They’ve become so fed up with the modern paganization of Christmas in our society that they’ve stopped participating in Christmas celebrations, thinking of the possibility that some holiday traditions might have their roots in pagan customs. Their sincere hearts want to please God, so they’ve even given up on the idea of trying to “keep Christ in Christmas.” I certainly respect these sentiments, but as with so many things… especially the controversies of our generation… there’s nothing to be gained by allowing a lack of knowledge to destroy our family’s delight with the celebration of our Savior’s birth. The solution to the controversy… like with other controversies… is taking the time to be like the Bereans in the New Testament book of Acts (Acts 17:11) and “test all things” (1 Thes 5:21), searching the Scriptures and digging into history to see what’s true.

The modern make-believe fable of Santa began only 5 or 6 generations ago, in 1823. Would you believe that? It began with the publishing of a children’s poem called “A Visit from Saint Nicolas.” It’s pretty familiar to many English-speaking people today.
Though many additions have been added on, there really was a godly, courageous man who became a Bishop in the Christian church in 4th century in Asia Minor. His name was Nicholas. He loved Jesus enough to go into the ministry, but more than that, he was imprisoned for his faith by the Romans. He stood for the doctrine of the Trinity, and he preached against sexually immoral pagan temples, and was very generous, giving to the poor in their time of need!