The story of our modern Santa Claus begins with this same Nicholas, who was born during the third century in Patara, a village in what is now Demre, Turkey. His wealthy parents raised him as a Christian. But they died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young, and he was left with their fortune. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his inheritance to assist the suffering, the sick, and the poor.
During the persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Diocletian, Bishop Nicholas was exiled and imprisoned along with thousands of other Christians. Though he suffered for his faith in Jesus Christ, mercifully Nicholas survived this persecution and was eventually released.
After returning to his post as bishop, Nicholas was called upon to defend Christianity against the heresy of Arianism. A contemporary of Nicholas and an early church theologian, Arius taught that God the Father and God the Son did not exist together eternally. Arius also taught that the pre-incarnate Jesus was a divine being created by (and possibly inferior to) the Father at some point, before which the Son did not exist.
Tradition tells us that Nicholas vigorously fought Arianism, and was listed as a participant in the First Council of Nicaea. This important gathering, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey), was convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325 A.D. This was the first ecumenical council of the early Christian Church, and it produced the first uniform Christian doctrine -- the Nicene Creed.
It is also believed that Nicholas participated in the destruction of several pagan temples, among them the temple of Artemis. Because the celebration of the goddess Diana's birth is on December 6th, some have speculated that this date was deliberately chosen for Nicholas's feast day to overshadow or replace the pagan celebrations. But December 6th is also listed as the date of Nicholas's death, which is more likely the reason the feast is celebrated on this day.
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