Its Jesus's birthday so why a big fat guy?
2007-11-05 02:28:14 · 4 answers · asked by Nikki Sixx 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
Santa Claus has a variety of different names in different languages, but they all refer to the person of St. Nicholas who was born many centuries ago in the 4th century (born c 245 AD, and died c350 AD, various sources list various dates) in Lycia, Anatolia, a province on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). He was born in Patara, a seaport, and traveled. St. Nicholas became a bishop of the church at Myra. Few documents exist which mention him, however legends of his generosity exist throughout most churches. Thousands of churches in the Middle Ages were dedicated to him.
St. Nicholas performed a number of miracles, all associated with gift giving. His feast day was December 6, so think of St. Nicholas on December 6th and December 25th.
In 1823, Clement C. Moore (see below) wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas', which showed Santa Claus driving a sleight drawn by "eight tiny reindeer" and in doing so he created an image we all have today. Thomas Nast (see below) drew Santa Claus based on Moore's description cementing in this image.
Basically Santa represents the Christmas tradition of gift giving. Hope this helps :) Oh and the website below is great for finding facts about other Christmas traditions!
2007-11-05 02:44:38 · answer #1 · answered by borntoread4ever 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The whole point of Christmas is the giving spirit. God gave the most important gift; His Son. Somewhere down the road, we tried to improve on that. Thus came Santa...the ultimate gift giver. The idea is OK, I believe. I have three boys from 15 years old and up. Of course they now know the truth but we've NEVER had the "There's no Santa Claus" conversation. But the focus around our house has always been the birth of the Savior. Yes, I know December 25 was a pagan holiday. It may be the same day but it is not the same celebration. Merry Christmas.
2007-11-05 02:40:39 · answer #2 · answered by starfishltd 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only thing truly "christian" about Christmas is the name. Everything else was stolen from the pagans so most traditions surrounding the day have nothing to do with Jesus.
It should be renamed Krismas in celebration of Kris Kringle and the spirit of giving and family.
2007-11-05 02:32:49 · answer #3 · answered by American Spirit 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because he represents giving? other than that i have nooo idea
2007-11-05 09:46:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