Turns out that Saint Nicholas, the historic figure upon whom the benign commercialised Santa Claus is based, was reputed to have given ancient heretic Arius a slap or a punch at the Council of Nicea.
Arius’ Trinity denial meant that he found a lasting place on St. Nick’s ‘naughty’ list.
Read a bit more about the historical detail here.
Besides perhaps being the real reason Jehovah Witnesses don’t observe Christmas, it may also explain macho-Christian exponent Mark Driscoll’s interest in rehabilitating Santa. Turns out Saint Nicholas wouldn’t have just been happy to watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, he’d probably have been willing to get in the cage and smack down a heretic challenger or two.
Here’s some artistic representations of the event. Like the actual history, they may demonstrate some embellishment of what actually happened.
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