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It is not. At all. It may have some influence from "Saint Nicholas" but that was, I'm pretty sure, after like, 1000 AD. So, uh, yeah. Some people want to ta

by drdeca 11y ago

It is not. At all. It may have some influence from "Saint Nicholas" but that was, I'm pretty sure, after like, 1000 AD. So, uh, yeah. Some people want to take Santa out of Christmas to focus more on Christ, and I would generally agree.

stinkytaco 11y ago
Well, I think there's a pretty solid argument for Santa being a stand-in Jesus, at least in our current conception of him. You're punished for evil and rewarded for nice and he's watching you all the time? My understanding from listening to some guy on the radio, almost certainly on NPR, is that's a fairly modern conception. It's like they couldn't put the Christ back into Christmas, so they shoehorned St. Nick into Christ instead.
- drdeca 11y ago
  If so, not a very good stand-in imo. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.". John 3:17 Christ didn't come to reward the people already doing good, and punish those doing evil. Rather, "[...]for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [...]" People are not justified by being "good enough" by themselves, but rather, are "[...]justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [...]". Your description of "You're punished for evil and rewarded for nice and he's watching you all the time?" is, I think, a very misleading and simplistic idea of Christ.
  - upquark 11y ago
    Yeah, the algorithm needs its viral hook: being good enough is not enough, you need to spam 10 people with this message to achieve full redemption.
    - drdeca 11y ago
      Not sure how you're getting that from what I said. I didn't mention evangelism at all? Why would you not include that in the "being good enough" part? I wasn't just saying that "being good enough" isn't enough. I was saying that no one (except Christ) is good enough. That one cannot, of oneself, earn or achieve justification, but that one is given justification, that one cannot deserve, as a gift.

by drdeca 11y ago

stinkytaco 11y ago

Well, I think there's a pretty solid argument for Santa being a stand-in Jesus, at least in our current conception of him. You're punished for evil and rewarded for nice and he's watching you all the time? My understanding from listening to some guy on the radio, almost certainly on NPR, is that's a fairly modern conception. It's like they couldn't put the Christ back into Christmas, so they shoehorned St. Nick into Christ instead.

drdeca 11y ago
If so, not a very good stand-in imo. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.". John 3:17 Christ didn't come to reward the people already doing good, and punish those doing evil. Rather, "[...]for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [...]" People are not justified by being "good enough" by themselves, but rather, are "[...]justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [...]". Your description of "You're punished for evil and rewarded for nice and he's watching you all the time?" is, I think, a very misleading and simplistic idea of Christ.
- upquark 11y ago
  Yeah, the algorithm needs its viral hook: being good enough is not enough, you need to spam 10 people with this message to achieve full redemption.
  - drdeca 11y ago
    Not sure how you're getting that from what I said. I didn't mention evangelism at all? Why would you not include that in the "being good enough" part? I wasn't just saying that "being good enough" isn't enough. I was saying that no one (except Christ) is good enough. That one cannot, of oneself, earn or achieve justification, but that one is given justification, that one cannot deserve, as a gift.