Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Pere Noel, Sinterklaas, whatever name he’s known by in your part of the world, he was a real person who became known as Saint Nicholas.
Nicholas resided in modern-day Turkey, where he served as a bishop and patron saint of sailors. As an early father of the church, Nicholas suffered for his faith in Christ.
The true story of St. Nicholas of Myra, the man whose story became the basis of our modern-day Santa Claus, reveals that his gift-giving got him in trouble. He was even imprisoned for his faith.
But that wasn’t the last time he faced hardship for his actions. One lesser known story about Nicholas involves him defending the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ after a heretic stood up during the famous Council of Nicea.
The incident occurred after he was freed by Constantine the Great, which allowed him to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325, exactly 1,700 years ago, where the first Nicene Creed was established, outlining the central beliefs of the Christian faith.
Todd Nettleton, vice president at the Voice of the Martyrs and host of VOM Radio, previously wrote about a surprising incident that happened at the council. As Nettleon records in his book for VOM, The Story of St. Nicholas: More than Reindeer and a Red Suit:
“After the reign of persecution ended, Nicholas would still face a fierce testing of his faith—this time within the church. A preacher named Arius began promoting a heresy that Jesus was not God in the flesh. Arius even went so far as to set his false teaching to music by putting words to popular drinking songs. Constantine, the new leader of the Roman Empire, called together church leaders at Nicea to discuss Arius’ teachings and other issues dividing the church. This was called the Council of Nicea. According to legend, as Arius was making his presentation, he began singing one of his blasphemous songs about Jesus. Unwilling to see this man shame Christ, Nicholas stood up and punched Arius in the mouth. Those in attendance were shocked! Although they understood Nicholas’ need to stand up for Christ’s reputation, they did not believe they could allow such behavior since Christ taught us to love our enemies and live a life of peace. Therefore, Nicholas was no longer allowed to serve as bishop. (It’s noted he was later restored to his position.) But this action did not stop Nicholas from serving the sick and needy.’
Nettleton recently told CBN’s Gary Lane on his weekly program, “The Global Lane,” that Saint Nicolas was not only a shining example of how Christians should be giving and blessing others, but also a man of determined and committed faith in Christ. You can watch that full interview below when it’s uploaded here on Friday.
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