The St. Nick flying through the air behind a team of reindeer may be just a fantasy, but there really was a St. Nicholas who is at the origin of this mental invention. I always wanted to know more about the real St. Nick, and I found a book entitled The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life and Trials of St. Nicholas of Myra. The book was written by Adam C. English, the Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Campbell University.

Estimated Reading Time – 8 minutes

In the first chapter of the book, the professor explains why he feels his book is valuable. He states that there are other books that may have “heartwarming tales and fascinating nuggets of trivia,” but they contain information falsely attributed to the real St. Nicholas. Although they appear to be historically correct, the writers didn’t spend enough time in research to separate truth from fiction. There are two main problems in deciphering the truth about “the real Santa.” One problem is the legends that developed over time. Another is the fact that there was a St. Nicholas of Sion, whose life had some similarities to St. Nicholas of Myra. Stories about his life have become entangled with stories about St. Nicholas of Myra. Professor English is a bit like a detective. In this book he tells a story that has been attributed to St. Nicholas of Myra and then proceeds to explain why the story is or isn’t reliable as being a true story about his life. In reading the pages of this book, I sensed that Professor English is a true believer in Christ.

I will pass on some of the information about St. Nicholas of Myra that the author believed to be reliable. Readers of the Bible will recognize the name of the city of Ephesus. In Ephesus there was a temple of the goddess Artemis (“Diana” in Latin and “Isis” in Egyptian). In 262 A.D. Gothic invaders set fire to the temple of Artemis. Nicholas was born in the city of Patara, mentioned in Acts 21:1, around the year 260 A.D. Patara is about 200 miles south of Ephesus and is now a part of northern Turkey. Patara was one of the trade centers in a region called Lycia. In addition to the temple of Artemis, there were also shrines to the god Apollo and other gods.

Nicholas’ parents were prosperous and committed Christians. They probably had access to many good foods, but they taught that life was more than food and work. The Good News that was brought by the apostle Paul had been handed down. Bishop Gregory (circa 213 – 270 A.D.) converted the region to Christianity. Church structures began to replace meeting in homes. Nevertheless, some Christians were put to death for refusal to worship the pagan gods.

Nicholas devoted himself to prayer and serving at a young age. Although the region was under Roman rule, education was Greek. His parents could afford a good education for him. His parents died when he was about 19, probably from some kind of plague.

Nicholas’ wealthy parents willed him all their gold and property. Nicholas knew all the Scriptures regarding avoiding the love of money and being kind to the poor. A well known story that seems to be reliable is about a father in poverty who had three daughters and could not afford the dowries that would make it possible for them to marry in those days. In desperation, the father decided he would have to sell his daughters into prostitution. Three times Nicholas visited their home by night and tossed a cloth containing gold coins in through a window, one time for each daughter. He tried to remain anonymous, but the third time he was caught. He asked the father not to reveal how he received the money until his death. Nicholas dedicated himself to justice and to worship and ministry.

In 284 A.D. Diocletian took over as the Roman ruler. He ordered any Christians in his service to be discharged. In 303 A.D. a co-ruler named Galerius encouraged him to order the burning of all Scriptures, the destruction of churches, and stopping Christians from gathering for worship. Church leaders were tortured, enslaved, beheaded, or burned alive. Christians were stripped of legal fights to defend themselves in court, whatever the charges.

Around 295 A.D. the bishop in a town called Myra, located near Patara, passed away. Bishops gathered to pray about the choosing of a new bishop for Myra. It was an especially serious consideration, given the severe persecution of church leaders at that time. One bishop had a vision saying: “Go to the house of God with the others this night and lie in wait in the atrium. Take the first person to enter and ordain him bishop. His name will be Nicholas.” In the early morning Nicholas walked into the church. Both the bishops and Nicholas must have been surprised. Bishops were usually white-haired with years of experience, but Nicholas was probably between 30 and 40.

The apostle Paul began the church in Myra. Bishops in Nicholas’ day were in charge of giving out money and food to the poor, taking care of church members, speaking, baptizing, and teaching new converts. Instead of embroidered robes and gold, they wore the simple black clothing of peasants.

Nicholas was soon arrested on religious grounds. He was questioned, accused, threatened, and beaten. Because he would not renounce his faith or submit Scriptures for burning, he was tortured. A fellow bishop in Patara was martyred. For most of the years Nicholas served as bishop, Christians were despised. Diocletian soon retired, and Galerius eventually softened.

In 306 A.D. Constantine took over rulership of the western part of the Roman Empire. Constantine declared himself a follower of Christ and required tolerance of Christianity. Galerius’ appointee for the eastern part, Licinius, feared that Constantine would take over the east. In revenge, Licinius stopped Christians from meeting in large groups and kept bishops from leaving the cities where they lived. Licinius surrendered to the advancement of Constantine’s army in 324 A.D. By then Nicholas was white-haired, close to age 65, and beloved and well respected. In 325 A.D. the civil leaders of Myra offered materials and workers to build a new church.

Shortly after Constantine conquered the eastern empire, he invited Nicholas and every other known bishop to attend a council at his personal residence in Nicaea. Nicholas would have to travel north 400 miles. The council was to decide the date of Easter, ordination rules, and various other rules.

A priest who served in Alexandria while Nicholas served at Myra tried to convince the council that only God the Father was eternal. Constantine scheduled another council to be held at his imperial residence in Nicaea and to include the western bishops also. Nicholas strongly sided with those who believed that the Father, Son, and Spirit were equally divine. The result of this council was the famous Nicene Creed. The Creed was changed slightly and enlarged in 381 A.D.

A couple hundred years after Nicholas’ death, the Emperor Justinian made a shrine to St. Priscus and St. Nicholas. Later St. Priscus’ name was removed. The shrine extended over the Sea of Marmara as a beacon of hope for seafarers. Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) sits on the edge of the Sea of Marmara. The location of this shrine shows that Nicholas’ fame reached Constantinople and that the people looked to Nicholas for blessing and protection when on voyages. (Though people invoked his blessing long after his death, I don’t believe anyone should try to contact someone for blessings after their death. The Bible forbids trying to contact the dead. See Isaiah 8:19-20 and Deuteronomy 18:10-14.)

In 1087 A.D. the bones of Nicholas were stolen from the Church of Nicholas at Myra by some sailors from Bari, Italy. They wanted to rescue them from being in territory under the rule of Muslim Turks. About 75% of his skeleton has been accounted for in Bari. Some bones said to belong to Nicholas were given to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York. Those relics were lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11th of 2001.

I have only scratched the surface of the information given in this book. I haven’t even touched the stories that the author did not think were reliably linked to “the real Santa.” Professor English explains how many of the legends surrounding St. Nicholas were likely to have evolved.
The book is rich with insight, not just into the life of St. Nicholas. It gives revelations of the culture, the political structure, and the hardships a few centuries after Christ, in an area where the apostle Paul had been. It received a 4.4-star rating from Amazon. The book is 230 pages of easy-to-read print, 38 of which are notations, background references, and an index. I have two children’s books that tell about the real Santa. I now know that one of them I would not recommend because it speaks of a journey he took to the Holy Land, which was actually a trip taken by St. Nicholas of Sion.

The real “St. Nick” was a man determined to live the way Christ would have him to, offering himself to prayer, serving the poor, and ministering to the church. He was a devoted follower of Jesus who refused to deny his faith at the risk of his death and who stood up for the truth of Scripture regarding the Trinity at the Council of Nicaea. I doubt that many envision this kind of man when they see a jolly man dressed in red and white fur at the mall.