Santa Claus: Combination of Odin and false Saint Nicholas–can that lead to wokeness?
Russian Iconic Portrayal of Nicholas of Myra
December 6 is the Greco-Roman Feast for Nicholas, who they consider to be a saint.
Greg Williams, president of Grace Communion International (the group that was part of the changed Worldwide Church of God) had the following in its December 2021 newsletter:
Believe it or not, even Santa can be saved! Far from being a dangerous fairy tale, Santa Claus in reality is an Anglicized form of the Dutch name Sinter Klaas, which in turn is a reference to Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop from the fourth century. According to tradition, Saint Nick not only lavished gifts on needy children, but also valiantly supported the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. While the word Trinity–like incarnation–is not found in Scripture, it aptly codifies what God has condescended to reveal to us about His nature and being.
Santa Claus – St Nicholas – was a good Christian man who served others and believed in the Father, Son and Spirit.
No, Nicholas was NOT a good Christian man nor a saint. Furthermore, not only is trinity not mentioned in the Bible, it was not believed nor taught by early Christians.
Additionally, it is wrong to tell children lies about Santa Claus. Nicholas is dead. He does NOT know who is naughty or nice. He does not have a sleigh with reindeer. He does not come down chimneys to give presents, etc.
Now who was the real Roman Catholic and Orthodox and GCI saint called Nicholas?
Here are some answers from a Catholic monsignor priest:
The Real St. Nicholas – Not Fat and Not Very Jolly Either.
(Dec 6) is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making…
Enjoy this excerpt on the real St. Nicholas of Myra (aka Santa):
He approaches Arius, fist raised menacingly. There are gasps. Would he dare? He would. Fist strikes face. Arius goes down. He will have a shiner. Nick, meanwhile, is set upon by holy men. His robes are torn off. He is thrown into a dungeon…
Saint Nicholas. Paintings show a thin man. He was spare of frame, flinty of eye, pugnacious of spirit. In the Middle Ages, he was known as a brawling saint. He had no particular sense of humor that we know of. He could be vengeful, wrathful, an embittered ex- con….No doubt, Saint Nick was a good man. A noble man. But a hard man.
Nicholas was born in Patara, a small town on the Mediterranean coast, 280 years after the birth of Christ. He became bishop of a small town in Asia Minor called Myra. Beyond that, details of his life are more legend than fact….He became a priest at 19, and bishop in his twenties…Nicholas of Myra might not seem like the kind of person who relates to kids, and few acts attributed to him involve children.
St. Nicholas of Myra morphed into Santa Claus. (Pope C, Msgr. The Real St. Nicholas – Not Fat and Not Very Jolly Either. http://blog.adw.org/2012/12/the-real-st-nicholas-not-fat-and-not-very-jolly-either/ viewed 12/6/12)
So, Nicholas was a violent and hard man according to a senior Roman Catholic priest. Nor, biblically, was he a saint (cf. Acts 5:32).
Here are two more articles about him, with a Germanic focus:
Though they have similar outfits, Nikolaus is not to be confused with Santa Claus, who Germans call the Weihnachtsmann, or Father Christmas…
Each year on December 6, Germans remember the death of Nicholas of Myra (now the Anatolia region of modern Turkey), who died on that day in 346. He was a Greek Christian bishop known for miracles and giving gifts secretly, and is now the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants and students. Known as Nicholas the Wonderworker for his miracles, he is also identified with Santa Claus. Beliefs and traditions about Nikolaus were probably combined with German mythology, particularly regarding stories about the bearded pagan god Odin, who also had a beard and a bag to capture naughty children http://www.thelocal.de/society/20121206-15915.html
Children were often quite frightened of being questioned about their behaviour because they’ve been told that St. Nicholas will hurt them with his rod or even put them in a sack and take them away. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20111206-15915.html
Notice the following from the St. Nicholas Center:
In 325 Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, which was the first ecumenical council ever held. More than 300 bishops from all over the Christian world came to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity, one of the early church’s most intense theological questions. Arias, from Egypt, taught that the Son Jesus was not equal to God the Father. This was the Arian controversy which shook Christianity’s very foundations. According to one account, when confronted by the unyielding Arias, Nicholas slapped him in the face. For such a breach of decorum, Nicholas was brought before Constantine, who stripped him of his office and had him thrown into prison. During the night, Jesus with his Mother Mary appeared to Nicholas: Jesus bringing the book of the Gospels, and Mary, the bishop’s stole which had been taken from him. In this way Nicholas was reinstated. (Bishop of Myra. St. Nicholas Center. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/bishop-of-myra/ viewed 12/05/14)
While Jesus is God, since Jesus said “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), this should help prove that Nicholas was wrong to punch somebody who claimed to believe something like that–plus Christians are not to be violent (Luke 3:14; see also Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence? ). Hence this helps demonstrate that Jesus’ mother Mary truly DID NOT appear to him, to get him acquitted of this. Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not appear to Nicholas (see also Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).
