Santa Claus: Christian or Pagan?

In his booklet The Plain Truth About Christmas, Herbert Armstrong wrote: "But surely dear old Santa Claus is not a creature of pagan birth? But he is, and his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many suppose!" He went on to say: "Is it Christian to teach children myths and falsehoods? God says, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness!' It may seem right, and be justified by human reason, but God says, 'There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!' 'Old Nick' also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an 'angel of light,' to deceive! (II Cor. 11:14; Rev. 12:9.)"

Likewise, in the December 1985 edition of The Good News magazine, Clayton Steep wrote an article entitled "Christmas 2,000 Years Before Christ!" He began by speaking in very vague terms about "mythical visitors" associated with the "winter season." Steep continued: "We recognize them today in different nations as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, St. Martin, the Weihnachtsmann, Pere Noel. Whatever name is used, all these winter visitors fulfill a similar role. These fictional persons 'Christianizations' of the pagan Germanic deities - perpetuate certain folk rituals wherein varying degrees of rewards and punishments were dealt out to celebrants. Through the centuries these customs came to be centered around children. It is not hard to see a connection between Santa using the chimney, the shoes and stockings hung by the fireplace and the ancient superstitions about hearth spirits. The fireplace served as the natural entrance and exit of the gods of fire and solar gods when they visited homes. For thousands of years, especially among the Chinese, it was customary to sweep and scour the house in preparation for the visit of the hearth spirit. Each year, dressed in a pointed fiery red cap and red jacket, this fire-god traveled from the distant heavens to visit homes and distribute favors or punishments. Today he is welcomed in the Western world each Christmas season."

Unfortunately, most of what Armstrong and Steep had to say on this subject was a bunch of unsupported speculation which ignored a great deal of history and connected things that had no connection to the things with which they were associated. The "PLAIN TRUTH" is that Santa Claus was a development of the Christian era and had NOTHING to do with paganism!

In an article written by Connor and Graves for Christianity.com titled Who Was Saint Nicholas? The True Story Behind Santa Claus, we read: "St. Nicholas of Myra is a saint in liturgical Christian denominations. As with many Christian saints, he is the patron saint of a particular group. Most notably, he is a patron saint of children and sailors." Continuing, we read: "Nicholas is believed to have been born in Patara, a city in the province of Lycia (part of modern-day Turkey). After becoming a Christian, he became bishop of a church in Myra, another town in Lycia. Myra gets briefly mentioned in Acts 27:5 when Paul and his travelers visit the city enroute to Rome. Nicholas is believed to have been a bishop over the church in Myra during the third and fourth century. His traditional birth and death dates are 270-343 AD." The authors concluded: "Over the nearly two thousand years since St. Nicholas of Myra lived, many Christmas traditions arose around him in different countries. These traditions combined to create the American Santa Claus figure we know today."

Speaking of his life and character, they wrote: "As bishop of Myra, Nicholas resisted tyrants and taught the truth, especially rejecting the Arian heresy. His people loved him. Whereas before, he had done his acts of charity anonymously, he now realized that he must act openly, for he must be an example to his people. 'The doors of his house were open to all. He was kind and affable to all, to orphans he was a father, to the poor a merciful giver, to the weeping a comforter, to the wronged a helper, and to all a great benefactor.' He brought down a local temple of the goddess Diana, confronted unjust rulers, defended individuals who were falsely accused, and prayed for relief during a famine." Now, as this article also points out, there are also a great number of myths and legends associated with Saint Nicholas which may or may not have any basis in actual history.

In the Biography.com article on Saint Nicholas, we read: "There are many legends about Saint Nicholas of Myra. One story tells how he helped three poor sisters. Their father did not have enough money to pay their dowries and thought of selling them into servitude. Three times, Saint Nicholas secretly went to their house at night and put a bag of money inside. The man used the money so that one of his daughters could marry. On the third visit, the man saw Saint Nicholas and thanked him for his kindness. He also reportedly saved three men who were falsely imprisoned and sentenced to death." The same article went on to observe that: "Saint Nicholas went through many transformations in America: Sinterklaas became Santa Claus, and instead of giving gifts on December 6, he became a part of the Christmas holiday. In the 1820 poem 'An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicholas' by Clement Clarke Moore, he is described as a jolly, heavy man who comes down the chimney to leave presents for deserving children and drives a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. The cartoonist Thomas Nast added to the Saint Nicholas legend with an 1881 drawing of Santa as wearing a red suit with white fur trim. Once a kind, charitable bishop, Saint Nicholas had become the Santa Claus we know today."

In the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Saint Nicholas of Myra states that: "He is patron of mariners, merchants, bakers, travellers, children, etc. His representations in art are as various as his alleged miracles. In Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, they have the custom of making him the secret purveyor of gifts to children on 6 December, the day on which the Church celebrates his feast ; in the United States and some other countries St. Nicholas has become identified with Santa Claus who distributes gifts to children on Christmas eve. His relics are still preserved in the church of San Nicola in Bari ; up to the present day an oily substance , known as Manna di S. Nicola , which is highly valued for its medicinal powers, is said to flow from them." In other words, Nicholas was a real, flesh and blood person who served as a Christian Bishop, and his mortal remains are still with us in 2024! Originally, the sources quoted here all agree that his feast day memorialized the date of his death on the sixth of December (this was the common practice for honoring saints after their deaths).

This narrative may not appeal to Armstrongists or Jehovah's Witnesses, but it does represent the who/where/why of our modern Santa Claus. He is based on a real Christian - a good man who lived long ago and devoted himself to following the example of Jesus of Nazareth!