dutch "Sinter Klaas," which in turn, was a form of Saint Nicholas. The Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6 was observed enthusiastically throughout Medieval Europe for centuries. This enthusiasm was due to the many legends that grew up around Nicholas - that he had distributed gifts to the poor at night through their windows, among many other good works attributed to him.

Because of the gift-giving legends associated with Nicholas, it was held that on the Eve the Feast of Nicholas, the bishop himself would come from heaven and visit children in their homes, giving gifts to those who had been good. Nicholas, decked out in full ecclesiastical garb (bishop's vestments and such), would arrive on a flying gray horse (or white donkey, depending on the custom). In some variations of the legend, he was accompanied by Black Peter, an elf whose job was to punish children who had been bad.

After the Reformations of the 16th century, the Feast of St. Nicholas was abolished in many countries. Throughout northern Germany, for example, the Protestants encouraged veneration of the Christ-child instead, who, it was said, brought gifts to children on Christmas Eve. As an example of this, a Protestant Pastor of the 17th century complains about parents who put presents in their children's beds, telling them that St. Nicholas has brought them. This is a bad custom, he says, "because it points children to the saint, while yet we know that not St. Nicholas but the holy Christ Child gives us all good things for body and soul, and He alone it is whom we ought to call upon." Despite this new emphasis, the Nicholas legends prevailed in many places in Europe.

When the Dutch established their colony of New Amsterdam in America in the 17th century, they brought with them the traditional "visit" from Sinter Klaas (St. Nicholas) on the eve of December 5. It is said that when the English later took over the colony and renamed it New York, the English children longed to have a kindly "Sinter Klaas" of their own who would bring them gifts. Because the English Protestants did not observe saints days, the Sinter Klaas visit was moved to Christmas Eve and observed then.

There is universal consensus that the person most responsible for shaping the American version of Santa Claus is Dr. Clement Clark Moore, a theology and classics professor at Union Seminary. What did Moore do to earn this honor? He wrote a simple poem for his children in 1822 entitled, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," that begins with the well recognized words, 'Twas the night before Christmas… The Coca-Cola company also contributed to the modern Santa Claus. Beginning in 1931 and for 35 years, Coke ran advertisements that featured a human-size (not elf) Santa drinking Coke. These ads contributed much to the modern image of Santa Claus.

The modern Santa Claus has been greatly influenced by the custom of "the visit of St. Nicholas," in which the saint would show up on the eve of his Feast Day to give gifts to children. But the custom of his "visit" is certainly not based on the historical man; rather it is based on legends attached to him, and it is possibly based on pre-Christian myths.
The real problem that Christians should have with Santa Claus is that he has been associated with Christmas. When we look at the evolution of Santa Claus, the major turning point is when the St. Nicholas visit was transferred from December 6 to December 25. Christians would have no major problem with a make-believe custom about St. Nicholas bringing gifts on his own day. Christians should have a major problem with moving the St. Nicholas thing to Christmas and, even worse, calling it Christmas!

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior - period. Christians are rightly offended when the Santa Claus fairy tale is called Christmas instead. A good solution would be to move the Santa Claus holiday back to its traditional date of December 6. But of course we know that will never happen.

Perhaps Christians should celebrate Christ's birth at another time of the year - especially since we don't know the date he was actually born. January 6, Epiphany, wouldbe a big improvement, but it is still awfully close to the Santa Claus observance. Again, I don't see this happening in my lifetime or yours either.

Ultimately, it's up to us to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and filter out the extraneous. It's up to us to keep the "Christ" in "Christmas" and to set the record straight as best we can, emphasizing the truth of the celebration. It's an enjoyable tradition, but Santa Claus is not Christmas - Christ is!

Blessings of the season,
Trish Boyer

Reprinted from The Reformation Reporter, December 2003