January 3, 1863 cover of Harper’s Weekly, one of the first depictions of Santa Claus
John McGuckin is one of those wonderful creatures, an erudite historian who can also communicate history compellingly to a lay audience. I know because he wrote a great, colorful article for Christian History‘s issue on the Council of Nicea–my last issue as editor at that magazine.You can see a preview of his article here and buy the issue here.
The “powers that be” at Union Theological Seminary in New York chose Thursday, December 6, 2007 as the date of Dr. McGuckin’s installation as Nielsen Chair in Late Antique & Byzantine Christian History. That was all the excuse the good Dr. needed: since Dec. 6 is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, he took St. Nick as his text.
The result was this enjoyable (and yes, compelling) talk. (That link seems broken, 12-6-14 – try this iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/john-mcguckins-inauguration/id85098839?i=32825222.) Skip the intro material and just jump ahead to 3:30. Here Dr. McGuckin begins to spin the tale of how Nicholas morphed into Santa Claus–jolly American consumerism and all–by way of Norse mythology!
Enjoy, and Happy Feast Day of St. Nicholas!
Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
Grateful to the dead 
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