The Eric Metaxas Show - Bill Federer (Encore)

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

There Really is a Santa Claus - History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to listen to a man of grace, sophistication, integrity, and whimsy? Well, so are we. But until such a man shows up, please welcome Eric Mat, Texas. Hey there, folks. I'm excited to get Todd Chapman back on the program. He's with Christian Solidarity International. As you know, we're doing a campaign this month, as we do every year at this time to free people. from slavery, literally. Now, I know we probably have atheist, Marxists, that really don't care about slavery.

And you're listening to this program, we don't expect you to reach into your pocket. If you don't think that people are made in the image of God and shouldn't be enslaved, we don't expect you to give. But if you're some kind of Christian, obviously you do care about this. And obviously, if we give you an opportunity to help people get out of slavery, literally, we know you're interested, which is why CSI comes to us every year and says, Eric, talk to your audience. These are wonderful human beings. They actually care about this. There are very few pro-slavery people who listen to the program. So if you're a pro-slavery person, hey, we're not judging you for being evil. God is judging you, but we're not judging you. But if you're not a pro-slavery person, I know you're

interested. Todd Chapman, welcome back. Thanks, Eric. Great to be here. And thank you if you've participated already in this year's campaign to free slaves. We've just had a tremendous last couple of days. Yesterday alone, nearly 50 slaves freed by Eric Metaxus listeners. So that's great. We're gaining speed, but we still have a lot of slaves that we're hoping that your listeners can free. And so we invite everyone to be as generous as you can. Two hundred fifty dollar gift frees one slave provides them a new start in life in South Sudan. Dan, and hopefully the opportunity for us to reunite them with their family who they haven't seen in decades many times. And, yeah, it's a beautiful opportunity to literally save and transform someone's life through CSI.

Well, I want to be clear with my audience. As of today, we have had 65 gifts. Now, I know that a lot of people listen to this program. So we've only had 65 gifts thus far. So yesterday we had a bump. but our goal, it's a modest goal, is to free 676 slaves. $250 is the price to free one slave and to set them up in a life of freedom. You could give $25 a month.

That's more than $250 a year. So if you want to do it that way, the website is metaxus talk.com. We've saved or freed 120 slaves thus far, but the goal is 676. So in fact, we're not doing that well in this campaign. And so we need you to step up if you're, again, unless you're pro-slavery, if you're a Marxist atheist that doesn't believe in the dignity of human beings, you get a pass. but if you're not a Marxist atheist who actually is not pro-slavery, we're talking to you. The website is metaxis talk.com. Metaxistalkstalk.com.

You can see there's a banner there. When you click on it, it'll take you through whatever you want to give, however you want to give. And I always say it doesn't matter what you give as long as you participate. But this is an amazing opportunity. It's amazing opportunity. I'll give you a phone number in a minute to do this. this in someone's name as a Christmas gift. There are people who really,

you know, they don't need another whatever. So if you say to them on Christmas morning and when you see them, we did this in your name and you can show them the piece of paper that says, we freed a slave in your name. What a way to share your faith to say,

this is real. We care about this. So this is, Todd, it's an amazing thing. How many years have you been working with Christian Solidarity International, because you've got a close-up view. Yeah, I've been working with them for about four years now.

And honestly, before I started working with CSI, I didn't even know about the slavery issue in South Sudan, even though it's been going on for decades now. And I think a lot of people find themselves, yeah, I think a lot of people find themselves in that situation, never heard about this, didn't know that, you know, over 100,000 people were taken into slavery back in the, in the 90s and have lived that way ever since, much less that there's a Christian organization

that is working every day to free them and is being very successful. I mean, since 1995, thanks to generous listeners like yours, we've been able to free over 100,000 people, and we're estimating there's probably still another 30 or 40,000 still enslaved, and so we're going to keep doing this, and with your generosity, we're able to free more and more slaves every year. But, you know, Eric, it's easy to get lost in numbers. I like to talk about the story of individuals, because I think that's really what we need to focus on. You can give a gift and free a human being right now in the name of Jesus. And if you're a person of faith.

