Dewayne Bryant's Blog, page 9

The Role of Women, Part 1

By Guest Blogger Christa Bryant

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For many years a debate has split numerous congregations and denominations. What should be the role of women be in the church in a drastically changing society? Women have no limits in the corporate and academic world anymore. Cultural rules allow women to dominate relationships. Should the church allow women to serve as leaders also? Societal norms did not create women, and their sacred beginnings need to be understood in order to understand their role in the church. Women are a powerful influencer but also a great example of love and submission. We need to understand the reasons God created us and how to approach him. Unfortunately, there are many things we do not understand.

We no longer understand worship. The Hebrew word for worship is shachah. It means to “bow down.” The Greek word proskeneo also means to “bow down.” When we as a corporate body enter to worship, we should be bowing down not only physically but spiritually. We are prostrating our hearts to the will of God. If our concern is drawing attention to ourselves, we cannot be spiritually prostrate before God. He does not want worship to be a time of showcasing our talents, he wants the submission of our hearts both male and female.

We no longer understand the gift that God has given women. We insist upon our own desires instead. There is nothing more energizing than sitting with your brothers and sisters in Christ and expressing your love for the Father in prayer and song. Likewise, there is nothing more peaceful than experiencing the love of the Father through scripture reading and communion. God gave us a gift when he commanded us to worship. Each week we experience an hour or more of the purest love communicated. That love and relationship are holy. They are sacred. It should be accepted with grace and gratitude. In 1 Timothy 2:8 Paul writes, “ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” The men who are to lead in worship are to be mature men who are without conflict and distraction. They are not to be the center of attention. They are to point us to God and not themselves. Women have the great fortune to simply engage in worship with God to feel love and to demonstrate love. Only certain men have the heady responsibility to lead that worship. That leader is not to be engaged in people following but pointing us to God.

We no longer understand biblical equality. Many women feel that God through his word slighted women. They are not equal because they cannot do what men can do. Are women not as capable of public speaking? Yes, they are! Do their prayers lack passion? Absolutely not! Some of the best public speakers are women. They are trained to communicate to audiences young and old and with compassion that few men have. Unfortunately, twenty-first-century America defines equality as everyone being able to do and have all the same things. This is not why women were created. We were made to be different, and different does not mean second-class. By being so focused on not having the same things, we fail to see the beauty in our differences. God loves us all the same despite our distinctions. He loves the quiet widow on the back pew just a much as he loves the charismatic preacher on the front. This love for all is evidenced throughout scripture by the way he honors women. We see blessings bestowed upon Eve, Sarah, Rachel, Leah, Hannah, Abigail, Esther, Deborah, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, the Samaritan woman, the woman caught in adultery, Dorcas, Lydia, and Priscilla. The list goes on. How dare we say that God does not treat us as equal. He is the standard-bearer of equality. He gives love in all circumstances to all people despite their roles or their position.

We no longer understand the role of women. Society says that the traditional roles of women as wives, mothers, and help-meet are less than jobs. They aren’t as important or as meaningful as other positions. Perhaps some women even cringe when reading 1 Timothy 2:12 when Paul writes, “I do not permit a woman. . .” How dare Paul put restrictions on women like that! Afterward, Paul refers back to the creation account and the fall. Eve sinned first but was formed second. Genesis 3:16 says, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;/ in pain you shall bring forth children./ Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,/ but he shall rule over you.” Paul has a good reason for writing that. It is reflective of God’s hierarchy. God also said women will want to be in charge by being contrary to their husbands. God gave us the domain to be in charge. He will rule over the management of our homes and our children. We have the ability to manage classrooms and businesses. We can handle multi-layered projects. He also commanded us to be still in worship and to show our love and obedience through submission. God didn’t make women second-class citizens. He made us extremely capable first-class citizens with an extraordinary task to show loyalty to him. Are we up to the challenge?

When approaching God we cannot forget his sovereignty. He created us with a specific goal and a specific job in his kingdom. As women wholly devoted to him, we must understand the great opportunity God gave us to be in his kingdom.

Image courtesy of Omar Lopez / Unsplash.com

What Jesus Said about Worry

[image error]The ancient world had a great deal more unpredictability than ours. In a Western country like the United States, we don’t have to worry about our food supply running out. We produce more than enough. If we needed more, we could import it from another country. Famines did occur in the ancient world with greater frequency. Lack of rain could harm crop production, as could floods. Fishing wasn’t always reliable – fishermen could work all night and have nothing to show for their efforts (Luke 5:5). In this world—where basic needs weren’t always met—Jesus had three things to say about worry.

First, we must see the bigger picture (Matthew 6:25). God gave us life; if we have confidence in his benevolence, shouldn’t we also believe that he will provide us with what’s necessary for our lives? It would be cruel for God to create us, only to abandon us later. Also, Jesus indicates that temporal needs are only a small part of life. We tend to give them much more consideration than they deserve.

Second, we have value (Matthew 6:26). The very fact that God takes care of the little animals that populate our world should be enough to convince us that he cares about us, too. We are much more valuable than other creatures because we are made in his image and have a relationship with him. It stands to reason that if God takes care of the smallest animals, he will care for us also.

Finally, worry accomplishes nothing (Matthew 6:27). It can’t bring in any extra money, give us comfort or consolation, or extend our lives. We might fool ourselves into thinking that worry has value when we play out different scenarios in our minds, believing that this prepares us for possible future events. In reality, it’s wasting our time on things that, in all likelihood, will never happen.

Many of us worry about things beyond our control. We fret over things that may never happen or other things we can’t change. Jesus calls us to see it for what it is: a useless, fruitless attempt to control the unknown when we should know that God loves us and has our best interests at heart.

Image courtesy of Wallace Chuck / Pexels.com

Advice for Conflict

[image error]Conflict is part of life. Whether it involves family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, or someone on the street, not everyone sees things the same way. We all bring different experiences, attitudes, and educational levels to the table. To keep things from escalating into something worse, we have to be prepared to manage conflict when it arises. To do this, we might ask ourselves the following questions when things start to get heated.

Are my actions glorifying God (1 Corinthians 10:32)? If we’re involved in a conflict, are we arguing for the right reasons? Or do we just want to prove ourselves or get our way? Did we have a bad experience earlier that day that has resulted in us venting our anger on someone else foolishly?
Am I quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19)? Do we try to listen to what the other person has to say? Do we give them a fair hearing, or do we try to craft our next devastating comeback while they’re talking?  As the old saying goes, “Taste your words before you spit them out.”
Do I have a log in my eye (Matthew 7:3)? Have we stopped to consider that we might be in the wrong? Or that I struggle with something similar and am running the risk of looking like a hypocrite?
Am I trying to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:24-25)? Conflict triggers an emotional response that can be explosive and harmful. God calls his people to be giving, charitable, gracious, and loving. Do we truly care about the other person, or are we just trying to win an argument? We must remember that words can cause wounds that take years to heal.
Can I find some middle ground or an alternative solution (cf. Romans 12:18)? A person may have strong opinions based on emotion rather than evidence. If so, we may stand our ground out of pure pride because we think that to lose an argument means we must admit defeat. If we’re willing to take a step back and get a view of the bigger picture, we have to consider that there may be an opportunity to either compromise with each other or collaborate to find a shared solution—in short, to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Unfortunately, conflict is part of our world. Tempers flare, insults fly, and relationships disintegrate. It doesn’t have to be this way. Overcoming conflict is not a fight to the death where one person wins and the other loses. Conflict can create an opportunity to grow, share, and come to a better understanding of the truth. In that way, everyone wins.

Below is a comparison of healthy and unhealthy approaches to conflict:

An Unhealthy View of Conflict
A Healthy View of Conflict


I either dread and conflict and avoid it or enjoy it too much and seek out opportunities to argue with others.
Conflict is a part of life that must be met head-on in the most Christ-like way possible.


I know that I’m right. I have no time to listen to other evidence. The other person is wrong, and it’s up to me to demonstrate this fact. I can’t force them to listen to me, but they will agree with me if they’re smart.
I know that I could be wrong, even if I feel strongly about my opinion. I try to respect the other person’s opinion as much as I would want them to respect mine.


When I argue, I can be explosive and angry, depending upon how quickly the other person is willing to accept my point of view. It’s not my fault if I hurt someone else’s feelings. They shouldn’t be so dumb.
When I argue, I am calm and keep my emotions in check. I realize that a heated argument accomplishes less than a cool-headed one. Remaining calm helps me to evaluate what the other person is saying and more accurately interpret their verbal and nonverbal communication.


