Okay. I try not to post huge, long reproductions of texts, but I found that I could not summarize this one to my satisfaction, so here goes.
SANTA CLAUS
Santa Claus is that jolly old fellow who appears once a year, and then only to do good by bringing toys and games to “good little children.” Is that ALL there is to “Santa?” No, my Christian friend [oh, btw, did I forget to mention I took this from the tract “Is Christmas Christian?” written for Christians? :wink: ], it is not.
Although you may not believe in “evolution,” [again, evidence of the tract I took it from :) ] Santa, as we know him today, is a product of evolution. Let us trace his origin from the ancient times.
In Egypt, where the mother and child were worshipped, the “father-god” was know as “Khons” or “Khonos.” the name means “huntsman,” or “god of the chase,” and scholars have identified him as the “Nimrod” of Genesis 10, “the mighty hunter,” and the builder of “Babel” (or Babylon). (Pagan gods are always deified humans, but that is a story far too long for this small book). He is represented in both Babylon and Egypt as a half-man and half-bull, and also half-man and half-horse (the centaur of mythology), usually with wings, and he is called “Baal-abirin,” or “the winged one.” He is called “the omnipotent one,” and also “the unknown one,” giving him the unknowable qualities that left him in the background. He would be “THE UNKNOWN GOD” worshipped in Athens in Acts 17:23.
Over the centuries, his images evolved into more human form, usually clothed in a leopard skin, signifying his hunting prowess over the swiftest of animals. This spotted garment became a mark of kings and priests in Africa and Asia. the priests of “Bacchus” in Greece were clothed in leopard skins, later adopting the spotted skin of a young fawn or dyeing their robes to look like a spotted skin.
The “spotted deer” seems to have been adopted as combining both the spots of the leopard and the bull (or calf) of idol worship. In Ninevah, the capitol of Assyria, statues of Nimrod (Baal) show him wearing a spotted deer skin, or in some cases, carrying a spotted deer, AND NOW WE ARE GETTING CLOSE TO “SANTA CLAUS!”
In the drawing of Nimrod, above left, [unfortunately, I do not know how to reproduce this drawing] the similarity to “Santa Claus” can be seen in the long, flowing, white beard, the ornate dress, the “reindeer,” the fir tree (the “Christmas” tree!), and the wings, giving him power to “fly through the air!”
The drawing (above right) [please see my previous excuse :D] is of the Greek “Bacchus” and the similarity is certain. He does not carry the spotted deer but has a spotted robe, the tree of uncertain origin, and the “cup,” the symbol of drunken revelry, so great a part of “Christmas.” [although personally, I associate drunkenness (is that how you spell it?) with New Year’s]
Everything in caps and italics for emphasis in there was the author’s doing. my only input was the comments within the brackets and i change the word “deified” so it would be spelled correctly. i can’t stand finding spelling errors in stuff i read or stuff i write. silly pet peeve. oh well. I won’t accept this as ABSOLUTE fact, but it is an interesting theory. i find it harder to accept as fact because i don’t agree with other stuff in the booklet. namely is aversion to ham because the Bible forbids it. that’s old testament. in the new testament, God tells Peter that all the animals are good for food.
Anyway, sorry about the tangent. The Christmas tree is mentioned in Jeremiah 10:3-4, but not as a “Christmas” tree. Well, here I go again. I promise not to make this a habit.
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
The tree was the people’s idol.
Well, I’m pretty sure this is the longest post I’ve ever made. Hopefully, they won’t always be like this. It amkes it hard to get to reading the rest of the new posts.