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Who was the real Santa Claus?

It's that magical time of year when the lights go up, the trees get decorated and a familiar bearded man in a red suit pops up everywhere. He goes by a few names: Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and Saint Nick. But who was the real Santa Claus? Well, to answer that, we need to go way back in history to the fourth century to a Bishop called Nicholas of Myra (present-day Demre, Turkey). Memes abound about St Nicholas and Arius Some early lists place him as one of the Bishops who attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, and there are some questionable legends which state that he was temporarily defrocked (removal from office) and imprisoned during...

The Mystery Of Epiphany And The Star Of Bethlehem

As the Church celebrates Epiphany, we reflect on the Magi's visit to the Christ child, guided by a star—a sign of God’s revelation to the nations. This story, steeped in wonder and mystery, has sparked fascination for centuries. What was this “Star of Bethlehem” that led the wise men to Jesus? Was it a miraculous light, or could it have been a natural astronomical event designed by the Creator to herald the birth of the King of Kings? The chart is from the SkySafari app The Great Conjunction In December 2020, the world witnessed a rare astronomical event called a “great conjunction.” Jupiter and Saturn appeared so close in the night sky that t...

On the Feast of the Nativity, a sermon by Leo the Great

In the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to share a sermon from a man known as Leo the Great (aka Pope Leo I), who was a Pope from 440-61 AD. He was one of the most significant and important men in Christian antiquity, as he tried to combat the heresies which seriously threatened church unity in the West, such as Pelagianism. This sermon of his about the incarnation of Christ and what it means for us has always stuck with me since I first read it last April when writing my own book on the Early Church Fathers. It's not that long, so take the time to read it through and let the words sink in as we prepare for Christmas to remember and celebrate the birth...

Lent, Lament and Lockdown

Lent is a time of self denial and of giving things up, and also a period of lament in the lead up to Easter where we remember the Passion and death of Christ before we celebrated the glorious resurrection.  Often this is a personal affair on the discipline side of things, even if it's a practice shared within your church community, but this year has been so very different. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, the whole world has slowly gone into lockdown country by country, creating a strange sort of global “Lent” where everyone is having to practice self control and self denial. This has been underpinned with a sense of lament at the way thi...

Doubting Defying Jihad: Questioning the Popular Conversion Story

This is a guest post by “KingsServant” In 2019 a book called Defying Jihad was published by Tyndale House, the reputable Christian publisher telling the story of “Esther Ahmad” a pseudonym used by the author alongside her co-author Craig Borlase, who has previously written alongside, well known Christian personalities such as Matt Redman the singer and Andrew Brunson, an American pastor imprisoned by the Turkish government. As I began to read this book over this past year I was expecting an encouraging account of how a former Jihadi found Christ and escaped her previous accomplices. Very quickly, however, I became uncomfortable, her descriptions of her...

Nails, Theses, and Myth: The Truth About Luther's Famous Door

As we commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this year, the familiar image of Martin Luther striding up to the church door in Wittenberg — hammer in hand and fire in his eyes — has once again taken centre stage. It’s a compelling picture, etched into the imagination of many. But as is often the case with historical legends, closer scrutiny tells a far more nuanced and thought-provoking story. The Myth of the Door: Was the Hammer Ever Raised? Cambridge Reformation scholar Richard Rex is one among several historians who have challenged the romanticised narrative. “Strangely,” he observes, “there’s almost n...