I don’t like arguments. My strategy for managing conflict is to avoid it altogether. I become resentful and angry when someone disagrees with me, but I don’t take any steps to address it. I judge them in silence.
I understand that conflict can be uncomfortable, but it is often necessary to achieve agreement in the future. I have to navigate conflict properly because refusing to do so will only allow negative emotions to fester.


If other people don’t accept my point of view, I will punish them by rejecting or shaming them, or by telling other people that they are stupid and unreasonable.
If the other person doesn’t accept my point of view, I must be confident in my own beliefs but content in the fact that they disagree with me, not allowing this disagreement to color my opinion of their worth or prod me to gossip.


Conflict is an opportunity for me to prove my eminence or the superiority of my ideas and beliefs. I understand that anger, intimidation, and shame are tools I can use to win an argument in the absence of evidence.
Conflict is an opportunity to help everyone involved to come to a better understanding of the truth—myself included. Despite the lure of negative emotions, I refuse to give in to anger or use underhanded tactics or fallacious arguments to win.

Clearly, an unhealthy approach will often (1) end in an impasse because the person is prideful, arrogant, and unwilling to accept that he or she may be wrong, or (2) never get resolved because the person avoids conflict at all costs. God’s design is for human beings to enjoy harmony (cf. John 17:20-23; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 1 Peter 3:8). Whenever we find ourselves in conflict with another person, we must take Paul’s advice to the Colossians when he says, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14).

Setting Goals

[image error]Last week was the beginning of not only a new year but a new decade. People choose this time to make new resolutions, probably because we like fresh starting points. We want something definitive. We don’t have to wait until 1 January to lose weight, start reading the Bible, or spend more time with our family—we choose the new year because we like its symbolism.

Making resolutions means more than identifying needs in our lives and committing ourselves to address them in the upcoming year. A thoughtful resolution requires some deep self-reflection. We have to look closely enough at ourselves to realize that something needs to change. Maybe we’re doing something self-destructive or harmful to others or doing something else inefficiently. Perhaps we find a goal we want to achieve because we need a new challenge.

Some resolutions are serious. Others are more humorous than anything else. Twitter is a gold mine for these. Some of them include things like:

“I want to stop drinking orange juice after I’ve just brushed my teeth.”
“I will lose weight by hiding it somewhere you’ll never find it.”
“Increase my relationship status from Forever Alone to Slightly Desperate.”
“My New Year’s resolution is to be more patient. I hope I accomplish this as fast as possible!”

Some people recognize that these kinds of resolutions have a high rate of failure. One person on Twitter said, “I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions because you can start a healthy habit and give up three days later ANY time of year.” Another stated, “You call it New Year’s resolution, I call it fiction.” They aren’t wrong!

Some of us making resolutions do it because it’s what people do at this time of year. We made resolutions last year, and the year before that, and we’re going to do it again even though we never seem to follow through with the commitments we make. But we also know that our time on earth is limited and we must be good stewards of the lives we’re given. Our question is this: “how seriously are we about making the most of our opportunities?”

We might look to the apostle Paul for a little help here. In Philippians 3:12-14, he says, “Not that I have already obtained this [the resurrection from the dead] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Setting goals is an important part of life. But how do we distinguish between goals worthy of our time and efforts and those that aren’t? We might ask a few simple questions:

Will it glorify God? Paul tells the church in Corinth, “whatever you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Is what we are planning to do going to bring glory to God and help others celebrate his greatness? 
Will it make us more Christlike and serve as a good example to others? Paul also tells the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Are we conforming to the image of Christ and do so in a way that is attractive to others? Are we setting a good example that others can follow?
Will it help someone else? Jesus states that the most important thing we do is love God, but close behind is the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31; cf. Leviticus 19:18). Will our plans include demonstrations of love and charity to others, and help encourage and strengthen them when they need it?

We have to put enough thought into what we want that it becomes something more than just wishful thinking. Asking big questions helps us do that. None of us is perfect. We could all stand a little improvement. We can envision what that change looks like in our lives. But we have to have a way to get there. Thankfully, God offers principles that will help us make those decisions that will make us the best we can be, just as he intended.

Twelve Days of Christmas #12: Do We Keep Christ in Christmas?

[image error]In our last post, we discussed the war on Christmas. We asked the question, “How Christian is Christmas?” What many of us may not know is that Christmas wasn’t always an explicitly Christian holiday. Perhaps it never was. Holiday celebrations of the past would be almost scandalous today.

