Santa Clause

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Pozessed said:
I can agree that we disagree. I don't see how telling children or giving them an inclination that Santa or St. Nicholas exists is not a lie though.
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He did exist. He was a historical figure who was very generous. A very godlike quality.
 
Simona25 said:
Exactly. Santa Clause is St. Nicholas. I believe it is a beautiful Christmas tradition and I don't want to get that away from my future children. Also, we will have a Christmas tree, we will listen to Christmas carols, talk about the birth of Jesus Christ, read stories written by H. C. Andersen...and also, switch gifts :D.
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St. Nicholas is a real historical figure, I can't disagree with sharing his story. It isn't until we tell children that he is a real entity with divine powers that I start to worry.
 
my kid was sharp enough to notice that santa was both outside the mall ringing a bell and inside the mall getting his pic taken with kids on his lap, so it must be just people dressed as him.

he learned about the myth from TV shows and movies, and about the real historical Nicholas from us.
 
To be a sin, it would have to violate either 1) Thou shalt love thy God or 2) Thou shalt love thy neighbor.
Now I do not accuse you of being a plinker for having curiosity about this issue, but to me this sort of question can be for some what I call "theological tiddlywinks," if it is part of a concern about issues which have nothing to do with rules 1 & 2. What the Lord really wants of us is our love and for us to love each other.

Santa Claus, I believe, is derived from an historical character (maybe the same as Saint Nicholas) who gave gifts at Christmas, a noble practice, to be compared with the gift-giving in Revelation 11 done by the wicked in their cause.

Yet, I did not emphasize Santa Claus in my home with my children, and I told them from the start that it was a just a tale, this modern idea. Since it is the day we use to celebrate Christ's birthday, the focus should be on him. And I never liked the British counterpart, "Father Christmas," since God is our Father. But neither to I charge those in Britain with violating rules 1 & 2 with this, as that would be judging.
 
Atwood said:
To be a sin, it would have to violate either 1) Thou shalt love thy God or 2) Thou shalt love thy neighbor.
Now I do not accuse you of being a plinker for having curiosity about this issue, but to me this sort of question can be for some what I call "theological tiddlywinks," if it is part of a concern about issues which have nothing to do with rules 1 & 2. What the Lord really wants of us is our love and for us to love each other.

Santa Claus, I believe, is derived from an historical character (maybe the same as Saint Nicholas) who gave gifts at Christmas, a noble practice, to be compared with the gift-giving in Revelation 11 done by the wicked in their cause.

Yet, I did not emphasize Santa Claus in my home with my children, and I told them from the start that it was a just a tale, this modern idea. Since it is the day we use to celebrate Christ's birthday, the focus should be on him. And I never liked the British counterpart, "Father Christmas," since God is our Father. But neither to I charge those in Britain with violating rules 1 & 2 with this, as that would be judging.
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Or religious tiddlywinks...haha. The practice of "religion" gets in the way of relationship.
 
Pozessed said:
St. Nicholas is a real historical figure, I can't disagree with sharing his story. It isn't until we tell children that he is a real entity with divine powers that I start to worry.
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In Romania, the church explained that Santa Clause is St. Nicholas; however, the folkloric culture tells a different story: St. Mary and Joseph asked for shelter to a man and he refused, but his wife had mercy on Mary, and let her stay in the stable. Once the man realized who the baby was, he felt sorry for his lack of hospitality and to correct his sin, he promised God to offer gifts to children, each year, on Christmas.

The Romanian folkloric imaginary had conceived a lot of variants on this legend that all focus, ultimately on Christ.
The world of a child is beautiful and full of charm and every frontier between truth and legend, between our world and the world of tales, disappear.

Do you also feel worry when you read a fairy tale to your children? Or you consider that also a sin?
 
Simona25 said:
In Romania, the church explained that Santa Clause is St. Nicholas; however, the folkloric culture tells a different story: St. Mary and Joseph asked for shelter to a man and he refused, but his wife had mercy on Mary, and let her stay in the stable. Once the man realized who the baby was, he felt sorry for his lack of hospitality and to correct his sin, he promised God to offer gifts to children, each year, on Christmas.

The Romanian folkloric imaginary had conceived a lot of variants on this legend that all focus, ultimately on Christ.
The world of a child is beautiful and full of charm and every frontier between truth and legend, between our world and the world of tales, disappear.

Do you also feel worry when you read a fairy tale to your children? Or you consider that also a sin?
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I don't promote fairy tales as truthful things that happen once a year in a physically existing fashion.
 
Pozessed said:
I don't promote fairy tales as truthful things that happen once a year in a physically existing fashion.
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So...when you start reading a fairy tale that begins with "once upon a time", you explain immediately to your child that the author of the book is a liar?
 
I do find it strangely ironic that you are worried about Santa and your screen name is pozesssed.
 
Sirk said:
I do find it strangely ironic that you are worried about Santa and your screen name is pozesssed.
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I think you mean "coincidental", but why is that? Santa and possession have nothing in common. I'm not worried about Santa as much as I worry about the lies that surround him.
 
Pozessed said:
I think you mean "coincidental", but why is that? Santa and possession have nothing in common. I'm not worried about Santa as much as I worry about the lies that surround him.
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The central account of the Lord Jesus coming into the world to save sinners, and being God's 'unspeakable gift' (2 Corinthians 9.15) is certainly accurate.
 
Simona25 said:
So...when you start reading a fairy tale that begins with "once upon a time", you explain immediately to your child that the author of the book is a liar?
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If the author of the book promoted his fiction as absolute truth, you can believe I would, if I even read it at all.
 
It looks like a prayer to Mary was posted:

"It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever blessed, most pure, and mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Word. We magnify you, the true Theotokos."


Is this blasphemous idolatry?

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
 
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