Research On Religion » charity

Adam English on St. Nicholas of Myra, the Real Santa Claus (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 09:00:08 +0000

Who was St. Nicholas? Did he really exist? And how did he become the “Santa Claus” that we know today? Prof. Adam English, associate professor in the Department of Theology and Philosophy at Campbell University, opens up his latest book The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus and tells us the story of this fascinating early Church leader. We learn that St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries in the area that is now southwest Turkey. Nicholas grew up in a wealthy family, allowing him the luxury of pursuing an education and becoming a clergy member in the fast-expanding Christian Church at a time when persecution of Christians was common. Prof. English relays Nicholas’s most famous act of charity that earned him the reputation as a charitable gift-giver. The story involves Nicholas tossing three bags of coins, on separate days, through the open window of a destitute man on the verge of having to sell his daughters into a less than desirable life. Although meant to be anonymous (something unusual for the times), Nicholas’s generosity is discovered and becomes the stuff of legend. We explore how this legend was transformed over time to become the image of Santa Claus that we know today. Adam describes how St. Nicholas, a celebrated saint in The Netherlands, was used by Dutch-Americans to “tame” the rather raucous celebrations that came in early winter. We then follow the transformation of Nicholas’s imagery as artists such as Thomas Nast and Haddon Sundblom paint him as the jolly and rotund figure decked out in red and white that we know today. Irrespective that contemporary imagery, we continue to discover what type of man Nicholas was. While not a major player in the Church around the turn of the 4th century, we do see how Nicholas suffered persecution (literal torture) yet remained stalwart in his faith. As bishop of Myra, he was a strong advocate for justice and lower taxes, as well as becoming known as someone who cared for children. Throughout this discussion we pick up a number of interesting tidbits of information about St. Nicholas including his interesting relation to moneylenders and pawnbrokers, and Tony provides his own modified rendition of T’was the Night Before Christmas! Prof. English finishes with his thoughts on whether or not devout Christians should celebrate the legend of Santa Claus, and informs us where you can find a recipe for one his favorite Christmas cookies (link no longer active). A fun, educational, and tasty podcast indeed! Recorded: December 17, 2012.

The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus, by Prof. Adam English.

Christmas: Theological Anticipations, by Prof. Adam English.

Theology Remixed: Christianity as Story, Game, Language Culture, by Adam English.

The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Maurice Blondel at the Intersection of Philosophy and Theology, by Adam English.

RELATED PODCASTS

Tara Moore on Christmas Traditions … and Krampus.

John Reynolds on A Christmas Carol.

Jon Sweeney on It’s A Wonderful Life.

J Warner Wallace on Cold-Case Christianity and Christmas.

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who? Some Holy Uknowns.

Jim Papandrea on the Early Church Fathers.

Thomas Kidd on the Pilgrims (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 09:00:54 +0000

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, and part of our rotating encore feature this week, Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) returns to our podcast series to cover the history of a group of religious dissenters known as the Pilgrims. After Tony attempts to recite a rather famous poem about the Pilgrims, we explore the roots of this group dating back to the English Reformation and how dissent within the Church of England in the 16th century set a group of individuals from Scrooby, England on a journey that would eventually land them on Plymouth Rock. We follow the Pilgrims to the Netherlands and talk about their experiences there and discuss the reasons why they were able to obtain a charter for settlement in the North American colonies of Britain. Prof. Kidd details the importance of the Mayflower Compact and what life was like for settlers in a new land, including a tangential discussion on the importance of beer to the Puritans. (You will want to hear how brewing was beneficial to the Puritans and why the Puritans were not as prudish as one might think.) We finish our podcast with Prof. Kidd’s thoughts on the legacy of the Pilgrims for American development and a brief history of the holiday we have come to know as Thanksgiving. This podcast serves as a great introduction or review of the Pilgrims for high schoolers and homeschoolers and we encourage you to bring it to the attention of all those who might be interested. Prof. Kidd is associate professor of history at Baylor University, senior fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and co-director of Baylor’s Program on Historical Studies of Religion. Recorded: October 5, 2010.

Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths, by Thomas Kidd.

George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father, by Thomas Kidd.

Baptists in America: A History, by Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins.

The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, by Thomas Kidd.

God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, by Thomas Kidd.

Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father, by Thomas Kidd.