The first Christmas trees in the English-speaking world weren’t topped with stars or angels, but the Union Jack (If someone put the US flag on top of a Christmas tree today, they might find themselves accused of Christian nationalism—or worse).
The first anthology of Christmas carols, titled Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern, was published in 1833 by musical antiquarian William Sandys. He collected Christmas carols by doing house-to-house interviews and was often shocked at the bawdy lyrics that he had to sanitize for general use.
In Victorian England, children born on Christmas were thought to possess the gift of “second sight” or clairvoyance.
Christmas cards appeared in the 1840s, with the first one featuring a picture of a mother giving a sip of wine to a little girl who seems to have been her (very) underaged daughter.
Christmas celebrations often featured copious amounts of alcohol.
In the mid-1600s, Christmastime events could turn violent. Schoolboys had a tradition called “barring out the schoolmaster,” in which students stockpiled supplies and barricaded themselves inside their school. Should the schoolmaster or other officials breach their defenses, they would be beaten harshly. So, they defended themselves with a variety of weapons, including swords, clubs, and even pistols. The students “won” by locking out school officials for three days. Records indicate that excitable students shot and even killed a few people accidentally.

Christmas celebrations have not always been Christian—these connections, historically, seem to be incredibly weak. But, this is a time of the year when people’s minds are turned toward Christ more than any other (excepting perhaps Easter). We can take advantage of this fact by continuing to imitate Christ visibly, not only in the holiday season but throughout the year. How do we do this?

We keep Christ in Christmas by making sure he doesn’t slip into irrelevancy during a highly commercialized holiday season filled with distractions.
We keep Christ at the center of our thinking and living at all times at a time filled with hope but also plagued by increased stress and higher rates of depression.
We refuse to bow to the idol of materialism, which can pose a threat to the financial well-being of many families who feel pressured to give expensive gifts.
We should pay attention to those who may not have many close relatives during a holiday that emphasizes friends and family.

“Keep Christ in Christmas!” is often used as a rallying cry for those who believe there is a war on the holiday (and, by extension, the Christian faith). I’m not so sure that this war is as intense as many believers think. You and I should do one better, by keeping him at the forefront of our daily living so others can see the difference he makes year-round.

Twelve Days of Christmas #11: The War on Christmas

[image error]Is there a war on Christmas? Lots of people believe so. What they seem to mean is that there is a war on Christianity fought by trying to make Christmas a more secular holiday. Cited as evidence are atheist billboards arguing that we should “Keep the Merry, Dump the Myth” and “Be Good for Goodness’ Sake.”

Secular writers explain things differently. Or perhaps it might be better to say that they see it from a different angle. They regularly deny that there is a war on Christmas, citing proof that Christmas, as a holiday, is still going strong. They point to retailers doing loads of business in December and the continuing prevalence of tree lighting ceremonies, public caroling, and the popularity of Santa Claus. They might even try to claim that the “War on Christmas” was an invention of the John Birch Society (which was ultra-conservative and racist) in a 1959 pamphlet entitled, “There Goes Christmas,” which supposedly detailed a Communist plot to deprive Americans of the right to celebrate Christmas.

I believe that the “war on Christmas” is neither as pervasive nor as intense as some people fear. I also think we should be cautious when using the term “war,” because its very use carries with it an accusation. What many people may not realize is that there have been much more concerted attempts to battle Christmas in the past—not from secularists, but from professing Christians.

The Puritans instituted one of the most noteworthy periods of opposition to Christmas in American history. They have often gotten a bad rap (no doubt resulting from critics who opposed their strong religious beliefs. The famed atheist H. L. Mencken once unfairly defined puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”), although their approach to Christmas doesn’t do anything to rehabilitate their reputation as party-poopers. In 1659, the Puritans banned holiday celebrations, stemming from their belief that Christmas led people to indulge in excessive behaviors (hint: they weren’t wrong about that). Christmas had a 20-year hiatus. Anyone found observing Christmas “by abstinence from labor, feasting, or any other way” would be punished.

The Puritans weren’t the first to abolish Christmas. It was banned in England for about fifteen years, beginning around 1644. On 8 June 1647, the Long Parliament passed the “Ordinance for Abolishing of Festivals. It formally prohibited Christmas and other holiday celebrations. Shops were required to be open. Town criers called out, “No Christmas! No Christmas!” as they walked the streets. Soldiers out on patrol could seize any food they thought was being prepared for Christmas dinner. In the Restoration of 1660, such festivals were decriminalized.

