If Christmas is celebrating the birth if Christ, then what's the point of having Santa Clause and such?

Question

Why do Santa, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, reindeers, elves, wreaths, etc. symbolize Christmas? Santa, reindeers with glowing noses and elves are not real... who created these fictional characters? I'm not trying to be disrespectful, I know that Christmas is an important time for Christians and I'm wondering why these characters are needed for the celebration?

Answer 1

Christmas is tacked on to old pagan mid-winter festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the sun (birth of the son - see why they used it?) so it has always involved lights and gifts, and even bringing evergreens in to the house. Things have just got a bit mixed up over the years.

Answer 2

Because some symbols are too important to give up, just like the Solstice celebrations were too important to the people to give up, like the first generations of Christians wanted them to. That's why Christians absorbed the pagan holidays.

The evergreen was the only plant that could survive the harsh Northern winters, and so became a symbol of everlasting life and perserverence in hard times. Santa is based on a legend of a kindly monk who gave gifts to children on Christmas - the very spirit of giving, caring, and community that the Yule celebrations are all about.

Wreaths are the pagan symbol of the continuance of the cycles of life, a good thing to remember in the cold and dreary and darkest time of the year.

Elves and reindeers came later as part of the growing Santa legend.

The lights are the most important, because the biggest part of the Yule celebrations is to celebrate light in the darkest time of the year. Light, life, hope, giving, caring, community... that's what the festivals of this time of year are all about. So you can see why people held onto them.

Some concepts are so important and universal they belong to all humankind, not just any one religion.

Answer 3

Santa Claus legend was from a real person named St Nicolaus.. you can find his story just about anywhere on the internet. The German people brought us traditions from pagan ages before Christmas like the yule log and the Christmas tree.

In these days those that want to exchange presents but don't want to deal with the religious aspects push the commericals. Thus it became highly commercialized and isn't keeping with the Christian ideal.
None of the commercial stuff is needed to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth...we celebrate Advent or the expectation right now Christmas is celebrated for 12 days after the 25th of December.

Answer 4

Like with most holidays there are myths and legends behind what is with the holiday. For instance, Halloween has costumes, pumpkins and candy. What is that for, it's for when the old celtics tried everthingto keep away what they thought were evil spirits so they dressed up in coustumes and put out the carved pumpkins and the treats to go along with that. There are some old legends about Santa, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, and many other names that he is called in other countries that belive in him. When it hits america though we usually explode it into a major commercialized and hallmark wannabe holidy. That's why we see so much about Santa and gifts and such. Keep on remebering the true meaning of Christmas and have a great Holiday season.

Answer 5

Maybe not needed but revered as folklore.The Italians have the beloved witch La Befana who wanders about during the season giving gifts to good kids and coal to the others, us gringos have Santa Claus who comes down the chimney or through the screen door, in Holland Sinter Klaus leaves gift in shoes, Pere Noel... all symbols of charitable giving. Some Christians are so cynical that such symbols are offensive, I feel sorry them.

Answer 6

I am a Christian, and I think Santa has a place with Christmas. St. Nicholas was a charitable person, who gave to the poor. Of course, God gave the ultimate charitable gift of Christ. I want Christ's birth to be the focal point of Christmas for my family, but I think Santa is a positive, just a lesser positive. I will explain to my children someday (when they no longer believe he exists) that he is a symbol of the spirit of giving. He presented a good example for us all.

Answer 7

Most of these things were adapted from other traditions and simply made it into the holiday season. Evergreen and lights(candles) were used by the ancient religions way before christianity and when christmas was placed on the day of the pagan festival, many of their customs were "borrowed"

The legend of Santa Claus has been passed on from generation to generation and has received many cultural influences over time.

Rudolph was a marketing ploy used by a department store and was based on a Story.

Answer 8

Santa Clause, a child model for Christmas, he was made for the idol of Christmas and also a a sales icon, for example, stores will use Santa Clause to, make themselfs look good,just so fit in with the season, and to bring in customers(even tho it hardly works) Santa Claus was made for money and to be an icon. They wanted more money out of him so they game him the name "Saint Nick" which would bring in more religious people. So to get to the point "Santa Clause" was made for money!

by the way, store companys made him up!

Answer 9

When Jesus was born, if you recall, there was three shepherds that presented him with gifts. In other parts of the world (I can't recall exactly where), there was this guy that would dress in red and sit gifts outside everyone's house. The person that did it went by the name of Nicholas. After his passing, he was dubbed St. Nicholas, and the action was continued, this time by family members. The action became a tradition for the village, one that spread quickly to other parts of the globe. The spanish referred to the rogue giver as St Niclas (saint ni-KLAHS), which, in turn, became Santa Claus. As time went by, the story of a lone person became more detailed, and finally, after years of evolution and scrutiny, it became the Santa we know today.

This is an overview of the story, and many details I listed may not be completely accurate, but this is how I remember reading it.

Answer 10

I think it's become very commercialized over the years, but St. Nicholas started the Santa thing by giving presents, and the Wisemen by giving gifts to Christ when he was born.