RELATED PODCASTS

Tracy McKenzie on the First Thanksgiving.

Thomas Kidd on the Great Awakening.

Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Liberty.

Martin Barrett on Sozo Friends & For-Profit Charities

tonygill — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 08:00:39 +0000

It is common for most people to attribute “non-profit status” to a faith-based organization that is dedicated to charitable giving. But can such an endeavor be run as a for-profit enterprise? This week we visit with Martin Barrett, co-founder of Sozo Friends, a small wine-bottling business that seeks to “facilitate community and funding around friends who meet basic needs.” By teaming with restaurants, auto dealers, realtors, mortgage companies, and other businesses, Sozo Friends is able to provide funding for such organizations as Emergency Food Network, Rescue Freedom, and Olive Crest (to name just a few). Mr. Barrett details his own upbringing in a faith-filled home, along with his participation in, and work for, Young Life. It is with this youth-oriented organization that he developed the sense that religion needs to be relational, building community beyond the boundaries of the walls of the local church. He then discusses the origins of Sozo Friends, conceived during a conversation over wine with the company’s other co-founder Monte Regier who had returned from a several year stint serving in Liberia with Mercy Ships. Martin details the various trials and errors of setting up a business model centered around wine and community, using focus groups with young professionals to explore new ways to engage people in charitable giving. Their first attempt at “Party in a Box” proved to be unsuccessful, but both Martin and Monte forged ahead with other ideas and settled upon using sales of premium wine at restaurants to help fund various charities. Canlis, a Seattle restaurant, was the first to jump on board. Martin notes how the idea is first to sell a high-quality product and then follow up with the story of how each bottle sold (or glass poured) helps an orphan or other person in need around the world. This marketing is atypical of other charities that tend to lead with the story and then sell the product. We then discuss how Sozo Friends has expanded into the area of chocolate and coffee, as well as expanding the business model beyond restaurants to other businesses — e.g., auto dealers — who give bottles of wine in a gift basket following the purchase of a vehicle. Martin notes that when someone who just bought a car receives this gift and learns that the proceeds of the sale go to a charity selected by the auto dealer, a bond of trust and community is created that is beneficial to all parties involved — the customer, the auto dealer, and the organization running the charity. Mr. Barrett finishes off explaining his business philosophy of how building relations and trust are central to a well-functioning marketplace and why he runs his business as a for-profit, rather than a non-profit. Recorded with the gracious assistance of Willows Lodge (which partners with Sozo Friends) in Woodinville, WA on June 15, 2016.

(Note: This interview, while not “social scientific” in nature, per se, is part of our occasional series on “practitioners” who live their faith at ground level. Talking with these folks about how they actual do the things they do is part of the social scientific process according to this podcast’s host.)

Monte Regier & Martin Barrett on how Sozo Friends began (YouTube video).

Martin Barrett on the Sozo experience (YouTube video).

“Sozo Friends Pairs Premium Wines with Fighting Hunger,” by Glenn Drosendahl (article in Puget Sound Business Journal).

“Sozo Wines: Let’s Chug-a-Lug for Charity,” by Leslie Kelly (article in the Seattle Weekly).

Young Life (mentioned in podcast).

Mercy Ships, Olive Crest, and Rescue:Freedom (charities mentioned on the podcast).

Willows Lodge – Woodinville, WA (gracious host of the interview).

RELATED PODCASTS

Jay Hein on the Quiet Revolution and Religious Social Work.

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Initiative.

John Fea on the American Bible Society.

Owen Strachan on Chuck Colson.

William Wubbenhorst on Serve, West Dallas.

David Wills on Religious Charity and Taxes.

Art Carden on Christian Ethics & Economics (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 09:00:22 +0000

We’re taking a short break, but will return with some fresh episodes soon. In the meantime please enjoy this popular interview from the past.

How does a Christian economist approach the religious charge of helping one’s neighbor? We talk with Art Carden, assistant professor of economics at Samford University and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics, about the relationship between Christian ethics, economic growth, and the best way to help one’s neighbor. The podcast starts out with a dose of good news in these troubling times, and we try to figure out why the past two centuries have been truly unique in human history. Art reveals some of the basic institutions that have arisen to help promote a phenomenal growth in living standards. These institutions include private property rights, honest government, competitive markets and free trade. But economic growth is more than just “getting the institutions right.” Prof. Carden points out that it is also about “getting the rhetoric right.” We delve into this topic by looking at how seemingly well-intentioned policies often have unintended consequences. This discussion is peppered with a number of different examples including laws against price gouging during a disaster, minimum wage laws, donating clothing to earthquake victims, and even holding toy and food drives at church. Prof. Carden then discusses the work he is doing with the Institute of Faith, Work and Economics in trying to help theologians and other Christians gain a better understanding of basic economics, and how this might help them achieve their goals of alleviating the plight of the suffering. He ends on an optimistic note about these efforts with a thankful nod to the internet and podcast series like this one. Recorded: October 29, 2012. (It should be noted that several of the predictions about anti-gouging laws that we made in the run-up to Hurricane Sandy have turned out to be true in its aftermath, including shortages of gasoline and other essential supplies.)

Thomas Kidd on the Pilgrims (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 09:00:13 +0000

While Tony is on a short break, we dip into the archive to bring you an encore presentation for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) returns to our podcast series to cover the history of a group of religious dissenters known as the Pilgrims. After Tony attempts to recite a rather famous poem about the Pilgrims, we explore the roots of this group dating back to the English Reformation and how dissent within the Church of England in the 16th century set a group of individuals from Scrooby, England on a journey that would eventually land them on Plymouth Rock. We follow the Pilgrims to the Netherlands and talk about their experiences there and discuss the reasons why they were able to obtain a charter for settlement in the North American colonies of Britain. Prof. Kidd details the importance of the Mayflower Compact and what life was like for settlers in a new land, including a tangential discussion on the importance of beer to the Puritans. (You will want to hear how brewing was beneficial to the Puritans and why the Puritans were not as prudish as one might think.) We finish our podcast with Prof. Kidd’s thoughts on the legacy of the Pilgrims for American development and a brief history of the holiday we have come to know as Thanksgiving. This podcast serves as a great introduction or review of the Pilgrims for high schoolers and homeschoolers and we encourage you to bring it to the attention of all those who might be interested. Prof. Kidd is associate professor of history at Baylor University, senior fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and co director of Baylor’s Program on Historical Studies of Religion. Recorded: October 5, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Thomas Kidd’s website.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and Program on Historical Studies of Religion.

The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America by Thomas Kidd.

God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution by Thomas Kidd.

The Protestant Interest: New England after Puritanism by Thomas Kidd.

RELATED PODCASTS

Thomas Kidd on the Great Awakening.

Tracy McKenzie on the First Thanksgiving.

Adam English on the Real Santa Claus

tonygill — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 09:00:35 +0000

We learn that St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries in the area that is now southwest Turkey. Nicholas grew up in a wealthy family, allowing him the luxury of pursuing an education and becoming a clergy member in the fast-expanding Christian Church at a time when persecution of Christians was common. Prof. English relays Nicholas’s most famous act of charity that earned him the reputation as a charitable gift-giver. The story involves Nicholas tossing three bags of coins, on separate days, through the open window of a destitute man on the verge of having to sell his daughters into a less than desirable life. Although meant to be anonymous (something unusual for the times), Nicholas’s generosity is discovered and becomes the stuff of legend. We explore how this legend was transformed over time to become the image of Santa Claus that we know today.

Adam describes how St. Nicholas, a celebrated saint in The Netherlands, was used by Dutch-Americans to “tame” the rather raucous celebrations that came in early winter. We then follow the tranformation of Nicholas’s imagery as artists such as Thomas Nast and Haddon Sundblom paint him as the jolly and rotund figure decked out in red and white that we know today. Irrespective that contemporary imagery, we continue to discover what type of man Nicholas was. While not a major player in the Church around the turn of the 4th century, we do see how Nicholas suffered persecution (literal torture) yet remained stalwart in his faith. As bishop of Myra, he was a strong advocate for justice and lower taxes, as well as becoming known as someone who cared for children.

Throughout this discussion we pick up a number of interesting tidbits of information about St. Nicholas including his intersting relation to moneylenders and pawnbrokers, and Tony provides his own modified rendition of T’was the Night Before Christmas! Prof. English finishes with his thoughts on whether or not devout Christians should celebrate the legend of Santa Claus, and informs us where you can find a recipe for one his favorite Christmas cookies. A fun, educational, and tasty podcast indeed! Recorded: December 17, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Adam English’s biography at Campbell University.

The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus, official webpage with cookie recipe and Prof. English’s blog.

Theology Remixed: Christianity as Story, Game, Language Culture, by Adam English.

The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Maurice Blondel at the Intersection of Philosophy and Theology, by Adam English.

RELATED PODCASTS

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who? Some Holy Unknowns.

Tracy McKenzie on The First Thanksgiving.

Jim Papandrea on the Early Church Fathers.

Jon Sweeney on It’s A Wonderful Life.

Carolyn Warner on Religion & Generosity

tonygill — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 08:00:07 +0000

What motivates religious individuals to give, either of their time or money? And do such motivations vary across faith traditions? We look at the issue of generosity among religious communities with Carolyn Warner, professor of political science at Arizona State University, who reviews the findings of several studies she is conducting with co-researchers Adam Cohen, Ramazon Kilinc, and Christopher Hale. What makes this multi-faceted project so interesting is that, unlike previous studies that tend to focus only on Christian denominations in the U.S., Prof. Warner’s team compares Catholics and Muslims in four cities in Europe — Dublin (Ireland), Paris (France), Milan (Italy), and Istanbul (Turkey). In each city they survey and conduct some interesting experiments on both Catholic parishes and Muslim organizations. In other words, not only are the researchers examining Catholics in Ireland, but they make sure to study Muslims in that same city. Likewise, they find a Catholic population in Istanbul to compare as well.

We start with a discussion on the difference between charity and generosity, a difference that Carolyn and her co-authors find to be very important. Whereas the former term (charity) indicates a relationship that is vertical — between a “superior” handing down something to an “inferior” — the term generosity tends to be more horizontal in its meaning. Carolyn then talks about the general sociological issues involved in studying generosity, noting that individual and community giving represent a collective action problem and the acts of generosity can be viewed as either public goods or club goods depending on the target population of the generous acts. In general, club goods are directed towards members within the religious community (e.g., Catholics helping fellow Catholics in the parish), whereas the public good aspect of generosity refers to giving beyond the boundaries of one’s spiritual community (e.g., Muslims aiding non-Muslims).

We note that religion has always been attributed with generous giving and we review some of the general reasons why scholars believe religion has a positive effect. Carolyn mentions various aspects that have been explored in the past, including the role that community plays, the institutional setting, ritualistic behavior, heightened sensitivity to the plight of others that religious ideas impart, and theological exhortations to give. Given the inter-disciplinary composition of Carolyn’s research team, Tony asks how difficult it was for a social psychologist (Adam Cohen) and a political economist (Carolyn) to talk with one another and come to a mutual understanding of what might be at play in the act of generosity. Following this Carolyn explains the rationale for choosing the various research sites and the groups studied, including why the Gülen movement was chosen as the specific Muslim group to examine. This portion of the conversation encompasses the (supposedly) relevant differences in organizational structure and theology between Catholics and Muslims.

We then turn to the results of this study, focusing first on the findings from the semi-structured interviews. Carolyn notes how Catholics tended to frame their generosity in terms of “love of Jesus” and “love of others,” often pulling from Matthew 25:40, whereas Muslims tended to emphasize duty to God, noting that Allah had given individuals gifts and it was thus important to use those gifts to help others. We also discuss the differences in ritualistic giving behavior and how that motivates generosity within these two groups. Despite these differences, the research team discovered that both groups emphasize the “sense of community” as a motivational prompt for helping others. This sense of community is not only the desire to help others, but as with any other social organization, the desire to be with others. She also addresses whether or not these charitable activities were oriented towards in-group giving (i.e., club goods) or out-group (i.e., public good). This discussion is more nuanced than one might think with an interesting observation about Catholics in Istanbul and their socio-legal standing.

We finish with a discussion of the experiment that Carolyn’s team carried out. She describes the methodology and findings of the experiment. In addition to quirky problems that always arise when conducting social scientific research, the research team was surprised to find out that the Muslim participants did give their fee for participating in an experiment to a specific group, but not a group that they had initially anticipated. And if you are listening closely during this part of the interview you can hear Rocky J. Barkington, the official canine mascot of Research on Religion, providing some insightful commentary in the background. Carolyn then shares her broad-based conclusions regarding what the research team has found to date, including some thoughts on whether or not religious charity might substitute for government provision of social welfare. Recorded: May 29,2013.

RELATED LINKS

Carolyn Warner’s bio at Arizona State University.

Description of Warner’s generosity project at The Science of Generosity Initiative at the University of Notre Dame.

The Best System Money Can Buy: Corruption in the European Union, by Carolyn Warner.

Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Europe, by Carolyn Warner.

RELATED PODCASTS

Michael McBride on Religious Free-Riding and the Mormon Church.

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out.

Rodney Stark on How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists

tonygill — Sun, 05 May 2013 08:00:21 +0000

Welcome new visitors. Join (and like) us at our Facebook Fan Page for regular updates, and be sure to tune in next week when we talk about Jesus & Gin!

Religious folks would agree that religion is pretty good for them. But is a more religious society good for the entire society as a whole, including non-believers? We take a look at the “positive spillover effects” that spiritual belief and church attendance has on the population as a whole with Prof. Rodney Stark, frequent guest and co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. (Disclaimer: Baylor’s ISR is the sponsor of our podcast.) Our conversation begins with a discussion about how religious America really is. Recent students appear to indicate increasing non-participation, particularly among the young, and the newly-defined category of “nones” has become a regular talking point in the popular media. Prof. Stark puts these studies into perspective noting some methodological issues with these studies, but also notes that the “nones” — when examined more closely — actually behave rather religiously, including engaging in regular prayer. Rod mentions that the problem may not be so much as a loss of faith amongst the population, but rather a current weakness among churches to provide an adequate set of services. We then talk about a variety of benefits that a religious, and churched, population brings to society as a whole, including atheists. Our first stop on this journey deals with crime and its flipside, “pro-social behavior.” Despite having an image of a society out of control, Rod points out that “secular” (or “unchurched”) Europe has much higher crime rates in almost all categories except murder. We then discuss how and why religion may help to ameliorate crime by promoting pro-social behaviors, a seemingly obvious notion that has often been overlooked by criminologists. Religion not only decreases crime, but it promotes pro-social behavior such as helping people on the side of the road and donating blood, which moves us into a discussion about voluntarism. Contrary to the oft-cultivated notion that religious folks only provide charity or donate time to their own religious organizations, Rod points out that religious individuals are more engaged in secular organizations than secular folks. This moves our conversation into the realm of civic (political) involvement, and again the data show that religiously-active individuals shine in this area as well, and this includes not only evangelical Protestants, but Catholics, Jews, and members of other faith traditions. Tony then notes that being a “community volunteer” is not the only way to benefit a community, but rather being successful in one’s own chosen profession and not becoming a burden on society is also a way of benefitting the society at large. Rod talks about how religious individuals are, on average, more successful in business than secular individuals and are less likely to become a burden on society. This move us then to the issue of education and how homeschooling, promoted largely by religious individuals, has transformed the educational system to the point where many institutions of higher learning are taking note. Again, this provides a great many “positive externalities” for the local and national community. We then tackle intellectual life by playing off Mark Noll’s famous book about the lack of an “evangelical mind,” and Rod shows — to the contrary of Noll’s assertion — that religious individuals contribute greatly to intellectual life and high culture in the U.S. We finish off the interview with a discussion of health-related issues, including both physical and mental health. Both Tony and Rod share their various outrages at some of the very odd studies that have looked at the interconnection between religion and health. And just to spice things up on RoR, we get into a bit of a discussion about s-e-x, as well as how that relates to a bigger issue facing the Western world — fertility. Recorded: April 30, 2013.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark.

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone… Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark (available November 2012).

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

RELATED PODCASTS

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part III.

Rodney Stark on The Crusades.

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Byron Johnson on Religion and Delinquency.

Daniel Hungerman on Religious Charity & Crowding Out.

Jeff Levin on Religion & Health.

Chris Bader on Ghosts, UFOs, and the Paranormal.

Paul Froese on America’s Four Gods.

David Wills on Religious Charity and Taxes

tonygill — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:05 +0000

(While your host is taking a short break, we rebroadcast this interview from two years ago. The issues remain as timely today as they were then!)

David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation (NCF) and a lawyer specializing in charitable giving and estate planning, joins our program to discuss the relationship between charitable giving, taxation and other government regulations. Our discussion starts on a broad philosophical level, examining how our society decides to allocate resources to solve various social problems — either via private charity or government intervention. We center our attention on disaster relief but observe that the pincipals we discuss apply to a wide range of social services. David reviews how his foundation operates and facilitates the relationship between donors and charitable organizations, which include both religious and secular organizations. Surprisingly, we discover that the NCF not only serves large philanthropic donors, but regular folks who might be donating just a couple thousand dollars each year. Tony notes that the NCF represents a unique entrepreneurial institution that allows individuals to make the most efficient use of their giving. We then discuss whether increases in taxation and government services have affected level and nature of charitable giveing. David provides an interesting grassroots perspective on this issue that contrasts with an earlier podcast we had with Daniel Hungerman. Our conversation turns to tax laws and other regulations affecting charitable organizations. David discusses how both tax rates and the regulatory defnition of what constitutes a charity can have a large impact on religious charity. He provides some insight into some potential legal and tax code changes on the horizon that may have a large impact on NGOs and donors. Anybody who runs, or donates to, a charitable organization will want to listen closely to what is happening as these changes are not widely discussed in the news media. Tony asks David about his thoughts on the Bush Administration’s Faith-Based Insiative. David finishes with some interesting observations about the role of megachurches with respect to these potential legal changes and his views on the future of megachurches contrasts with that of our previous guest, James Brettell. Recorded: March 23, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

The National Christian Foundation.

Investing in God’s Business, by Terry Parker, Gregory Sperry, and David Wills. (Free selection here.)

Family.Money: Five Questions Every Family Should Ask about Wealth, by David Wills, Terry Parker, and Gregory Sperry. (Free selection here.)

RELATED PODCASTS

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out.

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Initiative

Adam English on the Real Santa Claus, St. Nicholas of Myra

tonygill — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 09:00:54 +0000

Who was St. Nicholas? Did he really exist? And how did he become the “Santa Claus” that we know today? Prof. Adam English, associate professor in the Department of Theology and Philosophy at Campbell University, opens up his latest book The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus and tells us the story of this fascinating early Church leader. We learn that St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries in the area that is now southwest Turkey. Nicholas grew up in a wealthy family, allowing him the luxury of pursuing an education and becoming a clergy member in the fast-expanding Christian Church at a time when persecution of Christians was common. Prof. English relays Nicholas’s most famous act of charity that earned him the reputation as a charitable gift-giver. The story involves Nicholas tossing three bags of coins, on separate days, through the open window of a destitute man on the verge of having to sell his daughters into a less than desirable life. Although meant to be anonymous (something unusual for the times), Nicholas’s generosity is discovered and becomes the stuff of legend. We explore how this legend was transformed over time to become the image of Santa Claus that we know today. Adam describes how St. Nicholas, a celebrated saint in The Netherlands, was used by Dutch-Americans to “tame” the rather raucous celebrations that came in early winter. We then follow the tranformation of Nicholas’s imagery as artists such as Thomas Nast and Haddon Sundblom paint him as the jolly and rotund figure decked out in red and white that we know today. Irrespective that contemporary imagery, we continue to discover what type of man Nicholas was. While not a major player in the Church around the turn of the 4th century, we do see how Nicholas suffered persecution (literal torture) yet remained stalwart in his faith. As bishop of Myra, he was a strong advocate for justice and lower taxes, as well as becoming known as someone who cared for children. Throughout this discussion we pick up a number of interesting tidbits of information about St. Nicholas including his intersting relation to moneylenders and pawnbrokers, and Tony provides his own modified rendition of T’was the Night Before Christmas! Prof. English finishes with his thoughts on whether or not devout Christians should celebrate the legend of Santa Claus, and informs us where you can find a recipe for one his favorite Christmas cookies. A fun, educational, and tasty podcast indeed! Recorded: December 17, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Adam English’s biography at Campbell University.

The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus, official webpage with cookie recipe and Prof. English’s blog.

Theology Remixed: Christianity as Story, Game, Language Culture, by Adam English.

The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Maurice Blondel at the Intersection of Philosophy and Theology, by Adam English.

RELATED PODCASTS

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who? Some Holy Uknowns.

Tracy McKenzie on The First Thanksgiving.

Jim Papandrea on the Early Church Fathers.

Jon Sweeney on It’s A Wonderful Life (hey, it is a Christmas theme!)