Perhaps I should mention that once, when my wife and I were in Serbia, we were told that Nicholas is the most popular ‘saint’ in that Eastern Orthodox-dominated land.
Here is some of what the Eastern Orthodox have strangely claimed about him:
As a faithful bishop/shepherd, St. Nicholas was revered as a saint even before his death because of his great holiness and tender care of his flock. After the Blessed Mother and St. John the Forerunner (Baptist), Nicholas was the most revered saint in the early church. He is most honored in the East, especially in Russia. Throughout the world many churches are named for him—more than for any other saint. His ministry continues to this day as a powerful intercessor for the protection and advancement of the Church. (Orthodox America and St. Therese Byzantine Catholic Church, St. Petersburg, Florida. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/wonderworker/)
Of course, according to the Holy Bible, the only intercessor listed in the Bible is Christ (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25)–and Jesus is specifically called the “one mediator” (1 Timothy 2:5, Douay-Rheims). Nicholas is not one who should be revered and he is NOT our intercessor.
All me to add that I was criticized on YouTube related to Nicholas because of using selected historical sources. Two issues, the first is that the critics should have realized the sources I used were valid. But the second is that they offered no instance where my sources were wrong nor did they offer precise contradictory information from historical sources. And since I tend to list my sources, anyone who wants can check them out to “Prove all things” as the Apostle Paul wrote.
That said, perhaps I should mention that once, when my wife and I were in Serbia, we were told that Nicholas is the most popular ‘saint’ in that Eastern Orthodox-dominated land.
It should be noted that the modern idea of Santa Claus as a jolly, gift-giving figure in a red suit is a product of 19th-century literature and advertising. But again, really seems to have come from the pagan Norse god Odin also spelled as Wodin. Here is what Wikipedia says about him:
Odin (/ˈoʊdɪn/;[1] from Old Norse: Óðinn) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and depicts him as the husband of the goddess Frigg. In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was also known in Old English as Wōden, in Old Saxon as Uuôden, in Old Dutch as Wuodan, in Old Frisian as Wêda, and in Old High German as Wuotan, all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *Wōðanaz, meaning ‘lord of frenzy’, or ‘leader of the possessed’.
Odin appears as a prominent god throughout the recorded history of Northern Europe, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania (from c. 2 BCE) through movement of peoples during the Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries CE). In the modern period, the rural folklore of Germanic Europe continued to acknowledge Odin. References to him appear in place names throughout regions historically inhabited by the ancient Germanic peoples, and the day of the week Wednesday bears his name in many Germanic languages, including in English. (Odin. Wikipedia, accessed 12/12/24)
Odin was depicted in the 19th century with a long beard. We have no evidence that the Roman Catholic Nicholas looked like depictions of Odin.
Anyway, the emphasis on Santa Claus and the idea of a magical, gift-giving figure can lead to idolatry and the worship of false gods. This is especially true for children, who may come to believe that Santa Claus is the one who provides them with gifts, rather than God.
Of course, it is wrong to tell children lies about Santa Claus. Nicholas is dead. He does NOT know who is naughty or nice. He does not have a sleigh with reindeer. He does not come down chimneys to give presents, etc.
No real Christian should lie to their children, yet most Greco-Roman Catholic and Protestant parents, in the USA at least, lie to their children about Santa Claus, in violation of the 9th commandment against false witness.
