By Adam C. English

"The background of Nicholas offers a tantalizing riddle. before everything, there's nothing―no writings, disciples, or significant acts. Then, interestingly, tale fragments and rumors start to floor like driftwood within the water. A church is in-built his honor at Constantinople and the following factor you recognize, he is a world image of vacation cheer and goodwill, a fully crucial a part of the Christmas culture, and the enjoyment of girls and boys far and wide ...."

―from the Introduction

With his rosy cheeks and matching purple suit―and ever-present elf and reindeer companions―Santa Claus could be the so much identifiable of fantastical characters. yet what will we fairly be aware of of jolly previous Saint Nicholas, "patron saint" of Christmastime? Ask in regards to the human in the back of the go well with, and the story we all know so good fast fades into fantasy and folklore.

In The Saint Who will be Santa Claus, non secular historian Adam English tells the real and compelling story of Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra. round the fourth century in what's now Turkey, a boy of humble situation turned a guy respected for his many virtues. leader between them used to be dealing generously along with his possessions, as soon as lifting a complete family members out of poverty with a single―and secret―gift of gold, so legend tells. but he used to be even more than virtuous. As English unearths, Saint Nicholas used to be of crucial impression in occasions that might considerably impression the background and improvement of the Christian church, together with the Council of Nicaea, the destruction of the temple to Artemis in Myra, and a excellent rescue of 3 falsely accused army officials. And Nicholas grew to become the shopper saint of youngsters and sailors, retailers and thieves, in addition to France, Russia, Greece, and myriad others.

Weaving jointly the easiest ancient and archaeological facts on hand with the folklore and legends passed down via generations, English creates a beautiful photo of this a lot honored Christian saint. With prose as stress-free because it is informative, he indicates why the life―and death―of Nicholas of Myra so substantially motivated the formation of Western historical past and Christian inspiration, and did so in methods many have by no means discovered.

Show description

Read Online or Download The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life and Trials of Nicholas of Myra PDF

Similar church history books

Shepherding Movement (Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement)

An enticing background of the Shepherding circulate, an influential and arguable expression of the charismatic renewal within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties. This neopentecostal circulation, led through well known Bible academics Ern Baxter, Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince a

The New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers: 2-Volume Set

The two-volume paintings the hot testomony and the Apostolic Fathers deals a comparative examine of 2 collections of early Christian texts: the recent testomony; and the texts, from instantly after the recent testomony interval, that are conventionally known as the Apostolic Fathers. the 1st quantity, The Reception of the recent testomony within the Apostolic Fathers, provides a accomplished and rigorous dialogue of the level to which the writings later incorporated within the New testomony have been recognized to and utilized by all of the Apostolic Fathers.

Jesus, Gnosis and Dogma

In Jesus, Gnosis and Dogma Roukema investigates and assesses a few of the perspectives of Jesus in early Christianity, basing his method on a contrast among historic and theological statements approximately Jesus. ancient statements should be arrived at via a serious examine of the earliest documents, even supposing Roukema acknowledges that students vary generally right here.

The Making and Unmaking of a Saint. Hagiography and Memory in the Cult of Gerald of Aurillac

A crusader, a hermit, a bishop, an endemic sufferer, or even a repentant assassin via turns: the tales hooked up to Saint Gerald of Aurillac provide a wierd and fragmented legacy. His earliest biographies, written within the early 10th and early 11th centuries, depicted the saint as a warrior who dedicated his existence to pious provider.

Extra info for The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life and Trials of Nicholas of Myra

Sample text

Over half of the Roman Empire claimed adherence. All of the growing pangs of this conversion process manifested themselves in the life of Nicholas. His was a life of faith, to be sure, but it was also one of adventure and 17 The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus honor, justice and charity, goodwill and thick resolve. Nicholas experienced tragedy and triumph, the miraculous and the mundane. His life is worth remembering, and his story is worth retelling. 18 2 Out of a Dying World Comes a Light I n 1863 the British Museum funded an architectural archaeologist, John Turtle Wood, to search for a site in the ancient city of Ephesus where once stood a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis.

Michael, author of the Life of St. Nicholas and head shepherd over a mandra or “sheepfold,” resided in a deserted province of Asia Minor, where the austere way of a monk’s life attracted flocks of the devoted. Assisted by his deuterarios, or prior, he shouldered large administrative and disciplinary burdens on behalf of his monks. In spite of his busy routine, he took time to compose the Life of St. Nicholas as a favor to a certain Leo, about whom we know nothing beyond his request Out of a Dying World Comes a Light for an account of the life of St.

The other, known as the Church of St. Nicholas, contained the tomb of the saint and was built outside city walls on top of an older necropolis. 40 The historicity of a person named Nicholas is well attested from the physical and documentary evidence. The question remains as to who he was and what he did. 41 This is the question for the remainder of this book. The life of St. Nicholas of Myra is much more than a chapter in the story of Santa Claus. Yes, there is a fascinating link with the elf from the North Pole.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.38 of 5 – based on 31 votes