While some banned Christmas because of the behavior associated with celebrating the holiday, others have done so because of its religious connections. Unsurprisingly, the officially-atheistic government in Soviet Russia forbade religious celebrations like Christmas and Easter. The League of the Militant Godless established alternative festivals to replace religious holidays. More recently, China has cracked down on Christmas, due to a combination of anti-religious thinking as well as a growing tide of nationalism that sees Western influence as an encroachment upon Chinese culture. In general, China’s churches operate secretly for fear of drawing unwanted attention from the government.

Thankfully, we don’t see any of these things taking place in the United States. We do have some who claim there’s a war on Christmas by making the following points, although there are probably many more:

Abbreviating Christmas as “Xmas” is an attempt at secularism. What many people may not know is that the Greek letter chi (which appears like an X in the English alphabet) is the first letter of the word christos, or Christ. This abbreviation has been used for centuries going back to the High Middle Ages and is similar to the practice of writing the names of deity in the early church. Manuscripts and inscriptions often abbreviated the names of deity to the first and last letters with a line drawn over them. These abbreviations—called the nomina sacra, or “sacred names”—were never intended to diminish the honor or importance of either God or Jesus. Similarly, the word “Xmas” is just an abbreviation.
Renaming Christmas trees as “holiday trees.” Christmas trees first appeared in England in the 1700s. It was even later in the United States. Christmas trees are relatively recent and haven’t always enjoyed a warm reception. In 1851, a German minister who had immigrated to the United States put a Christmas tree in his church and was roundly condemned. US President Teddy Roosevelt denounced Christmas trees, considering them a waste of timber. It’s hard to defend a supposed Christian association when it only goes back two centuries.

Is there a war on Christmas? The first question we need to ask is, “How Christian is Christmas?” It could be that some people rename Christmas trees as holiday trees because they are trying to distance the day from its supposed Christian roots. But how serious an attack is this? Any war will have frontal assaults, rearguard actions, feints, and secret missions. Anyone engaged in battle needs to be aware of the enemy’s strategy. My take on it is if Christmas trees and nativity scenes are an integral part of our evangelism strategy, we’ve missed the point of the gospel message. There are many more important and useful ways to help others understand Christ than using a few tangential symbols during a brief time of the year. Christ deserves better.

Image courtesy of Ylanite Koppens / Pexels.com

Twelve Days of Christmas #10: The Death of the Innocents

[image error]An essential point of the infancy story of Jesus involves Herod’s paranoid attempt to destroy the recently-announced king. He sends his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all of the male children two years old and younger (Matthew 2:16-18). Critics claim that such a savage act would have caused a considerable outcry. Why isn’t the murder of the baby boys in Bethlehem mentioned in contemporary historical sources?

No human language has words to adequately capture the pure, unbridled monstrosity of Herod’s deeds. But his wickedness neither starts nor stops with the murder of little children. His is an abominable pride that craves power so much that he would destroy any potential challenger, no matter how small. Unfortunately, this is not without parallel in the ancient world, even among some of the Caesars who could be unbelievably cruel. We could find legions of examples just in the reigns of men like Caligula and Nero. Historians remembered their deeds. Why not Herod’s?

Fortunately, the answer is relatively simple. Rulers often used historical accounts to glorify themselves and their accomplishments. This was especially true in the ancient Near East, but the Greco-Roman world included a greater degree of historical objectivity. From a historian’s point of view, Herod was a relatively insignificant client king ruling in a small, troubled part of the Empire. Although he was a friend to Augustus Caesar and even bailed out the Olympics one year, most of what Herod did would have never gotten the attention of a historian.

“But,” someone might object, “what about the massacre of the innocents? Surely such an inhuman act would’ve gotten some attention!” And if it were in today’s news-saturated environment, it would have made national headlines. We must remember that there was no news media in those days. The first historian who could have heard the story was Josephus, who was born four decades after the event.

Critics question why no contemporary sources mention this event, no doubt because they have overestimated its significance. Ancient church sources do claim that tens of thousands were murdered in a virtual bloodbath, but they inflated the numbers of children killed by Herod’s men. In reality, a tiny town like Bethlehem probably had only a dozen little boys at most. The tiny number of victims doesn’t diminish Herod’s eternal infamy for commanding such barbarism, but it does explain why we should not expect any reference to it in any first-century historical record. We do find references to it in the Proteuangelim of James (c. AD 150) and the work of the fourth-century Roman author Macrobius (Saturnalia 2.4.11).

