Was Santa Claus a pastor?
English: Santa Claus with a little girl Esperanto: Patro Kristnasko kaj malgranda knabino Suomi: Joulupukki ja pieni tyttö (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Santa Claus was a fourth-century pastor named Nicholas of Myra who was later considered a saint by the medieval Roman Catholic Church . He was a favorite of Dutch sailors who called him, “ Sinter Klaas ” (or “Saint Nicholas”) which then came into English as “Santa Claus.” The modern version of Saint Nicholas bears absolutely no resemblance to the fourth-century pastor from Asia Minor. The real Nicholas did not live in the North Pole. He was not Scandinavian. He did not drive a team of magical caribou. He did not work with elves. Nor did he travel the world every Christmas Eve exchanging presents for milk and cookies. He was a pastor. He worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ . And he would have been appalled at the way his legacy has been used to obscure the true meaning of Christmas. There are several historically-based legends about Ni...