Why is the Feast of St. Nicholas during Advent?
St. Nicholas, the beloved Saint many Christians honor on December 6. This St. Nicholas of ours is of course revered for his love of children and in the US by many children is called Santa Claus.
In our house we call him St. Nicholas. We are trying to ensure that our kids make a religious connection to St. Nicholas. I have a lot of thoughts about Santa Claus and St. Nicholas- I could rage about the way that capitalism has siezed him as their own, but there is something about this mythological Saint that lives on (myth doesn't mean that he wasn't real but that there is a different kind of power he posses as a myth).
One of the things I realized this year. For the first time was that the reason that the Feast of St. Nicholas is situated in the Advent Season of the Church is that St. Nicholas was one of the greatest contributors to our understanding of Christ.
In the early church Christians and theologians fought over who Jesus was. Was he the son of God? When did that happen? Was Christ before all time? Did Jesus have agency? Was he divine? Was he human? Was he half divine or half human? Was he fully divine and fully human?
What came of these questions were debates and arguments and eventually councils whereby theologians, ministers, and church leaders (all men of course) gathered, discussed and decided. It was from the council of Nicea that our Nicene Creed emerged.
On of the key debated in the council of Nicea was the question of when Jesus became the son of God. A theologian Arius argued that Jesus became God at baptism. This isn't actually a terrible argument. It is at his baptism that the words, "this is my beloved son," is heard. It seems that God has some sort of claim over Jesus at that time. But with that argument there is no trinity. There is no Christ, Father and Holy Spirit before all time...There is no clarity about if this can happen again (like to your neighbor? or whomever)...St. Nicholas got in a big fight with Arius.
St. Nicholas was of the argument that Christ existed before all time and was made manifest in the incarnation. As such we celebrate the incarnation at Christmas. So this is why St. Nicholas is so closely associated with Christmas. Because without him, or at least his line of thought, being argued in the council of Nicea we wouldn't celebrate the birth of Christ.
In our house we call him St. Nicholas. We are trying to ensure that our kids make a religious connection to St. Nicholas. I have a lot of thoughts about Santa Claus and St. Nicholas- I could rage about the way that capitalism has siezed him as their own, but there is something about this mythological Saint that lives on (myth doesn't mean that he wasn't real but that there is a different kind of power he posses as a myth).
One of the things I realized this year. For the first time was that the reason that the Feast of St. Nicholas is situated in the Advent Season of the Church is that St. Nicholas was one of the greatest contributors to our understanding of Christ.
In the early church Christians and theologians fought over who Jesus was. Was he the son of God? When did that happen? Was Christ before all time? Did Jesus have agency? Was he divine? Was he human? Was he half divine or half human? Was he fully divine and fully human?
What came of these questions were debates and arguments and eventually councils whereby theologians, ministers, and church leaders (all men of course) gathered, discussed and decided. It was from the council of Nicea that our Nicene Creed emerged.
On of the key debated in the council of Nicea was the question of when Jesus became the son of God. A theologian Arius argued that Jesus became God at baptism. This isn't actually a terrible argument. It is at his baptism that the words, "this is my beloved son," is heard. It seems that God has some sort of claim over Jesus at that time. But with that argument there is no trinity. There is no Christ, Father and Holy Spirit before all time...There is no clarity about if this can happen again (like to your neighbor? or whomever)...St. Nicholas got in a big fight with Arius.
St. Nicholas was of the argument that Christ existed before all time and was made manifest in the incarnation. As such we celebrate the incarnation at Christmas. So this is why St. Nicholas is so closely associated with Christmas. Because without him, or at least his line of thought, being argued in the council of Nicea we wouldn't celebrate the birth of Christ.
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