Although some critics allege that the account is mythical, there is little reason to doubt its veracity. Herod was a monster who murdered members of his own family. Augustus once noted that it would have been better to be Herod’s pig than his son (Herod observed the Mosaic law—selectively, of course—and did not eat pork). The king’s paranoia is well-documented. Power meant everything to him. We should not be surprised that his obsession promoted him to kill little children that his madness deemed a threat to his rule.

Image courtesy of Pixabay / Pexels.com

Twelve Days of Christmas #9: What was the Star?

[image error]We know from the biblical text that the magi claimed a star had guided them to Bethlehem. We must confess from the very start that scholars do not understand the nature of the star. There are numerous suggestions. But the unlikeliest depiction is probably also the most popular. Christmas cards often depict a star hovering over the home of Mary and Joseph, with a beam of light shining down upon the family. It’s not clear how a giant spotlight from heaven would work (not to mention being troublesome for neighbors and extremely inconvenient for the Holy Family when trying to evade Herod’s assassins. And don’t even get started on the fictional “little drummer boy” violating the local noise ordinances).

Suggestions as to the nature of the star include a comet, a supernova, or a conjunction of two planets. Some have suggested that the star seen by the magi was a planet, which they followed until it began to move in retrograde motion (giving the appearance of going backward due to the different distances of the planets from the sun and their varying speeds in orbit).

A comet is probably the least likely explanation. A more likely candidate would be a supernova, one of which occurred in February of 4 BC. One of the best explanations is a conjunction that occurred between Jupiter and Venus near Regulus—one of the brightest stars in the night sky—in June of 2 BC, with another conjunction of the same planets in August of 3 BC. If Herod died in 1 BC as some scholars believe, the timing of these events fits the details of Matthew’s account very well.

While we do not know the exact nature of the star seen by the magi, we find some tantalizing historical connections in the work of ancient historians. It seems that the legend of a ruler like a star based on Balaam’s prophecy (Numbers 24:17) circulated the eastern Mediterranean. Josephus reports this belief, as do the Roman historians Suetonius and Tacitus. Whatever the nature of this star, various writers from different cultures knew something about it.

Some of the depictions of this star in art and literature are impossible. However, Matthew records that the wise men saw something visible and real. He uses language that seems to assume that his original audience knew what he meant. Given the fact that the Gospel accounts are historical documents, we can rule out fanciful explanations that we might expect from ancient mythology.

Image courtesy of Daniel Reche / Pexels.com

Twelve Days of Christmas #8: Who was the Real Saint Nick?

[image error]During Christmastime, some families have a reading of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” more commonly known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Children sit with curious fascination when hearing the story, while adults reminisce about hearing their parents read it years before. We imagine the jolly St. Nicholas shoehorning himself in and out of the chimney, we hear his booming laugh once his gift-giving duties are complete. Of course, much of this is romanticized, as imagining practical concerns ruin the image (How is he still healthy after all these years with little exercise? How could he not have lung cancer, after all his smoking and working in and around sooty chimneys? And how does he fund all of his activities around the world? The North Pole secretly must have the world’s biggest economy!)

For years, this timeless story—allegedly written by Clement Clarke Moore, but which may have been authored by Henry Livingston, Jr.—has captured the imaginations of men and women, girls and boys. So who is this St. Nicholas, originally?

Although we refer to him by many different names, the entities known as St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, and Father Christmas are not the same. Each one is a distinct person, although they merged over time.

The real St. Nicholas was a Turkish bishop from the city of Myra. History remembers him as a generous benefactor who gave money to the poor. In one famous incident, Nicholas reputedly gave three bags of gold to a man who had suffered bankruptcy and could not afford the dowries for his three daughters. As we might expect from a figure like Nicholas, legends about him began to appear over the centuries. One of the most famous is a story in which he slapped the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea in 325. Nicholas was the exemplification of charity, it seems, but not exactly the ideal model for conflict resolution. He is thought to have died on 6 December 343 and was later made a saint.

