Your ShelfYour Projects

Christmas; Its Origin and Character

13%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 30, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 52.

Read the full edition

Christmas; Its Origin and Character

By S. MORTENSEN

S. MORTENSEN
(Concluded)
The fabled Santa Claus also deserves our attention. The “Library of Universal Knowledge” says:— “Nicholas Saint (St. Claus), a highly popular saint of the Roman Catholic Church, and reverenced with still greater devotion by the Russian Church, which regards him as a special patron, was one of the early bishops of Mysia, in Lysia. The precise date of his episcopate is a subject of much controversy. Of his personal history hardly anything is certainly known, and the great popularity of the devotion to him wrought through his intercession. He is regarded in Catholic countries as a special patron of the young, and particularly of scholars. On the vigil of his feast, which is held on December 6, a person in the appearance and costume of a bishop assembles the children of a family or a school and distributes among them, to the good, gilt nuts, sweetmeats, and other little presents as the rewards of good conduct; to the naughty ones, the redoubtable punishment Klaubauf. The supposed relics of St. Nicholas were conveyed from the East to Bari, in the kingdom of Naples, toward the close of the eleventh century.” Thus the fable is a part of the old relic-worshiping traditions of a corrupt church. The nearness of his feast, in December, to the Christmas festival, led to associating the saint and the present-giving idea with the feast of December 25. We must admit, in the light of the Bible, that it is very foolish and wrong to teach little children the tales of Santa Claus. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
It is plain that the extravagant follies, the Christmas candles, the Christmas boar, the Christmas goose, the Christmas decoration of the churches, gluttony and drunkenness, yes, even the date of the festival, the twenty-fifth of December, are not only of Roman Catholic, but also of a decidedly pagan origin. Is it not reasonable to demand that Protestants should protest against superstitions which have no foundation in the Bible? The Lord certainly demands it. “Well, that may be right,” I hear some one say, “but you are too extreme; many good Christians before our time celebrated Christmas, and even the Reformers did so.” But that is no reason why we should continue the practise. Those who began the Reformation could not in such a short time break away from all these traditions. The Lord demands more of us than of them, because we have come into existence in the age of wonderful research and discovery, when knowledge should increase (Dan. 12: 4), and the Bible has been in our mother tongue several centuries. In the light of this situation, we would certainly deserve severe criticism for our ignorance if we should continue to honor old traditions of relic worship.
Many upright Christians in the past have taken part in the old festival to some extent, and such we will not criticize, because they did it in ignorance. But in this enlightened age it is indeed high time to inquire: “What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” 2 Cor. 6: 15, 16. But still many Christians, not only Catholics, but also Protestants, continue year by year at the Christmas festival to honor the old idol relics under a Christian garb. This is indeed very unfortunate, and it is going so far that entrance fee is demanded in many Protestant churches. O, what a dishonor to our dear Saviour, who has pointed out a distinct line between the holy and the profane!
In this age when the blessed gospel is to be preached to the whole world, according to the prophecy (Matt. 24: 14), it is far better to donate our savings to that good work, so that the poor heathen, in dense darkness and untold suffering, may share the blessings of heaven, rather than to spend our means in celebrating an old festival that has no foundation in the Bible. There are also many other good purposes for which we can use the money in a sensible way. May the God of truth sanctify you wholly, and at last “present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Chicago, Ill.