What should we as Christians do about Santa Claus? Check your answer and explain why you believe as you do.<br><br><FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.the-highway.com/cgi-bin/forum/dopoll.pl"><INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME="pollname" VALUE="1071618961sbc_and_reformed"><br>Santa?<br><input type="radio" name="option" value="1" class="checkboxes"> Tell the children he exists. It's harmless fun.<br><input type="radio" name="option" value="2" class="checkboxes"> Tell the children Santa does not exist, but the spirit of giving does, and the greatest gift ever given was Christ Jesus.<br><input type="radio" name="option" value="3" class="checkboxes"> Did you notice that Santa and Satan are almost spelled the same way?<br><input type="radio" name="option" value="4" class="checkboxes"> Santa doesn't exist?!?!?!<br><INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT NAME="PollSubmit" VALUE="$lang{'SUB_VOTE'}" CLASS="buttons"></FORM>
True godliness is a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences Him as Lord, embraces His righteousness, and dreads offending Him worse than death~ Calvin
I checked #2, though I would have preferred an option that without the elaboration. We simply treat Santa like any other fictional character the children encounter.<br><br>~Jason<br>
What do you mean Santa doesn't exist! Next thing you'll be telling me is that Hershel Ostropolier didn't rid the synagogue of the Goblins.[img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/nono.gif" alt="nono" title="nono[/img]
Here's something: Last year, I was visiting with a family from church, when one of the kids decided to ask me a question: "Kyle, how does Santa know if we've been good or bad?" I hesitated for a moment, but wanting to take it in a good direction, I answered, "I guess he would have to ask God." She was satisfied with that answer.<br><br>My question, though, is "Did I do the 'right thing'?" The parents have told their kids about Santa Claus like most parents across America do, so the kids think he's real and the parents play along. And here I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Would it have been better simply not to have answered at all?<br><br>One thing's certain, though: My kids will never be taught to believe in Santa Claus.
Kyle
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.
This is the way we handle Santa at our house. He is a fictional character with cultural and seasonal significance to some people. Our children never thought Santa was a real "person" or that he could circle the globe in a single night passing out presents to good little boys and girls. But they were surrounded with the "persona" of Santa so it is as silly to say "there is no Santa" as it is to maintain that he is capable of flying in a sleigh with reindeer and slipping silently down chimneys. What we wanted our children to know most of all is that Santa fictional and a poor substitute for the truth of the Incarnate Son of God Who came to earth and made His dwelling place among sinful people who need a Savior!<br><br>My middle son told me just yesterday that it isn't really Christmas to him until we have gone to church together on Christmas Eve. I had to agree with him.
Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love and the future to God's providence." - St. Augustine Hiraeth
"There aint no Sanity Clause" , is an 80's xmass song by The Damned [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/eek.gif" alt="eek" title="eek[/img]
Not in front of the children though Joe ! It avoids nightmares [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh[/img]
Satans claws grab anything God allows him to . Xmass is no exception [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile[/img]
<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] My kids will never be taught to believe in Santa Claus</font><hr></blockquote><p> AMEN<br><br>Before we have gatherings at our home we instruct those coming that (1) we do not believe in Santa (2) we tell them the truth about Jesus and Santa. Because of this some parents do decide not to come, but on the whole it has been very successful. This year we are gathering at someone else's home. If a child asks me a question about Santa I will simply say, “Have you heard about Jesus?” or “Can you tell me about Jesus” (answer a ? with a ?). I do this (1) knowing that the child is under submission to their parents (2) so, I may still give them the truth. Another evangelistical opportunity.