Santa Claus has a convoluted history. He is very loosely rooted in the historical Saint Nicholas with influences from the English Father Christmas and the Dutch Sinterklaas. He is a relatively recent figure, whose popular depictions today only go back a couple of centuries. It wasn’t until the 1820s that he was depicted flying through the sky on a sled pulled by reindeer (the appearance of the reindeer are reminiscent of the immortal goats that pulled the chariot of Thor). Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer didn’t appear until the 1930s. During colonial days, Santa appeared as thin and beardless but got increasingly plump as time went on. Washington Irving portrayed him as a stocky Dutchman, and cartoonist Thomas Nast famously reimagined him as a jolly fat man smoking a pipe in 1863.

Kris Kringle is a corrupted version of the German Christkind (“Christchild”), a figure popular in Western Europe. This figure is also popular in some Catholic countries. He appears as a childlike Jesus or angelic figure bearing gifts.

Father Christmas was Christmas personified in England. Depictions of him from the 1800s bear an uncanny resemblance to the Spirit of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. He seems to have been connected more with adult feasting, games, and celebration with no connection to children. He did not bring presents at night or fill stockings hanging near the chimney with little gifts. It was only in Victorian England that Father Christmas began to take on more of a family-friendly persona. By the early 1900s, Father Christmas and Santa Claus were considered one and the same, although Britons seem to prefer the former.

We don’t know much about the real Saint Nicholas. We have none of his writings, and historical accounts of his life seem to contain at least some legendary material. Historical sources that do mention him have elements that generate some legitimate historical questions. However, he does seem to have lived a life that impressed those who knew him. I would hope that we could all live such a life—that, years after we leave this world, might have stories told about us. Stories that tell others about our faithfulness, our generosity, and our commitment to be like the Christ who died for us.

Twelve Days of Christmas #7: About those Three Wise Men …

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We all know the story: right after Jesus’ birth, three wise men (also called “magi”) follow the star in the sky to Bethlehem. Having visited Herod already, the three men, named Gaspar, Melchoir, and Balthasar, visit the newly-born Jesus on the night of his birth to worship and adore him. They present the family with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh before heading back home. We sing about the event in the hymn “We Three Kings,” which is both hauntingly beautiful and historically inaccurate.

In our recent series of posts, we’ve been discussing aspects of the Christmas story. In many cases, the details we think we know are the result of bad interpretation or suffer from legendary elements added over time. Of course, we might say the same for some Christians doctrines also!

The Gospel accounts indicate that these “magi”—the plural is used, but the precise number is unknown—visited Joseph, Mary, and Jesus as much as two years later. The traditional number of three wise men likely is derived from the three gifts presented to the family, although the Eastern Orthodox Church often depicts twelve. What form the gold took, we don’t know. Frankincense is an aromatic resin or incense produced today in northern and western Africa, western Asia, and India. Myrrh is similar to frankincense in that both are resins, although they come from different trees. Myrrh is produced in northwest Africa and Saudi Arabia and is still used in religious ceremonies in the Eastern Orthodox Church today.

The magi were astronomers, although a little-known legend suggests that they could have been the original Essential Oils salesmen. The text says nothing about their status as kings (early believers might have inferred this from Isaiah 60:3, 6b). We can trace the evolution of traditions involving the wise men, who are described as coming from different parts of the world and are different ages. The inclusivity of the men in terms of their origins, cultures, gifts, and ages may have been taken its present shape for a theological reason, showing all people acknowledging the rule of Christ (cf. Matthew 10:32; Philippians 2:11).

The timing of the magi’s visit to Bethlehem is often thought to have been virtually concurrent with Christ’s birth (one notable exception was Queen Victoria of England, who sent Christmas presents on New Year’s Day under the assumption that the magi had arrived a week or so after Jesus’ birth). Although artwork and Christmas cards frequently show Jesus laying in the manger as an infant surrounded by the three wise men, we have to notice that Herod issues a kill order for all the boys in Bethlehem aged two years and younger (Matthew 2:16). Jesus could have been a toddler by the time the wise men arrived.

The wise men play a minor role in the Gospels, but people have taken great pains to remember them. Marco Polo claimed to have seen the tombs of the three magi in Tehran in the 1270s. The Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral in Germany supposedly serves as the resting place for their remains.

Although their role in Christ’s story may be small, the magi set an example for us. They knew the signs. They traveled a great distance—no easy feat. They recognized Christ’s greatness and worshiped him accordingly. Their wisdom is sometimes expressed in the saying, “The wise still seek him.”

Yes, they do.

Image courtesy of Ben White / Unsplash.com