When conclusions are drawn about the origin of Santa Claus, extreme statements should be avoided. This short article has shown that the modern Santa Claus has been shaped by many factors and is a conglomeration of myths and legends. I feel compelled, however, to make several observations.
First, it is absolutely inaccurate to claim that "Santa Claus is a Christian" or that "Santa Claus is St. Nicholas." Though it is true that the historical St. Nicholas was a Christian man, the preceding has shown that the modern Santa Claus has nothing to do with Nicholas of Myra, other than his name. 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 (about Odin, Thor, etc.). It is also a rather silly and misleading argument to state that "Nicholas was generous and Santa Claus is generous, so the same spirit permeates both." Right!
Secondly, it is also absolutely inaccurate to claim that "Santa Claus is pagan" without any further explanation. We need to be clear what we mean by "pagan." If by "pagan" we mean "non-Christian" then the statement is accurate in the sense that I gave in the paragraph above. However, because "pagan" has such a pejorative sense to it, I prefer to say that "Santa Claus is a fairy tale" along the lines of the tooth fairy - which leads to my next point.
Third, the real problem that Christians should have with Santa Claus is that he has been associated with Christmas. When we survey the history of the evolution of Santa Claus, the critical point occurred, in my opinion, when the St. Nicholas visit was transferred from Dec. 6 to Dec. 25. Christians would have no major problem with a make-believe custom about St. Nicholas bringing gifts on his own day.
Christians do (or at least should) have a major problem with moving the St. Nicholas thing to Christmas and, even worse, calling it Christmas!
Put simply, do the Santa Claus thing to your heart's content, but don't call it Christmas! For Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior, nothing more and nothing less. Christians are rightly offended when the Santa Claus fairy tale is called Christmas instead. A good and practical solution would be to move the Santa Claus holiday back to its traditional date of Dec. 6. But of course, it is highly unlikely that this will happen.
Perhaps Christians should celebrate Christ's birth at another time of the year - especially since we do not know the date he was actually born. January 6 is an improvement, but it is still too close to the Santa Claus fest, in my opinion. Again, I won't hold my breath waiting for this to happen!
Ultimately it is impossible, of course, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ without competition from other festivals and observances - no matter what date is picked. This is the reason why I have stated that the main problem is not the competing festivals (e.g., Santa Claus) themselves; the main problem is calling the competing festivals "Christmas." Our message to the world should be, Santa Claus, in and of itself, can be a fun custom.
Just don't call it Christmas!
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