The Santa Claus who slapped heretics
December comes with Christmas decorations and festivities. In our highly commercialized world, these cannot be separated from the figure of Santa Claus - the fat man with a long white beard in a red suit who delivers presents (or coal) to children around the world.
Saint Nicholas of Myra - The Real Santa Claus
The figure is based on a real Christian saint, St. Nicholas of Myra (modern-day Demre, Turkey) who lived in the 4th century. He was known for his generosity to the poor. He was orphaned at a young age and inherited a large fortune from his wealthy parents, which he used to help those in need. He also suffered imprisonment (or some accounts say solitary confinement) for his Christian faith until the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great legalized Christianity in 313 AD.
But one lesser-known legend about St. Nicholas is that he once slapped a heretic in the face!
The defender against Arian heresy
After Christianity was legalized, the Roman Empire was rife with theological disputes, most notably the Arian controversy, named after Arius, an Alexandrian priest who taught that Jesus Christ was not of the same substance as God the Father, effectively denying his divinity and the doctrine of the Trinity .
To address these disputes, Emperor Constantine organized the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD where Christian leaders from across the empire gathered to settle these issues. It was traditionally claimed that during the coucil, Arius had a long presentation of his views, agitating many bishops in attendance. St. Nicholas, known for his strong defense of orthodox Christian beliefs, believed essential doctrines were being attacked. He lost his cool and slapped Arius in the face to express his outrage.
It's said that after that, Nicholas was stripped of his bishop garments and imprisoned for a time. Nevertheless, the council ultimately condemned Arianism and affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity in the Nicene Creed, which remains a cornerstone of Christian faith to this day.
FUN FACT
While the Nicene Creed is often used to affirm orthordoxy among Christian churches nowadays (which rejects Jehovah's Witness or Latter-day Saints [Mormons] as Christians), we usually cite the more compact Apostles' Creed in our worship services.
Conclusion
Historically, the incident may be apocryphal (it's not mentioned in the earliest accounts) but it highlights St. Nicholas' passionate zeal for the LORD. As such, he would definitely be baffled by the modern commercialized image of Santa Claus. Instead, I am sure he would encourage us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas - the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came to save us (and St. Nicholas himself) from our sins!