<br><br>I selected "Santa doesn't exist," and believe it is very important to instruct children about this truth. Christmas is also more than just about "the spirit of giving." <br><br>Christ being born was a fulfillment of Holy Scripture. It was the eternal plan of God coming into bloom (the fullness of time). It was the Head of the Church coming as the Son of Man to further reveal the continuation of His covenant with man. It was the Kingdom of God coming to earth. It was the love of God being revealed. Christ, the eternal God, could see His birth, life, and His death like none other. He could see His own cruelty, pain, and suffering at Calvary. Though without sin himself, He could see His personal rejection by His very own Father! The weight of the sin upon Him is beyond our comprehension and yet He saw and took it all. His being born reveals His triumphant love for the world in both special and common graces given, His wonderful submission to His Father, and His marvelous courage to come into such a place as this and to die for such horrible, detestable, and undeserving sinners as us. Christmas is more that just about “the spirit of giving,” it is about worshiping the One who is, was, and forever will be. Praise be to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Joe,<br><br>I chose the second answer because it's an honest assessment of what my family gets exposed to. We have told our children that Santa is a fictional character and like the Easter bunny he tries to distract us from the real reason for the season. I wonder how many people even know where the legend of Santa Claus comes from.<br><br>You may want to learn where the legend comes from and tell that to your children.<br><br><blockquote>Santa Claus is a legendary old man who brings gifts to children at Christmas. He has long been portrayed as a stout, bearded man in a red, fur-trimmed suit. The legend of Santa Claus is popular mainly in the United States.<br><br>The idea of Santa Claus developed from stories about a real person named Saint Nicholas. Historians know little for certain about him. He was probably born in Patara, in what is now Turkey. When he was 19 years old, Nicholas became a priest. He later served as bishop of Myra, near Patara. He died during the A.D. 300's.<br>According to legend, Saint Nicholas once aided a poor nobleman who had three daughters. No men would marry the daughters because the nobleman did not provide any of them with a dowry. A dowry is money or property that the bride's family gives the bride or the groom or his family when the couple marry. Saint Nicholas threw three bags of money through an open window of the nobleman's house to show that the daughters now had dowries. As a result, they were able to marry. The legend of Saint Nicholas as a man who brings gifts may have developed from this story.<br><br>The custom of giving gifts on a special day in winter was practiced before Christianity was founded. After Christianity was well established, Saint Nicholas became a symbol of the custom among Christians. During the Reformation of the 1500's, Protestants substituted nonreligious characters for Saint Nicholas. In England, for example, the saint was replaced by a gentleman called Father Christmas. This character was called Pere Noel in France and Weihnachtsmann in Germany.<br><br>The people of the Netherlands were especially fond of Saint Nicholas. The first Dutch settlers who came to America had a figure of Saint Nicholas on the front of their ship. The Dutch settlers maintained their custom of celebrating the saint's feast day on December 6. They told their children that the saint visited their homes and left gifts on Saint Nicholas Eve. In time, English settlers adopted the legends and festivities associated with Saint Nicholas. English-speaking children spoke the Dutch name for the saint, Sinterklaas, quickly and excitedly so that it sounded like Santy Claus or Santa Claus.<br><br>Santa's appearance. Until the 1800's, people pictured Saint Nicholas as a tall, thin, stately man who wore a bishop's robe and rode a white horse. In 1809, the American author Washington Irving published Knickerbocker's History of New York, in which he presented a new version of the saint. Irving described Saint Nicholas as a stout, jolly man who wore a broad-brimmed hat and huge breeches and smoked a long pipe. Irving's Saint Nicholas rode over treetops in a wagon and filled children's stockings with presents.<br><br>On Dec. 23, 1823, a poem titled "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" appeared in the Troy (New York) Sentinel. This poem begins with the familiar line " 'Twas the night before Christmas." Clement Clarke Moore, an American scholar, is generally credited with writing the poem, but Henry Livingston, an American land surveyor, may have written it. In the poem, Saint Nicholas appears as a stout, jolly man with twinkling eyes and a red nose. He wears a suit trimmed with white fur and rides a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. The saint's visit takes place on Christmas Eve. See Moore, Clement Clarke.<br><br>Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist, completed the present-day image of Santa Claus. Nast created a series of drawings for Harper's Weekly magazine between 1863 and 1886. These drawings represent Santa Claus with a white beard. In various cartoons, Santa is shown working in his shop, driving a sleigh pulled by reindeer, or placing toys in stockings hung over a fireplace.</blockquote><br><br><br>Wes<br><br><br>
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. - Isaac Watts
I chose; Tell the children Santa does not exist, but the spirit of giving does, and the greatest gift ever given was Christ Jesus. <br>I think we should also tell them that he is [color:red]"the red devil from the north pole”</font color=red> and teaches a doctrine of [color:blue]works religion.</font color=blue> Ho Ho Ho ! ! !<br>
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