Some Roman Catholics are getting concerned about some of the paganism associated with modern Christmas observance. Notice the following news item from 2011:
Vatican paper disfavours Santa Claus
Rome, Dec. 22: Santa Claus, and Christmas trees, have been condemned in an editorial in the Vatican weekly newspaper, “L’Osservatore della Domenica.” The editorial describes Santa Claus as a “monstrous substitute” for the Christ Child, and says that the idea of Santa “is offensive to the faith” and “will not and must not be accepted or tolerated by Christians.” The use of Christmas trees — which have only recently become a part of the Italian Christmas — is condemned as “an attempt to substitute the Crib ….. with a certain feeling of naturalism and paganism.” (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc50/vatican-paper-disfavours-santa-claus-684)
No one should be using Christmas trees, Santa Claus, etc. And even some in the Vatican are telling people that. It may also be of interest to note that Catholics originally condemned Protestants for using trees. Roman Catholics used to denounce Protestantism as the “Tannenbaum religion” see Protestantism the ‘Tannenbaum religion’?) because of Martin Luther’s promotion of lighted Christmas trees. Greco-Roman Catholics should still condemn the use of trees now.
Also notice what the Bible (NJB) teaches:
5 The truthful witness tells no lies, the false witness lies with every breath. (Proverbs 14:5, NJB)
Is not Santa Claus a lie? Is not endorsing Santa Claus bearing false witness?
Want more reasons?
Look at the following:
Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Lie To Your Kids About Santa
…why, exactly, parents shouldn’t lie to their kids and make them believe in Santa Claus.
The argument goes something like this: lying to children is bad.
You would think that this would be uncontroversial, somewhere between “Don’t punch old ladies” and “World peace is a good idea”, but there we are. So let us explain.
It’s not just a story. Parents usually defend the Santa lie by saying that it’s just a story, like Snow White. But there’s a difference between fiction and lying. When you tell your kids a story, they know it’s a story. They don’t believe it’s actually real. When kids play cops and robbers, even though they pretend otherwise — and that’s part of the fun! — they know they’re not actual cops and robbers. It’s not the same thing as a telling them a story. Telling stories is awesome. The Santa lie, however, is a lie.
It doesn’t do anything for their imagination. This is usually the next line of defense: tricking kids about Santa somehow helps their imagination. But that makes no sense. You’re not asking kids to actually imagine anything, you’re feeding them beliefs. You are taking advantage of the fact that they trust you to make them believe things are true which are not. That has nothing to do with imagination. If believing in Santa was an exercise in imagination, every kid would believe in a different Santa. And yet the things kids believe about Santa are the things their parents tell them (unless the kids are smart).
Who cares if it’s tradition? … If you’re Christian, well, your religion already has plenty of traditions around that. If you’re secular but still want to celebrate Christmas, you still have carols, food, spending time together, and exchanging gifts for the right, correct reason: that you love each other. You don’t need to invent a supersonic fat man to show your children you love them.
It’s bad tactics. From the parents’ purely self-interested perspective, the Santa lie is just dumb parenting. First of all, it erodes your trust capital. Once your kids discover that you were actively lying to them for several years, how much do you think they’ll trust you? Some kids are unaffected, but many trust their parents less. The Santa lie is also used to control children: if you’re “good” you’ll get presents, and if you’re “naughty” you won’t. But really, has that ever worked? Except for the two weeks before Christmas, and possibly for thirty seconds after being reminded, has any child ever altered his behavior in any way because of this threat?
It’s just morally wrong. Sorry to repeat ourselves, but lying to children is just wrong. It is. Just because someone is gullible is no reason to lie to them, and children have a right not to be deceived like everyone else. You can make a case for some “white lies” but the Santa lie is not a white lie. It’s just a lie.
It’s selfish. That’s the biggest reason. Despite their protestations to the contrary, parents don’t do it for the benefit of the children. They do it for their own benefit. When pressed and rebutted, parents will eventually blurt out “But they’re so cute when they believe in Santa!” That’s the real reason, isn’t it? Parents tell their kids the Santa lie because it’s a form of entertainment. They like to watch kids helplessly believe something they know isn’t true. At the end of the day, it’s a cruel prank.
