Santa Claus (folklore), the legendary Christmas gift-bringer, a fat jolly white-bearded man dressed in a red suit trimmed with white, and driving a sleigh full of toys drawn through the air by eight reindeer. Santa Claus (also called St Nicholas, St Nick, or Father Christmas), so the story goes, visits every home on Christmas Eve, descending down the chimney to leave presents under the tree and in the stockings of all good children. Although this familiar image of Santa Claus was introduced into the United States from Holland in the 17th century, and into England from Germany in the mid-19th century, it has roots in ancient European folklore and has influenced celebrations of Christmas worldwide.
St Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop of Asia Minor noted in early Christian legend for saving storm-tossed sailors, defending young children, and especially for giving generous gifts to the poor. Although many of the stories about Nicholas are of doubtful authenticity (such as his delivering a bag of gold by dropping it down a chimney), his legend spread widely throughout Europe, emphasizing his role as a traditional bringer of gifts. The Christian St Nicholas replaced or ncorporated various pagan gift-giving figures such as the Roman Befana and the Germanic Berchta and Knecht Ruprecht. The saint was called Sankt Nikolaus in Germany and Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinterklaas in Holland. In these countries Nicholas was sometimes said to ride through the sky on a horse delivering gifts. He wore a bishop's robes, and was at times accompanied by Black Peter, an elf whose job was to whip naughty children. St Nicholas's Day, when presents were received, was originally celebrated on December 6 but, after the Reformation, German Protestants encouraged emphasis on the Christkindl (Christ child) as gift-giver on His own feast day, December 25. When the Nicholas tradition prevailed, it became attached to Christmas itself. (In 1969, because the saint's life was so thinly documented, Pope Paul VI ordered the feast of St Nicholas to be dropped from the official Roman Catholic calendar.) Ironically, the term Christkindl had evolved into Kriss Kringle, another nickname for Santa Claus.
Various other Christmas gift-givers in European folklore, such as Père Noël in France, Julenisse in Scandinavia, and Father Christmas in England, are loosely related to St Nicholas. But it was the Dutch figure, Sinter Klaas, which settlers brought with them to Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York), that inspired the American transformation of the figure and even gave him his name. The variation on his name, rendered as St A Claus, appeared as early as 1773 in the American press; however, it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of St Nicholas. In his History of New York (1809) published under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickbocker, Irving described the expected arrival of the saint on horseback (but without Black Peter) each St Nicholas Eve. This Dutch-American St Nick was fully Americanized in his now-familiar form in Clement Clarke Moore's well-known poem, first published in 1823, A Visit From Saint Nicholas, more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer, the laughs, winks, and nods of Santa's demeanour, and the method by which “the jolly old elf” gets back up the chimney. The rotund image of Santa Claus was further delineated by the artist Thomas Nast, who provided illustrations of Santa for Christmas issues of Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's keeping track of good and bad children in the world. Every year at Christmas time in many parts of the world, advertising, greeting cards, seasonal decorations, and the appearance of Santas in department stores uphold the modern legend of Santa Claus. Children write letters to Santa Claus and leave out food and drink for Santa's snack. In Britain, meanwhile, the image of Santa Claus as a rotund, friendly figure on a sleigh drawn by reindeer, began to appear on Christmas cards.
Source: Microsoft ® Encarta ® Premium Suite 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation
Giving on Christmas season, in itself, is not wrong because this is what true Christmas effects on us...God “gave” His only begotten Son. Receiving on Christmas season, in itself, is not also wrong because this is still what true Christmas benefits us with…God gave His only begotten Son to us and He enables His elect to receive Him. However, sometimes, we allow ourselves to be infected by the virus of the Santa Claus folklore and St. Nicholas tradition. Our “giving and receiving” becomes defined by the principles and practices that have descended from these folklore and tradition, and this is indicative of our acute spiritual decay. This acute spiritual decay we have is characterized by our IDOLATROUS GIVING AND RECEIVING on Christmas season, which comes in the following forms:
Philanthropic giving – one gives with the thought that he can improve
human welfare by his giving.
Legalistic giving – one gives with the thought that he can earn Christ’s favor by his giving.
Moralistic giving – one gives to fix people’s (especially children’s) bad morals.
Pharisaic giving – one gives with the thought that his righteousness rests on giving a lot.
Usurpative giving – one gives as if he owns what he gives and invites attention to himself.
Baalistic giving – one gives and Santa Claus is magnified side by side with, or in replacement to, Christ.
Craze giving – one gives with great enthusiasm in December, but not from January to November.
Mendicant receiving – one proactively receives out of confusing and/or equating receiving with begging.
Legalistic receiving – one receives with the thought that what he receives is a result of his own giving.
Moralistic receiving – one receives convincing himself having virtues deserving of gifts.
Opportunistic receiving – one proactively receives everything he can while many are giving.
Unaccountable receiving – one just receives on account of tradition without sense of gratitude.
Baalistic receiving – one receives and magnifies Santa Claus side by side with, or in replacement to, Christ.
Irresponsible receiving – one receives on account of tradition and just consumes what he receives without sense of faithfulness.
(Posted at the Youth Corner, Hope Presbyterian Church (HPC), Baguio City)
