“Santa Claus is inherently Christian,” said Michael J. Broyde, the director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University and an expert on Jewish law and ethics, pointing out that the character is derived from a third-century saint, Nicolas.

This quote is from At One Jewish Home, Making Room for Santa, an interesting article about a Jewish family in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood displaying Santa and pissing off the neighbors (at least the adults).

You’ll recall that Ms. Theologian took on the big red guy earlier and said he was explicitly Christian and from the fourth century, not third.

I would take Michael Broyde’s point further. Although Santa is inherently Christian, he’s much more Western Christian than anything else. Not all Christians celebrate Christmas in the same way. In 1054, the Western and Eastern churches split and Eastern Orthodox churches, such as the Greek Orthodox church, make a much bigger deal over Easter than over Christmas. Christmas is a small solemn celebration in many Greek families. A number of other Eastern Orthodox churches, including the churches of Russia and Serbia, celebrate Christmas on January 7, because they use a different calendar.