The Legends of Santa
Santa's image is almost universally recognizable as one of Christianity's most enduring and popular legends, yet the seemingly timeless jolly old man with his bag of toys, steering his reindeer and sliding down chimneys, is a relatively modern image.
The Legends of Santa shows how today's image of Father Christmas is a culmination of centuries of history and legend.
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.
Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick.
One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married.
Over the course of many years, Nicholas's popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.
His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married.
There is absolutely nothing Holy or Christian about Christmas. You'll find, by reading the Bible and also by historical writings, that the true Christians never celebrated Christmas. In fact Christmas is an abomination.
There is no dispute that Christmas was the 'Christian-ization' of several pagan Holidays.
"Be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, . . ." - Deut 12:30-31
----There are at least 4 or 5 other versus like these.
Also, I don't know anyone (Christian or not) who keeps Christmas AND the actual Holy days.
Christ said this also (to the pharisees and sadducees): "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" - Matt 15:3
Remember 1 Thess 5:21: "Prove all things."
One day I DID look into the truth behind Christmas. And I was shocked.
At the time I was a VERY passive Christian. On the point of saying: "I believe in [a] God... but who cares?"
I'm just glad that I read the article about the TRUTH behind Christmas and Easter. I have a new zeal now that I never had before.
I'm so relieved that all the contradictory things I was taught when I thought I was 'Christian' were false doctrines!
Now I understand the TRUTH I can "Hold fast to that which is good" - 1 Thess 5:21b
Amen
I wish you Happy Holidays, too, Charles, a little late... I was going to get back to your post a little later on the other night, but it slipped my mind. (I had too many Republicans to rant at and about elsewhere, I think it was.)
My name, however, is with an "e", my good man. (It's ANNE Shirley, you know...not ANN Shirley, lolol. It makes a great deal of aesthetic difference!)
Oh, yes: Bachmann, 2056
Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)
To save space, I wish "everyone" on TDF a MERRY XMAS!
merry christmas xxx
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Ill take bags of gold coins over new socks any day... :)
good luck finding 3 wise men these days
Was Attenburough drinking rum and egg nog while narrating this? He sounds like he's on the way to having both eyes in one socket. Merry Xmas.
merry christmas everyone. i hope santa cums and his empties his sack for all of u
just to clarify....i'm an irish/manc & half german(mother's side) currently living in 'momma's country' & she always spoke english whilst visiting the netherlands due to not wanting to be harrassed by locals for previous war crimes she didn't indulge in!
here's a little positive racism:''i love the dutch for beeing the kindest & most open minded nation except towards snobby 'germermans' & rightly so!''
Hmmm...I was almost sure they would talk about when Santa created the Universe and was nailed to a cross? I guess I should look under "cryto-zoology" for that information...
I remember the day when I found out Santa didn't exist. My older brother was snooping around in the basement, and he came running upstairs and grabbed me off the couch in an 'I have something crazy to show you' way. He brought me downstairs and opened this giant chest. Inside were some wrapped presents labeled 'From Santa'. We both looked at each other like WTF? After staring at each other for a couple minutes we realized neither of us gave a s*** and closed the lid.
My last comment on this doc although I am only 2/3 way through the 3rd of 4 parts to this film. My post secondary education was theology. The idea of 3 wise men or 3 kings does not occur any where in the bible. Thank goodness I have since studied other dare I say "secular" ideas & concepts & have gone through a monumental awakening. I'll sum this up with the statement: Christopher Hitchens, you are my Santa & will be sorely missed.
OK. After my silly response to adilrye I will now watch this doc/film. I trust we all know now that the modern fat/rotund jolly santa we grew up with was an invention of Coca Cola Co. Inc.
I love stuff like this. I never knew it was a young, golden clad woman in southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Or the Three Wise Men in Spain. Or that St. Nicholas was from Eastern Turkey and was a Greek priest. It's all light hearted and entertaining, I love learning about other cultural traditions; it's great. Especially when you delve into the political and religious reasons behind them.
Now, I do find the Black Peter a little shocking, as a person coming from a part of the world where minstrel shows are well known and considered highly offensive, I can take issue with some of the ideas present with the character. But I'm not "that guy", it's all in the name of fun, who am I to trample on something like that? I'm assuming (as in other parts of the world), there is less meaning behind black face as there is in the USA and UK, so it shouldn't be taken in the same exact context.
i find it funny with the story of 3 daughters, that they would get money instead of having dowries abolished :T
that policy leads to aborting daughters because parents have to pay to marry them off, instead of getting the money and the extra help (wife) around the house. there are some places in india where there are no women because of this.
Happy Solstice Everybody, the days are getting longer. Now where did I leave those mushrooms?
Wow, what a load of crapola. I thought everybody knew that "Santa" was the Shaman who came around during the darkest days of winter to make sure everybody was okay, have a drink and maybe share some of the mushrooms he had saved. Ever wondered how the reindeer fly? Also if you live in a place where the snow covers the door of your dwelling, how does Shaman/Santa get in? Easy, he slides down the chimney opening.
David Sedaris wrote a classic essay about the dutch santa claus called "6 to 8 Black Men". Its definitely worth the read.
I am glad to see how this yearly extortion of my money every December came about. There seems to be a certain genuineness to the European celebrations unlike the crazed herd mentality here in USA
From what I understand, Santa has edged out The Infant of Prague in Czech Republic as Sugar Daddy of choice and will slowly conquer, not only the Martians, but also all the Earthlings as well...go Santa
exellent doc i thought. now i know what Santa does the rest o'the year...he runs his soft drinks business ! Hohoho...Jolly Yule y'all
In Finland we had kinda christmas goat in past times. Finnish translation to santa claus is still joulupukki which means christmas goat.
In Holland they have Black Pete who is a slave of father Xmas... they tell kids if you are naughty the black guy will kidnap you as opposed to if you are good FatherX will bring you presents...
Every generation of Dutch kids are brainwashed with this cr@p... they think its harmless fun but if you ever hear grown up Dutch people talk about foreigners or black people you know they are just a bunch of N@zis!