Answer to Yesterday's Question

Now, the answer to yesterday's question, Who is this? (see the picture here.

It is the original St. Nicholas. No, not the American Santa Claus or even the Dutch guy, but the Greek guy from the 4th century. He was the Bishop of Myra (located in today's Turkey) and many miracles are attributed to him (whether true or not, we don't know). The "Santa Claus" attribution came about because he secretly gave a man some gold coins three times, enough to pay for his three daughters' dowry so they wouldn't become prostitutes as the man was very poor. Nicholas was also involved in the Arian controversy, the one where Arius was teaching that Jesus was not exactly from the same substance as God the Father but was created by God. The Nicene Creed (forerunner of the Apostles Creed) was formulated at that time to solidfy the Church's position against the Arian teaching. Nicholas was a participant at the Council of Nicea in 325 taking an anti-Arian position.

So, where does this picture come from as they didn't have cameras in teh fourth century or the sophistificated artistic techniques shown here. His skull has been preserved intact over all of these centuries. Scientists have formulated from the skull how he probably looked, and that is where the picture comes from. And what about the hair? That comes from the style worn in that day and the white-grey color comes from his age in his most productive years.