The Story of Santa Claus

Santa Claus is surely one of the most beloved figures of modern times. But did you know that he was perhaps even more beloved long before he acquired a fur-trimmed red suit, a big round belly, and nine flying reindeer to pull his sleigh? It’s true, the historical figure who would one day come to be known as Santa Claus was famous for his kindness and generosity. His story began less than 300 years after the resurrection of Christ in modern-day Turkey—just 500 miles or so up the coast from the boyhood home of the Apostle Paul. Even more fascinating is how his fame spread north and west, throughout Europe and eventually to America. From America, his fame spread all around the world so that today it is told in some form on every continent. As author William J. Bennet puts it, it is a “long and circuitous route,” so be prepared for a lot of history.

Nicholas of Myra

Our story begins with a little boy named Nicholas who grew up in Lycian Turkey, in a popular little seaport town called Patara. Unfortunately, our story also starts off sad. Nicholas’ parents became ill and died when Nicholas was still little. Thankfully, in a monastery not far from Patara, Nicholas had an uncle who would become his guardian. So Nicholas grew up much like the Biblical story of the prophet Samuel who spent his childhood in the Temple under the care of the High Priest, Eli. A key part of Nicholas’ history is that he was the sole heir to his parents’ substantial wealth. But Nicholas was clearly cut from a different cloth even early on. He didn’t really need or want the inheritance. Instead, he decided to give it all away! I don’t know about you, but I don’t know very many people who would give away their entire inheritance.

Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that “each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.” Without a doubt, Nicholas of Myra was one of history’s most cheerful givers! Perhaps the most well-known story of Nicholas’ largesse is the story of the three poor sisters. In those days, a dowry was part of the marriage process. Upon learning about the need, Nicholas devised a plan to slip out under the cover of night and drop a bag of gold through a window and into the home of the girls. (Some tales have the bags of gold dropping into the girls’ stockings that had been hung to dry.) He did this on three separate occasions—one bag of gold for each of the girls. The third time, he was caught by the father, but Nicholas made the grateful man promise not to reveal his identity. His act of charity would remain a secret.

Eventually, Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra. He loved and cared for the people with complete devotion, and soon his generosity and kindness became known far beyond the borders of Myra. When new sailors would come to town, they would learn the tales of Bishop Nicholas and then take them back to their own towns and families far away. Nicholas became quite famous. Too famous, perhaps, because when the Emperor Diocletian began his persecution of the Church in 303 A.D., Nicholas was sought out, arrested and tortured for his faith in Christ. Much the like the Apostle Paul before him, jailtime for Nicholas became a ministry opportunity. After more than five long years, Nicholas was finally released by a new Emperor named Constantine. As soon as he was released from prison, he went back to serving as bishop, and the stories of his life continued to grow and spread all over Europe. In fact, Scholars believe Nicholas was one of the 300 or so leaders represented at the Council of Nicae in 325. At the time, Arius of Alexandria was causing quite an uproar in the Church. Arius flatly denied the deity of Christ. At one point, the debate became so heated that Nicholas got up from his seat, walked across the room, and slapped Arius across the face. Nicholas was immediately taken into custody until the council ended. In the end, the Council rebuked Arius and his beliefs. Bishop Nicholas played a role in the development of one of the most important positions in all of history: The Nicene Creed.

On December 6, 343, after becoming a very old, wise, loving man, Nicholas himself died. Today, paintings of Nicholas in a long red bishop’s robe and a full white beard can be seen all over the world.

While the similarities are striking, it still doesn’t explain how Nicholas of Myra became Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas

After Nicholas’ death, the stories about him became bigger and more fantastic with each retelling. To thousands of people, especially sailors visiting the popular seaport town of Patara, Nicholas became a sort of superhero! True stories were mixed with fairy tales, and soon Bishop Nicholas became known as Saint Nicholas. His stories were told in faraway places like Germany, Spain, and even Holland, where Saint Nicholas was written as Sinterklaas (pronounced seen-tur-klos).

From Sweden to Greece, Christians everywhere loved Saint Nicholas. He became one of the most popular saints in the world, second only to Mary herself! And as the stories spread, a peculiar thing happened: more and more of those stories became about Nicholas rescuing and helping children. In fact, another famous tale about Nicholas involved him rescuing (and resurrecting) two boys out of pickle barrels!

Before long, people began celebrating December 6 as St. Nicholas Day. And children everywhere believed that—if they were good—on St. Nicholas’ Eve, he would come and fill their stockings with goodies, just like he did those three girls so long ago in Myra. The fact that the church in Spain began a practice of sending a bishop to Holland each year in order to distribute gifts to children and the needy only reinforced the tales. After all, to Dutch children, Spanish bishops decked out in their bishop’s red finery seemed to square perfectly with the tales of Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas in the New World

Let’s fast-forward to the 1600s. The Dutch people had migrated from the Netherlands to the New World (America) and they brought their fantastical tales of Sinterklaas with them. The Puritans weren’t crazy about stories of Dutch saints bringing gifts to children, but by the 1800s, the new world had changed. New York, as the settlement was now called, wanted to learn about its history. So a man named Washington Irving made up a story about how a magical Dutch bishop named Saint Nicholas founded the city in his flying wagon! A few years later, theologian Clement Clark Moore wrote a poem about St. Nicholas based loosely on Irving’s history. One important change Moore made was that Saint Nicholas arrived on the night before Christmas instead of on December 5th. Moore’s poem spread like wildfire and soon, Americans everywhere were telling the story of Sinterklaas, which they pronounced “Santa Claus.”

Over the years, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew many pictures of jolly old St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, as they were now calling him. And since Americans then were as fascinated by the North Pole as we are now about other planets, Nast decided to make the mysterious North Pole Santa’s secret home. But it wasn’t until 1931 when artist Haddon Sundblom was commissioned by Coca Cola to create a picture of Santa that our tall, Bishop Nicholas started to look like the Santa Claus we now know and love. Oh, and one more thing is missing from our story: Rudolph! Robert May, an advertising editor for Montgomery Ward (kind of like Sears or JC Penneys) wrote the story of Rudolph. (If you aren’t familiar with May’s story is it well worth reading!) Now Santa’s story is complete.

It took hundreds of years and many exciting stories, tales, poems, and pictures for little Nicholas of Myra to grow up and become known as Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas was an actual person who loved God more than anything. Because of his love for Christ, Nicholas turned secret and cheerful giving into a personal habit. Doing good for others and giving gifts to those in need became his modus operandi. In fact, for hundreds of years, we’ve not only loved the stories of St. Nick, but each year at Christmastime we (perhaps unknowingly) endeavor to be like him by giving gifts in secret. Some people even go so far as to dress just like him! Every time we see jolly old Santa Claus, it should remind us of the world’s most famous cheerful and secret giver: Saint Nicholas. And when people ask us if we believe in Santa, we can tell them, “Yes, we do! We believe in jolly old Saint Nicholas, the loyal servant of Jesus who gave away all he had in order to bless others.”

“But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:3–4).

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P.S. If you aren’t familiar with the ORIGINAL version of “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry, listen here! Lyrics (as sung by Autry) below: