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It’s important that both sides try to realize that people did, over time, create Christianity. Over the years, it has evolved-just as people, over time, created paganism and other religions.
Getting back on topic, while the information Scott initially posted is interesting, some of it is questionable. The idea that Santa Claus came from the Siberian shaman is a good example of this. While there are parallels-and parallels can actually be drawn from many cultures around the world, some as far away from Europe as Afghanistan, there are several distinct threads that knotted together to become the figure known as Father Christmas, Saint Nick and, ultimately, Santa Claus. Many of them Christian.
The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.
Prior to the Germanic peoples' conversion to Christianity, Germanic folklore contained stories about the god Odin (Wodan), who would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and the fallen warriors residing in his realm. Children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy This practice survived in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas. Children still place their straw filled shoes at the chimney every winter night, and Saint Nicholas (who, unlike Santa, is still riding a horse) rewards them with candy and gifts. Odin's appearance was often similar to that of Saint Nicholas, being depicted as an old, mysterious man with a beard. (Other features, like the absence of one eye, are not found in Saint Nicholas.) This practice in turn came to America via the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam prior to the British seizure in the 17th century, and evolved into the hanging of socks or stockings at the fireplace.
Saint Nicholas-Sint Niklaus in Dutch-àSanta Claus.
Interstingly, Sint Niklaus/Father Christmas, etc. actually rode a white horse, and sometimes a goat, and rarely a single reindeer-all on the ground. He didn’t actually fly in a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer until Clement Moore wrote
The Night before Christmas, based on his own Germanic heritage, in 1823.
Getting back to Odin, and the Germanic people, it might be good to talk about Vikings, an excellent example of the syncretism I brought up earlier.
The Vikings came into contact with Christianity through their raids, and when they settled in lands with a Christian population, they adopted Christianity quite quickly. This was true in Normandy, Ireland, and throughout the British Isles. Although contemporary accounts say little about this, we can see it in the archaeological evidence. As pagans (for lack of a better word, for now) the Vikings had many gods to pick and choose from, and it was a simple matter for them to have Jesus alongside all their other gods.
We know almost nothing about pagan religious practices in the Viking Age. There is little contemporary evidence, and although there are occasional references to paganism in the Viking sagas - mostly composed in Iceland in the 13th century - we have to remember that these were written down 200 years after the conversion to Christianity. We know that chieftains also had some sort of role as priests, and that pagan worship involved the sacrifice of horses, but not much more Pagans buried their dead with grave goods, but Christians normally didn't, and this makes it relatively easy to spot the change in religion. Some graves even have-and this was a common Viking pagan-Christian motif-both Thor’s hammer and a cross
As well as conversion abroad, the Viking Age also saw a gradual conversion in Scandinavia itself, as Anglo-Saxon and German missionaries arrived to convert the pagans. By the mid-11th century, Christianity was well established in Denmark and most of Norway. Although there was a temporary conversion in Sweden in the early 11th century, it wasn't until the mid-12th century that Christianity became established there. As part of the process of conversion the Christians took over traditional pagan sites. A good example of this can be seen at Gamle Uppsala in Sweden, where the remains of an early church stand alongside a series of huge pagan burial mounds.
The raids on the Frankish kingdoms and the British Isles brought increased contact with Christianity. Although Vikings often seem to have maintained their beliefs throughout the periods of their raiding, there was considerable pressure to convert to Christianity if they wished to have more peaceful relations with the Christians. This could happen on a political level, as in the Treaty of Wedmore in 878. The treaty bound the Viking leader Guthrum to accept Christianity, with Alfred of Wessex as his godfather, and Alfred in turn recognised Guthrum as the ruler of East Anglia.
Another more or less formal convention applied to trade, since Christians were not really supposed to trade with pagans. Although a full conversion does not seem to have been demanded of all Scandinavian traders, the custom of 'primsigning' (first-signing) was introduced. This was a halfway step, falling short of baptism, but indicating some willingness to accept Christianity, and this was often deemed to be enough to allow trading.
Further pressure came as Viking raiders settled down alongside Christian neighbors. Although scholars disagree on exactly how extensive the Scandinavian settlement was in different parts of the British Isles, few people would now accept that the Vikings completely replaced the native population in any area. In particular, the settlers often took native wives (or at least partners), although some settlers apparently brought their families over from Scandinavia. The children of these mixed marriages would therefore grow up in partially Christian households, and might even be brought up as Christians. Further intermarriage, coupled with the influence of the Church, gradually brought about a complete conversion. Thus a family might be largely Christian, but put up a tree for the toothless old grandfather each winter, ultimately forgetting why as they became more and more Christianized. That the practice also worked the other way, with the Church absorbing pagan practices, also goes without saying. Considering the age, it was only natural: you’re a lone friar, or small group of clergy, and you’re charged with spreading the faith, and you’re very, very far from any authority-or your home. It’s only natural (and the technique is still utilized by missionaries) that you draw parallels to establish understanding with the populace, and gradually convert their native practices to Christian ones.
The peaceful co-existence of pagans and Christians is suggested by some of the coinage of Viking York. One coin type carries the name of St Peter, rather than the ruler. This seems very obviously Christian, but on many of the coins, the final 'I' of 'PETRI' takes the form of Thor's hammer, and some of these coins also have a hammer on the reverse. These coins seem to carry a deliberate message that both paganism and Christianity were acceptable.
More to follow, but here's the St. Peter coin with Thor's hammer:
