Fractured Christmas Bible Studies, take 3

I figure I’d share one more passage. This is one that many of you may have forgotten, but nevertheless, it is a stunning prophecy from the book of Ecclesionomy. I will add some comments of my own afterwards.

Ecclesionomy 4:1-5

1 And in that day he shall come, from out of the sky, unto all the world. And he shall be on top of their houses.

2 And the gifts of the children of all the nations will be upon his shoulders.

3 And his name shall be called Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Chris Kringle, Father Christmas, Viejo Pascuero, the Elfmaster,

4 the man with all the toys, the man in the big red suit, the pride of the North Pole, the hope of Vixen, and the joy of Rudolph.

5 And the children shall believe in him. They will write him letters, and he will bring them gifts.


Many of you are no doubt aware that the beauty of this passage has been largely overshadowed in a storm of controversy. The debate revolves around the phrase in verse 5 “they will write him letters,” and raises the question: Does a child have to do good works in order to “earn” presents, or does he or she need simply to believe in Santa Claus? In the academic world, this is known as the classic question of “faith vs. works Clausology.”

On the one side, some scholars think that “writing letters” strongly implies that children must do good deeds in order to receive gifts. In other words, children write letters to Santa Claus not just to make their gift requests known, but to affirm that they have done enough good works during the year to deserve such gifts. Traditionally, these good works have centered on the child’s obedience to his or her parents, doing assigned chores around the house, and being nice to siblings.

On the other side, many scholars maintain that all a child must do is believe (or, have faith) in Santa Claus, and the child will receive presents. They explain verse 5 by saying that good behavior and letter writing are not prerequisites for receiving gifts, but rather a child’s heartfelt response to a loving Santa.

So which is it? Does a child have to do good works in order to get presents, or merely believe in Santa Claus? This is a very complex question. Allow me to observe the following.

First, we must always remember that our Santa is an omniscient Santa. He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good. These weighty words describe the very nature of Santa, and exhort us that we had better be good, for goodness sake! So, it appears clear that there is at least some expectation of good deeds. However, this leads to the inescapable conclusion that bad children will not receive any presents, which is difficult for many to accept.

But, there are problems with this logic. If Santa already knows if you’ve been bad or good, why bother writing a letter telling him your good deeds? One answer to this might be that writing a letter to Santa allows children to acknowledge Santa and to deal with their own sense of greed. Also, think about our common experience. Have you ever known a child to not receive presents? Come on, we all know at least one kid who probably never deserved a present in his or her entire life. But they all receive gifts nonetheless. So I have come to the conclusion that gifts really are not dependent on a child’s behavior. In other words, I do not subscribe to a works-based Clausology.

Well, as I said, this is not an easy issue. My thoughts here have just scratched the surface, and many Clausologists would undoubtedly disagree with my view. But I share this with you because I think it is vitally important that we understand exactly why we believe the things we do about this most special time of year.