A Look at Saint Nicholas

Introduction (From Santa to St. Nick)

Myra and Lycia

When we think of first century cities and regions, Myra is not one that typically comes to mind. It does not have a great deal of importance as it concerns the New Testament narratives; in fact, Myra in Lycia only shows up once, as the prisoner and Apostle Paul stops in Myra to change ships on his way to Rome (). Yet Myra did have some importance for the first-century world. Perhaps most notably, Myra had a nearby port that was a major trading hub for Egyptian ships. But as the Gospel spread, and the church developed (both biblically and less-so), Myra was never considered a particularly great city, and as the church developed bishops that were over the elders of the churches, Myra’s bishop was nothing exceptional, either. And yet, it would seem, that a bishop of Myra would become one of the most famous of all bishops. The legend of his rise to the bishopric is unusual, to say the least. It is said that after the death of the previous bishop, the wisest man among the elders in Myra told his fellow shepherds that the Lord had given him the name of the next bishop, and the first person who walked into the church with that name would become their new bishop. The following day, a young man entered the church. One of the elders walked up to him and asked for his name. The young man responded: “Nicholas”. As that was the name given to them, the elders made young Nicholas the new bishop of Myra. He lived his life as bishop, died, and eventually the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged him as a Saint. Saint Nicholas became famous the world over, and his Dutch name (Sinterklaas) would eventually carry over to the English-speaking world as Santa Claus. But the world hears too much of Santa Claus, and not enough of Nicholas the bishop.

Traditional St. Nick Stories

So what do we know about Nicholas? Unfortunately, virtually nothing. There are a lot of stories about him, but none that are substantiated by evidence, or confirmed by others living at the same time. The facts of Nicholas’s life are that he was a bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and that is about it. However, while we may not know exactly what his life entailed, his life was considered interesting enough that tales were written about him over one hundred years later. So while we may not know exactly in what ways he was generous, the fact that someone generations later wrote about the generosity of St. Nicholas strongly suggests that the real St. Nick was a generous man. But there are two stories that are told about St. Nick, one common, the other much less so. Are these stories true? Again, likely not. Yet perhaps in these fables one can sense something of the kind of person Nicholas was. Each of these stories have been told in so many different ways, that even if you have heard these tales before, you probably heard it with some different details.

The Three Dowries

The first is that there was once a very poor man with three beautiful daughters of marrying age. Unfortunately, in this context it was expected that the father of the bride would give a substantial amount of money to the couple as a dowry. Since he was poor, he could not afford one dowry (much less three!), and so his daughters’ marriage prospects were very poor. When Nicholas heard about this, he decided to help anonymously. When the family was asleep, Nicholas crept to the window, and dropped three large sums of gold into their house (perhaps in their stockings?). When they awoke the next morning, they realized the gift. Eventually all three women were married into richer households, and the families provided for their poor father, and none of this would have been possible without Nicholas’s intervention. As an interesting aside, if you ever visit a pawn shop look at their sign. Almost certainly there will be three gold circles joined together. These circles represent the three bags of gold that Nicholas is said to have given these women.

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A second story, one that I am personally less familiar with, concerns

One Ancient Politically Incorrect Story

This second story is one that I would have liked to have been true, but the evidence unfortunately does not bear it out. But while most stories deal with Nicholas’s kindness and humility, this second story deals with something else: his theology. Remember, jolly old St. Nick is a bishop. He is a theologian, and he lived in the fourth century. An ancient story is told that Nicholas was present at the first ecumenical council of bishops, the Council of Nicaea, in 325. The major issue of this council would be known as Arianism, a heretical view that claimed that Jesus was indeed Divine, yet He was not God. Rather, he was of “a similar substance” as God, and was God’s first created being. After Jesus was created, so says Arianism, Jesus created the rest of the universe. This heresy finds its source in the man Arius, bishop of Alexandria. Arius was present at the council, and explained his views to the rest of the bishops. At first, it is said, Nicholas listened with an open mind. Yet as Arius spoke on, Nicholas realized how great the heresy spilled from Arius’s mouth, and Nicholas began to get upset. Eventually, Nicholas could no longer bear the accusations Arius made against Nicholas’s Lord and Savior, and so he walked to the stage, stood in front of Arius, and punched him in the face (or slapped, but come on, a good facepunch really does serve the story better, don’t you think?). While the rest of the bishops did not condone Nicholas’s tactics (he was put in prison and had his status as bishop revoked), eventually the majority of bishops sided with Nicholas’s theology, and Arianism was condemned as a heresy by the council, and the Nicene Creed was formulated in order to confess the historic biblical faith in an explicitly unArian fashion, a Creed still recited in many Christian churches weekly to this day. As for Nicholas, at this point the story gets a little weird. While non-bishop Nicholas was sitting in jail, a bright light shines on him, and Jesus appears (because this is a Catholic story, Mary comes too). Jesus and Mary ordain Nicholas as a bishop, and give him new bishop’s clothes. When the guards come in the next day and see Nicholas dressed more dapper than any other bishop, they let him go and let him be bishop of Myra again.

Conclusion

So we don’t know much about Nicholas, bishop of Myra. Yet we cannot help but tell stories about him. When the snow falls, the tales of Nicholas begin. So if we must tell tall tales, why must they be about a reindeer that seriously needs medical attention? Why must they be about our kids getting presents from Nicholas, while we adults have to foot the bill? Even if the stories aren’t true, a kind Christian who helps the poor is a better story to tell than any Santa Claus story, in my opinion. And if we must tell stories whose legitimacy is in question, how about we tell of a Nicholas who was so zealous for the glory of his God that one as kind of himself would still be brought to fisticuffs over the eternality of the Son? Let’s tell each other some theology this Christmas, even as we continue to tell the tales we’ve always told. And maybe recite the Nicene Creed instead of listening to “Christmas Shoes”.