Every Christmas, many of the world's Christians think about St. Nicholas, who has come to us as Santa Claus. St. Nicholas lived in modern-day Turkey from 270 AD to 343. He had a great reputation for kindness, and gave gifts to poor children. He was also a great contender for the faith, and he attended the council of Nicea, held in 325 AD. Our creed gets its name from this council, when Christians from all over the Roman world convened to deal with false teachings. Arius was a skilled speaker who taught erroneously about Christ and at the council, Arius defended his teaching in his usual eloquent fashion. Well, St. Nicholas was not happy with what Arius said and he grew so angry that he punched Arius. He was wrong to do that but it tells us how important our spiritual ancestors viewed correct teaching. Their passion for this teaching, their desire to know God better, gave us this creed. So your life can change -- in just 44 days
