By Jeffrey Holton
SF Examiner
Saint Nicholas may be the last Eastern saint who still approaches something near reverence in the West. Even if we haven’t done a good job of promoting an accurate remembrance of him, we’ve certainly developed a rather amazing and fantastical myth around some remnant of his identity (with a lot of help from Clement Moore and Macy’s).
Santa Claus brings presents to the good girls and boys. Right. Funny, though, how by Christmas Eve everyone seems to be good.
I’m not sure that Saint Nicholas would necessarily be all that amused with the hyper-tolerant universalist we’ve turned him into. Recall that Nicholas was one of the scholars and theologians who attended the First Ecumenical Council. They were there to resolve an important and divisive christological debate that was threatening to rip the Church apart, namely, was Christ truly God incarnate, or was he a man endowed with a particularly hefty degree of godliness.
The intellectual Arius led the campaign to promote the latter idea. While speaking on the floor of the assembly (which we might liken for its order and sobriety to the floor of any modern parliamentary body), Arius’ outright heresy so riled the ire of Nicholas that he marched down to the floor and knocked Arius out cold.
For this, Nicholas was thrown in jail overnight. His restoration to the assembly, or lack thereof, is not the subject of this post. The question of the day is simply this: Are you willing to get on Santa’s bad side, given the historical record of his right hook?
Earlier today, the Orthodox commemorated Saint Nicholas with its annual feast in his honor, a feast so important that it relaxes what would otherwise be strict fasting rules in preparation for the Nativity. We celebrate his life and his continuing ministry to strengthen the Church and preserve the important truths that allow us to grow in faith. We remember how important he considered these truths to be, and how much he was willing to risk (his freedom!) to protect them.
Be good. Santa doesn’t tolerate heretics. And coal is bad for your carbon footprint.
Full article here.
Props to my beautiful wife for finding this article.