I mean, folks, are you listening to this, how amazing this is, that you are able to participate with us. I say this all the time, like that there's this satanic evil, human beings enslaved. Like, it's unbelievable. And then you think, oh, oh, I could do something about it. I mean, it's, I just see this as an amazing opportunity. and that's why I push it so hard. Folks, this is a beautiful thing you get to do.

This is unadulterated, wonderful goodness that you get to free somebody. And think about what we're asking. We're not saying it's $2,000. We're saying it's $250 to free a slave. That's like a dinner for two here in New York. It's crazy. And you can free a slave forever. This is not you buy their freedom for a month.

This is forever to free someone and to set them up in a life of freedom. The website is metaxistoctalk.com. Again, metaxis talk.com. And the phone number, some people prefer to call. I will give the phone number 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522. I can't imagine people don't want to do this.

I cannot imagine that people wouldn't say, we can do this. Our family will do maybe we'll just do $250 through the year. So we'll give $25 a month. Folks, this is an amazing, beautiful thing. You can get your kids involved and explain to your children. Hey, we're Christians. We believe every human being is made in the image of God and is sacred to God. And we have to do what we can.

Historically, it has been Christians that led the abolitionist movement in the 18th century. under the leadership of my hero, William Wilberforce. In the 19th century, it has been Christians that led the battle for abolition. Why? Because Christians are different. They believe that every single human being is made in God's image. They don't have an evolutionist Darwinian view that says some people are worth less than others. And we believe in the free market.

We don't believe in what the Bible says. No, it's an amazing opportunity in our own day to participate. in an abolitionist movement and to free slaves because we believe that the God who made us made them. And so the website is metaxis talk.com. You'll see the banner there. And I say this again, folks, you know, you can, some of you, maybe can't give $250, you can give something. Some of you can give multiples of that. Some of you can give $1,000 to free for human beings and set them up in a life of freedom. And I say anybody out there that can give $15,000, this is tax deductible. I will have dinner with you, we'll figure it out in your town or our town

or whatever. We do this every year somebody steps up. And it's my privilege to take my valuable time. It's become insanely valuable. But it's my privilege to take my time and to spend it with people because you care and you've expressed your caring in this way. We've just got a minute left, Todd. Talk a little bit just for 40 seconds about how we set them up in a life of freedom once they are free. Yeah, so four or five times a year we have negotiated the freedom of these slaves and we marched them en masse, you know, two, three hundred at a time into South Sudan where we have a camp where we gather them together. We document their story. A lot of times, some of these people don't even know what their original name is, much less who their parents were, where they're from.

We try to reunite them with their family if we can. And then we set them up with grains and a she goat and supplies to start a new life because they've got to have something to go to. We can't just get them out and say, okay, you're on your own. We don't do that. We try to get them back with their family, with their community. And if we can't, we've got communities of slaves who have all been freed and they form their own communities. It's a new start in life. many of them now women bringing children with them into freedom.

That's a new thing we've been able to do in the last couple of years. So we can't do it without you, so thanks for giving. Please go to metaxistock.com, mettaxistock.com, mettaxistock.com. So you're putting money away, saving for the future, for retirement, for your family. You're doing what you're supposed to do, right? Well, what if I told you that your 401k, IRA, and other investments are probably paying for gambling, abortion, and LGBT causes? Inspire advisors can tell you where your profits are really.

really coming from. Do what I did. Go to InspireAdvisors.com and order your free customized impact report and find out. Inspire is a recognized leader in faith-based investing. They can empower you to put your money where your values are. They stand by their biblical values, donating 50% of their profits to Christian ministries each year. And they know that investing with Christian values has power. Get your free customized impact report now at InspireAdvisors.com slash Eric. And together, let's show Wall Street what investing with biblical principles can do. Inspire Advisors. Biblically responsible investing, visit inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors. com slash Eric. Hey, folks, listeners to my show know I'm passionate about the work of Christian

Solidarity International because they protect and free those who are being persecuted and enslaved for their faith. Thanks to you to date, CSI has freed more than 100,000 people from slavery in Sudan, but the work is not done yet. It's estimated that there are still tens of thousands more still in bondage, and CSI is preparing right now for their final slave liberation of this year. I'm hoping you'll join me and help them liberate another 300 women and children. Your gift of just $250 will free a woman in Sudan who has been enslaved for years and provide her with food and other supplies necessary to start her new life. Call 888-253-3522. 888-253.3-3-3-3-3-3. 3522, Christian Solidarity International, freeing and healing captives in Jesus' name.

Go to metaxistock.com. Metaxistock.com. Click on the Christian Solidarity banner. Metaxistock. com or 888-2533522. God bless you. Okay. I'm talking to William Federer. The book is there really is a Santa Claus. And Bill, you were just telling us this, it's the amazing story, really, of the real Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, but you were just getting to this moment where Constantine, this is the legend, but I've heard it many times, he sees, well, keep going, because you were just about to tell us. So he sees the sign of Christ in the sky the day before his battle, and he puts it on all of his shields and symbols, and they win. What's the sign of Christ? Well, they think it's

the first two Greek letters for the name Christ. And so Messiah is the Hebrew, word in Greek, it's Christ, and the kha sound is written as an X, and the er sound is written as a P. And so it's a big X and a P called a Kai row. Over the centuries, it got shortened just to the Kai, and it was called the Christ's cross or Chris Cross. And that's where you get the X-Mis. So X is not the letter crossing out Christ. It's the letter that stood for Christ, the Kai, the X.

And the Greeks, yes, we were pronounced at Christos with the G and then the raw. So yes. But I don't remember hearing that version. So that's really wonderful. You're always clearing stuff up for me, Bill Federer. Thank you. So this, what year roughly are we talking about? This is early in the fourth century?

It would be 312 AD, the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. By the way, that Kai, and I know I'm not pronoun. announcing it the correct way. But that's where you get crossed my heart, swear to tell the truth. Or if you were going to sign it a document, you would sign it that Christ Cross, the X, that you're going to keep your promise. And then they would kiss it to show sincerity. That's come down to us as the X's and the O's on the bottom of a Valentine. And anyway, so Constantine wins the battle and legalizes Christianity 13, the Edict of Milan. And now Nicholas has led out of jail and since it's okay he preaches publicly against paganism nearby is the temple to diana and ephesus not a very long distance from myra

and there's the temple to diana it's one of the seven wonders of the ancient world 127 huge pillars and temple prostitutes it's the las vegas of the mediterranean he preaches against it so much they tear it down so he's like a fire and brimstone preacher next he preaches against exposure of unwanted infant the Roman practice was the mother would bear the child laid at the father's feet, and if he didn't like it and didn't pick it up, the mother would have to put the baby in a basket out in the woods and expose and let it die. Matter of fact, Rome was founded in the legend by two boys put out for exposure, and a wolf came by and nursed him, Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus, yes, they were rescued by a she wolf who suckled them as though they were her own.

What a beautiful story, but we don't believe that one. please continue and so the story of you know these women if the husband doesn't want to keep the baby she would put it in a basket at the door of a christian and that's where you get the story knock on the door there's a baby in a who leaves a baby in a basket the romans and so nicholas preached against exposure of unwanted infants if he would have been alive today he'd have been a pro-life preacher And then there's the Aryan heresy. By the way, he preached against the Greek Olympics. They had the word gym for gymnasium is the Greek word for naked, and they ran the Olympics naked.

Anyway. Now, see, I've not heard that. This is every time I talk to you, I learn something new. Or several things that are new. But that, in the fourth century, they still had the, Olympics, I guess I'm not really clear on that, that they were still having the Olympics, the Greek Olympics. And they always did it naked, but I didn't think that there was anything, there was no concupiscence involved as far as I was concerned. But evidently,

Santa Claus and I have different views on this. Yeah, well, as the, when the Romans conquered Greece, the Olympics ended, but it was Herod the Great that restarted them up. And so, then they continued to different degrees. But by the fourth century, to the time of Nicholas, the Greeks were into naked statues and stuff, and so Nicholas preached against this. Then there's the Aryan heresy. So for the first three centuries, Christians had church in catacombs, and they were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, and they didn't live long enough to argue over doctrine.

But once Constantine legalizes Christianity, you have Arias, a bishop, and he says that Jesus was a created being, a little less than God the Father. And before you know it, he writes a catchy song. The Visigoths, who are immigrants into Rome, convert to Arianism. And it's splitting the church. And since Constantine had made the church the de facto religion, it's now splitting the Roman Empire. And so Constantine orders and pays for all the bishops for the first time ever to meet in one place, in Nicaea, to settle it. They do. It's called the Nicaean Creed. And, It's called the Nicene Council. Correct.

Out of which comes the Nicene Creed. Correct. I know you knew that. Go ahead. In 325A.D. And so they excommunicate Arias, and you'll see the early church artwork of all the bishops sitting around and then a pit in the middle with areas sitting there in the pit. And the tradition is that Nicholas was there, and he was so upset at Arias for starting

this first of all heresies that Nicholas slapped Arias across the fifth. face. And so Jolly old St. Nick had a little temper. You better watch out if he's coming to town. I think he might have been part Irish. You got his Irish. He wasn't going to put up with this stuff. That's, listen, this, I know, I know this story, but it's important that we tell these stories and that we understand that early, obviously, in the fourth century, we have this council in Nicaea, and they gather led, we would say, by the Holy Spirit. This was not kind of like, hey, we're just a vote. It's just like led by the Holy Spirit to say this is true, this is false. And Aryanism, the idea that Jesus was a created being was rejected. And of course, now it makes sense to us

because we, you know, we, if we, if you think about it. But it's so fascinating that, uh, that there were, that there were voices like the voice of, of, of, of, of, of, of, preaching this kind of, you know, what we now would call heresy, or I guess back then they called heresy. So, so St. Nicholas was involved in that. I've heard about him. I thought he punched Arias, but you're saying he slapped him. Well, there's artwork of him taking his hand across the face of Arias. And of course, God created through speaking, God said, let there be light. And God said, and so what do you say,

but words. And so there's the word of God. Jesus is the word made flesh, but he's right there at creation. But anyway, there's lots of miracles attributed to Nicholas. And because of the Roman persecutions, a lot of early church records were destroyed. So it's hard to actually verify. But three notable, there was a famine, and the grain ships would come from North Africa. That's the main agricultural spot, Egypt. And then the grain ships. ships would go by Asia Minor on their way to Rome. So Nicholas went down to the dock, talked the sailors into unloading some grain, promised God would bless him on their return trip.

They said the grain that was left had multiplied, sort of like the little widow's meal barrel in the story of Elijah. And then there was a storm, and they get him, fishermen and sailors couldn't get back to dock. He goes down, prays the sea becomes calm. And so that's when he becomes the patron saint of sailors. And in addition to pawnbrokers. And then he confronted corrupt politicians. And there was a governor who was going to have some men executed to cover up his corruption.

I know today we're familiar with politicians and body count lists of people suspiciously dying. And anyway, Nicholas hears about the execution, goes down, breaks through the crowd, grabs the sword out of the executioner's hand, throws it down. and then in front of everybody by the Holy Spirit, he tells what this corrupt governor was doing. The governor realizes nobody could know the details other than God, so he repents. And so you'll see some early church artwork of Nicholas grabbing this sword.

And so he dies December 6th. So Pentecostal gifts were invented before Asusa Street in 1906. I didn't know that. There you go. And so you had Emperor just, He's a big church in Myra, and he's also the one that built the Hagia Sophia, but he names this church in Myra after Nicholas. And then you have Eastern Europe celebrating January 6th, Epiphany,

when the Three Wise Men come to visit as the holiest day. And Western Europe is Christmas, December 25th. They couldn't decide which day was holier. So at the Council of Tours in 567 AD, they, decide to make all 12 days between December 25th and January 6th the 12 days of Christmas. So the 12 days. Every single time you come on this program, I hear stuff I've never heard before. Or if I ever did hear it before, I certainly forgot it.

But what a beautiful idea. Because a lot of people in Greece, January 6th, they often take more seriously than they do December 25th. So the idea that that's where we get the 12 days of Christmas. Christmas. I love that. We'll be right back, folks, talking to William Federer. The book is there really is a Santa Claus. Folks, I've got to be realistic about my diet in December. It's got to be the worst month of the year in terms of eating. No matter what you do, you're inevitably going to find yourself eating things, treats, meats, dishes, leaving very little room for the right stuff.

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Again, Neutrametics, N-U-T-R-A-M-E-D-I-X.com. Nutrametics.com, use the code Eric for 15% off. Folks, before we continue with our friend William Federer, I want to remind you we're doing a campaign with CSI, and I earnestly exhort you to join us in this campaign. go to metaxis talk.com. One of the greatest things you could do, one of the greatest expressions of faith, is to free a slave.

It's just so beautiful that we get to do this. You can do it as a Christmas gift for someone. Say we did this in your name, grandpa. That'll mean a lot more than most other things. So if you want to call, the website is metaxis talk.com, and it's right at the top. Or you can call 8888. 253, 3522, 888, 253, 3522. It's important that everyone participate. Whatever you can do.

Some people can just do a few bucks. Whatever you can do, by God's grace, please do it. And thank you in advance. So William Federer, we're talking about the real Santa Claus. So keep going. This is a rollicking tale. So 988 AD Vladimir the Great, the first emperor of Russia, converts to Greek Orthodox Christianity, and adopts Nicholas as the patron saint of Russia. And then Islam invades. And all seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, they're all in Asia Minor, they're all conquered. Ephesus and Thiatire and Sardis. And as they would come in, they would destroy graves. and the fear was they would destroy the grave of St. Nicholas.

Now, this was a serious threat because a few centuries earlier, in 846 AD, 11,000 Muslim pirates raided Rome, Italy, and trashed the basilica of St. Peter's and the grave of St. Peter and St. Paul. And so it was after this that Pope Leo decided to build a 39-foot wall around the Vatican. and if you've ever been to Rome, I've been there. There's a bus stop there, and it was by dozens of times. So when the Muslims are invading into Turkey, the Christians moved the grave of St. Nichols over to Italy, a little town on the Adriatic called Bari, B-A-R-I, and Pope Urban II dedicated the church, Cathedral Niccolo de Barri, Cathedral of Nicholas of Bari.

and this introduced Nicholas and all the gift-giving traditions to Western Europe. Now, Pope Urban II that dedicated this cathedral, you know him because a few years later, 1095, he went to the consul of Claremont and he begged the European leaders to send help to the Greeks. And they do. It's called the First Crusade. So the same Pope that welcomes Nicholas's remains into Italy is the one who called for the first crusade. There were nine major crusades, and when they end, the Muslims pick up where they left off and invade into Eastern Europe. But in Italy, they love the gift giving. It caught on so much that Francis of Assisi, the poor preaching friar, now we're up to the 13th century.

Correct. He invented the crash scene, the nativity scene, saying there's too much opulence, too much materialism, too much emphasis on gifts. We need to get back to the real reason for the season. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger. And then, fast forward, Martin Luther starts the Reformation, 1517. By this time, there's a Saints Day for every day of the year. Churches have relics, little pieces of bone or hair from saints. They have side altars, and Luther considered Saints' days a distraction. So he ends them. And the Germans like the gift giving. So he moves the gift giving to December 25th and said, all gifts. come from the Christ Child.

And the German pronunciation of Christ Child is Chris Kindle, like Kindercare, kindergarten, kinder means child, Chris means Christ. And over the centuries, Chris Kindle got pronounced Chris Kringle. So Chris Kringle.

Another thing I've never heard before. You got to cut this out. I can't take it in. I'm drinking from a water hose here. Chris Kindle. Chris Kindle. Kindle. Christ Child, Christkindor, became Chris Kringle. I've never heard that before.

Now we know. And so, you know, like in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, they have the Chris Kindel market, you know, the Christmas market. It was the crutch. My daughter lived and worked in Germany for 10 years and, you know, the day before Christmas would be, Chris Kindel's coming, you know. So then we have the Christmas tree. And the same way that St. Patrick evangelized. Ireland and he was from Britain. Another person from Britain named St. Boniface evangelizes the Germans. And so St. Bonifis also called Winfred in the early 700s, about the same time the Muslims

are being stopped at the Battle of Tours outside of Paris. You have St. Bonifis goes through the woods, gets to Gaismar, Germany, and there's an oak tree where they worship Thor. And the Germans, when China builds a great wall of China, you have the Huns couldn't invade into China, they turned west, and they attacked the Visigas, the Osirg, Angels, Saxons, Jews, Lombard, Dalamani, Berbers, and all these people begin migrating over the Roman borders, and some of them are called Franks and some of them are called Germans. And the Germans worship Thor, that's where you get the word Thor's Day or Thursday. And the Germans worship Woden, and that's where you get Wodon's Day or Wednesday. matter of fact the quakers refused to say Wednesday and Thursday because they're the names of pagan gods you know i've joked about that i have actually joked about that and i've said that you know anybody who says Wednesday or Thursday that's pagan you shouldn't say that um but of course

there's always somebody who takes these things so seriously so what in the world did the quakers call Wednesday and Thursday uh they called it fourth day and fifth day good enough not too imaginative but um Anyway, so the story is that it was Christmas Eve, 722 AD. Boniface gets an axe and he begins to chop down Thor's tree. Somebody says stop. Somebody else said, well, if Thor is really a god, he can protect his own tree. And a big wind came through, knocked the tree over. Hold on, hold on.

This is another cliffhanger, folks. You want to know what happened to the tree? Don't go away. So you're putting money away, saving for the future, for retirement, for your family. You're doing what you're supposed to do, right? Well, what if I told you that your 401k, IRA, and other investments are probably paying for gambling, abortion, and LGBT causes? Inspire Advisors can tell you where your profits are really coming from. Do what I did. Go to InspireAdvisors.com and order your free customized impact report and find out. Inspire is a recognized leader in faith-based investing. They can empower you to put your money where your values are.

They stand by their biblical values donating 50% of their profits to Christian ministries each year. and they know that investing with Christian values has power. Get your free customized impact report now at InspireAdvisors.com slash Eric. And together, let's show Wall Street what investing with biblical principles can do. Inspire advisors, biblically responsible investing, visit inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. Hey, folks, the story of My Pillow is a testament to faith and transformation. Mike Lindell, once battling addiction, found a new path when he embraced faith and began following Jesus.

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Or pick up the luxurious MyPillow Bedsheets starting at 4998. Visit MyPillow.com or call 800-9783057. Use promo code Eric to unlock huge discounts. That's promo code Eric, MyPillow.com, 800-9783057. Folks, I'm talking to William Federer. We are now in the year 722 AD. Okay, so you're talking about this tree dedicated to Thor? Is that what you said?

Correct. And St. Boniface also called Winfred is the missionary from Britain, and he's there chopping down Thor's tree. And then once it's fallen down, he points to an evergreen tree. And he says, let this be the tree of the Christ child, see how it points toward heaven. Its leaves are evergreen, symbolizing everlasting life. Your homes are built of fur, let it shelter no deeds of blood. And so the same way that Patrick used the three-leaves clover to try to convey the Trinity to a bunch of these pagan druids, Bonifis used the evergreen tree because it's in a triangular shape. It points toward heaven. And so the evergreen tree was symbolic

of Germans converting to Christianity. And so even Abraham planted a tamarisk tree, which is an evergreen. The oak tree is the pagan tree. So we have to get our trees right. Now, as far as the lights go, lights at this season go back to 165 BC and the Maccabees, the Jews, driving out the Syrians, rededicating the temple. There's only enough oil for one day. They poured in at last eight.

And so for centuries, the Jews would have their Hanukkah menorah called the Festival of Lights. And even Jesus celebrated this festival. And John 10 says that he's in Jerusalem for the Festival of Life for the Feast of Dedication when they rededicated the temple. And so the possibility is that Martin Luther may have seen these lights in the Jewish windows at this time of the year. But however, Martin Luther's coming home. And he says he was looking at the sky with the twinkling lights and put candles in the branches and told his children, this is like the sky above Bethlehem on the night of Christ's birth. And so the Christmas tree was, again, symbolic of Germans converting to Christianity.

Then we have England. Henry VIII brings the Reformation, not because he had a spiritual experience like Martin Luther. He just wanted another wife, went on to have six wives. and he brings back an old Roman holiday Saturnalia. Britain used to be a Roman colony since 55 BC when Julius Caesar invaded. And during Henry the Aceh time called Tudor, England, the House of the Tudors, you had Christmas turned into a Mardi Gras. It was a party time.

People forget Mardi Gras used to be a religious day. It was the day before Lent when you had fast 40 days before Easter and celebrated. the resurrection. Now it's a lewd party in New Orleans. Well, that's what happened with Christmas under Henry the Eighth. They even had a Lord of Miss Rule. And Henry the Eighth would have his Christmas party at his Windsor Mansion, and he'd be flinging sugar plums at people, and they would have somebody dressed up as the bishop, and they would mock him, they would have court jesters, and they'd even have scandalous stories of nuns sneaking out of convents. And anyway, when the Puritans took over England, they outlawed Christmas.

No wonder. Now that we hear about Saturnalia under Henry the 8th, I've never heard that that was the reason, but it makes good sense. And so Shakespeare had to play 12th night, which was the last of the 12 nights of Christmas, and it's a big Roman carnivalesque party at time drunkard and so forth. And so the Puritan leader, Cotton Mather, said, can you and your conscience think that our holy Savior is honored by mad, mirth, long, eating, hard, drinking, lewd, gaming, rude, reveling, mass fit for a Saturn or Bacchus or a Mohammed and Ramadan. You cannot possibly think so that the birth of our Savior, we owe our high praises to God, we take time to please hellish legions who have more in common with hell than in heaven

in them. So the Puritans settled New England. And by the way, the Puritans tore down Shakespeare's Theater. they thought it was rude and a bunch of drunken theater goers. And first they banned Shakespeare's from mentioning God in his place. It was considered taking God's name in vain to mention God's holy name in front of a bunch of drunk people. And so that's when Shakespeare wrote Midsummer's Night's Dream and some of these ones where he refers to fairies and stuff. But then they tore it down in 1642.

So the pilgrims come to America, and the captain of the Mayflower, Christopher Jones, writes in his ship's log, December 25th, 1620, at Harbor, Plymouth Christmas Day, but not observed by these colonists, they being opposed to all saints' days. And so the pilgrims didn't celebrate Christmas. The Puritans had a five-shilling fine for anybody caught celebrating Christmas. So it was not until the French and German and Dutch immigrants came to America that they brought their Christmas traditions with them. And this is where it gets interesting. The same way you have a Catholic saying St. Peter's at the gates of heaven, the Dutch do a take on the book of Revelation where Jesus will return it at the end of the world to judge living in the dead riding a white horse. Saints will come back with him, riding white horses. St. Nicholas is one of the saints, but says,

Since he's so special, he gets to come back once a year for a little mini judgment day, a little checkup on the kids. See if they're on the right tracks. He was naughty. He was nice. And so in Holland, they have St. Nicholas coming back once a year riding a white horse dressed as a bishop. And over the years, it sort of morphed. And so the saints come from heaven.

Well, that turned into the North Pole. And in Norway, they had few horses. So he's riding a reindeer. and the angel turn into the elves and the lamb's book of life and the and the book of works turns into the book of the naughty and the nice and so you uh but the interesting edition of the dutch is st nicholas has a helper named zvarte pete black peter he's a moor a Muslim and st nicholas gives presence to the good kids the naughty kids Zvarte Pete, this Moorish helper, puts the naughty kids in a gunny sack, takes them back to Spain and sells them into Muslim slavery. Not that there's anything wrong with that, because we're not here to judge the Moors or Islam. We just have seconds left. Final thoughts.

So the Dutch immigrants came to New York. They brought their St. Nicholas tradition. The first Dutch church in New York was the St. Nicholas Church. And in New York, you have Washington Irving. He wrote Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow. and he wrote Dieterick Knickerbocker's history in New York. He's the one who changed out as Bishop's outfit for a Dutch outfit of long, drunk hose, stock and hat and boots. And then Clement Moore, 1823, Hebrew professor writes a poem for his children.

By the way, there's a park in New York, 10th Avenue and 22nd Street called Clement Moore Park. But he writes the poem towards a night for Christmas, all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouth. Stockings were hung by the chimney with carry in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there. still call St. Nicholas. We're going to have to end it there. Bill Federer, my friend, amazing. Thank you, folks. Get a copy of There Really is a Santa Claus. There really is a Santa Claus. William Federer. Thank you. Thank you. Before I forget, I've got a number of things I want to share before we sign off for today. But I would remind you, first of all, of our friends at the Herzog Foundation. I've talked so much on this program about how our nation's public schools have been captured by

let's say progressive ideologues, to put it nicely. Marxist lunatics is another term you might use. Now, this doesn't mean everybody who teaches in public schools, but so many that if I could homeschool my kids or send them to a quality Christian school, I would absolutely do that. So that's why we're friends with the Herzog Foundation because they make it possible for anybody to do this. If you go to their website, they have all kinds of free resources, folks, for you. If you're thinking about homeschooling, you're thinking about quality K-12 Christian education, you go to Herzog Foundation.com. That's Herzogfoundation.com. They are a tremendous resource. Take advantage of them. They're there to help. Herzogfoundation.com. Okay, a lot of other stuff before we sign off for the day, I want to remind you, again, of

campaign with CSI. Very important that everybody participate. This is an amazing opportunity. Everyone can participate at some level. Everyone. You could do $5 a month. This is freeing slaves. This is helping our friends at CSI, Christian Solidarity International, freeing slaves. It's real. It's beautiful that we get to do this. Every year we partner with them. So we're asking you to go to the website. it's metaxis talk.com. That's our radio website. Lots of other stuff there. But if you go to Metaxxotoccom,

right at the top of the page, you'll see it. If you'd prefer to call, some people prefer to do that. I will give you the phone number. If you're ready, are you ready? You're ready for the phone number? You can call it today. Here it is.

888-253-3522. 888-253-35-22. 8-88-253-35-22. since we're talking about Christmas gifts, I want to remind you about the Socrates in the city book, brand new book. It's called Conversations on the Examined Life. You can find it at Socratesin the city.com. A great gift, trust me on this. If you give that to somebody who's a thoughtful person and they start reading it, they're going to encounter great ideas. I don't say these things lightly. It's at the heart of my whole life. You can go to Socratesin the city.com. There's actually

all this other swag. Really, like the sweatshirts are gorgeous. They're just beautifully designed. A lot of fun stuff. Socrates in the city dot com. And obviously, I hope that everyone

will see the Bonhofer film tonight, tomorrow, in the next few days. It is really crucial for the future of America that we have quality entertainment. And when a film like this comes along, I cannot say, it emphatically enough, folks. A lot of prayer has gone into this film over the last 12 years.

I cannot begin to tell you a lot of prayer and miracles upon miracles to get it made. But now, of course, we have to get it out there. I mean, we have to get the word out there for people to see it. And so many friends of mine I said earlier today that my friend Jen Ellis said, oh, I'm going to see it this weekend or haven't seen it yet. And I said, Jenna, please see it ASAP, because the theaters, they're just dying to put in some some garbage that'll make a little more money. And so we have to support these films. And again, this is such an excellent film. This is like when you're selling something that if you see it, you're going to be like, oh, thank goodness I saw it. It is great. So I want to be very, very clear that it's urgent. Share it on social media, please. Churches are buying out theaters.

is important that the film stay in theaters past this weekend. And I'll be going to be reporting on that. I'll let you know. But anything you can do to help, please don't delay. God bless you. We'll talk to you tomorrow.