So there you go, parents. It’s not too late. Come clean. (Gobry PE. Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Lie To Your Kids About Santa. December 25, 2010. http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-you-shouldnt-lie-to-your-kids-about-santa-2010-12#ixzz2pdnSGMck=)
Lying is wrong. Santa Claus is wrong.
World Net Daily posted something related to Santa Claus lying and being woke:
‘Lying to your children’: Watch how Coca-Cola’s shaping of Santa Claus is key to woke brainwashing today
December 24, 2024
Does Coca-Cola’s shaping of the modern Santa Claus image hold the key to understanding today’s woke propaganda and brainwashing?
Alex Jones of Infowars says absolutely, and he just dropped a video explaining the devious connection on the night before Christmas Eve. …
“But if you understand how Coca-Cola was able to take Christmas from being a low-budget holiday, that was not that big of an event, … They created this whole thing about Santa and reindeer and [Rudolph] the red-nosed reindeer, and so it’s just part of our culture.”
“It’s about lying to your children and telling them a fable. And once you accept that lie, you’ll now accept any lie to tell your children. … The point is that: then lie becomes ‘two men can have a baby,’ ‘there’s no X and Y chromosomes,’ and the new p.r. [public relations] push, and there’s been many is, ‘Oh, Bruce Jenner is now Caitlyn Jenner. Don’t be mean to him. He’s stunning and brave. Support an old man now saying he’s a woman.”
“And you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m not hateful. It’s OK.’ Now you’ve just supported castrating little boys, chemical sterilization, this whole depopulation agenda, mainly targeting autistic and retarded children, and the schools secretly brainwashing … getting grant money, corporate and government, to do it. It’s the same thing. It’s a giant p.r. rollout.” …
The history and evolving image of Santa Claus is addressed in some recent best-selling books by Christian author Joe Kovacs. …
“The image of an old, fat man in his red and white outfit received a great deal of help from a Coca-Cola marketing campaign in the early twentieth century. The company wanted to remind people that Coke was not just a summertime beverage, so in 1922 it employed the slogan ‘Thirst Knows No Season.’ Nine years later, the soda giant used drawings by Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to spread the jolly look of the fat man worldwide.” https://www.wnd.com/2024/12/lying-to-your-children-watch-how-coca-colas-shaping-of-santa-claus-is-key-to-woke-brainwashing-today/
Yes, lying to children about Santa Claus is wrong.
Yes, commercial interests, and not only paganism, have been factors.
Early Christians would have condemned telling children lies about Santa/Odin. True Christians still say no to that today.
Christmas itself is not a biblical holiday, but a compromise with pagan festive and religious practices often pushed by commercial interests.
It was not observed by early Christians, and even the Church of Rome did not observe it on December 25th until some time in the fourth century. And the English word for “Christmas” did not even enter the literature before 1038 A.D. It was not an original day observed by early Christians.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
What Does the Roman Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them? Is December 25th Jesus’ birthday or that of the sun god? Here is a link to a related sermon: What do Catholic and other scholars teach about Christmas?
Is January 1st a Date for Christians Celebrate? Historical and biblical answers to this question about the world’s New Year’s day. A video of related interest is also available: God’s or Satan’s New Year?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Did biblical era Jews celebrate birthdays? Who originally celebrated birthdays? When did many that profess Christ begin birthday celebrations? A related sermon video is available and is titled: Birthdays, Christians, and December 25th.
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2033, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur 🙂 In the Spanish/Español/Castellano language: Calendario de los Días Santos. In Mandarin Chinese: OUeåf/y^v„W#eåÿ Ù‘Ìf/NNýy^v„W#eåeåS†NÎ2013^tó2024^t0.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD. A related sermon is available: Trinity: Fundamental to Christianity or Something Else? A brief video is also available: Three trinitarian scriptures?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it? Here is a link to a related sermon: Unitarianism? How is God One?
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy. Here is a link to a sermon video: Why Learn About Fatima?
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays.
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