Santa or Jehovah? (Answers)
Answers to the Santa or Jehovah quiz.

Answers:
1. Which "gentleman" is usually pictured as an old man with a beard although no one has ever really seen him?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus is always pictured as an elderly man with a long white beard. Being a fictional character, no one has ever really seen him.

Jehovah is usually pictured as an old man with a white beard. Michelangelo's famous paintings in the Sistine chapel depict him thus. According to John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time".


2. Which "gentleman" is believed in by millions, even though most people don't believe he exists?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus is believed in by millions of children whose parents tell them the myth as truth. The vast majority of adults do not believe in his existence.

Jehovah (the God of the Bible) is believed in by Jews and Christians. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia (http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm), these two groups comprise slightly over 2 billion people, or about 34% of the world's population. So, most people don't believe in the God of the Bible.


3. Which "gentleman" sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, and knows if you've been bad or good (according to believers)?

Answer: Both.


Santa Claus, according to the lyrics to a popular song about him:
"sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good "
(lyrics from Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by J. Fred Coots & Henry Gillespie.)


Jehovah, according to Christian dogma is all-knowing. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:
"That God is omniscient or possesses the most perfect knowledge of all things, follows from His infinite perfection. In the first place He knows and comprehends Himself fully and adequately, and in the next place He knows all created objects and comprehends their finite and contingent mode of being. Hence He knows them individually or singularly in their finite multiplicity, knows everything possible as well as actual; knows what is bad as well as what is good."



4. Which "gentleman" is believed to reward good behavior?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus, according to the lyrics of a popular song about him, has loaded up his sled with lots of toys for good little girls and boys. Parents commonly tell their children that if they are "good", Santa will reward them at Christmas with presents. Often, they will affix labels to presents signed, "From Santa".

Jehovah, according to the Bible, rewards people in the after-life (or at "judgment day" through the office of his son) for having done good works: Mt:16:27: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.


5. Which "gentleman" is thought to live in a place uninhabitable by most mortals, and is there surrounded by human-like creatures with magical abilities?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus, according to legend, lives at the North Pole: a barren, bitterly cold area which is permanently uninhabitable. He is there surrounded by elves which are not quite human creatures and who possess magical abilities. He also lives among flying reindeer.

Jehovah, according to the Bible, lives in heaven, which "flesh and blood cannot inherit" and which is normally only entered upon death. God lives in heaven with angels which resemble humans with wings and which have supernatural powers such as the ability to travel between heaven and earth, and turn invisible and visible at will.


6. Which "gentleman" has, on at least one occasion, reportedly flown through the air atop a magical conveyance?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus, according to legend, rides a sleigh, pulled through the air by eight flying reindeer. On Christmas eve some weather forecasters, to add to the deception, will pretend to track Santa's journey across the sky via their weather radar.

Jehovah, according to the Bible, once rode on a flying chariot across the sky:
Ezek:1:1: Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
Ezek:1:19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Ezek:1:26: And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Ezek:1:28: As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.



7. Which "gentleman" is believed to be capable of granting the wishes of every single child on earth in one night?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus, according to legend, delivers wished-for presents to every "good" child on earth on Christmas Eve.

Jehovah, according to the Bible, can do anything:
Mt:19:26: But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
"Anything," of course, would include granting the wishes of ever single child in one night.


8. Which "gentleman" is intimately connected with the observance of Christmas?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus, according to legend, delivers presents to every "good" child on earth on Christmas Eve so that they will be have them on Christmas morning. Images of Santa Claus are put on display in Christian homes and businesses weeks before Christmas, and are taken down shortly after Christmas. The image of Santa Claus is virtually synonymous with Christmas.

Jehovah had a son born on Christmas according to Christian tradition. Christians contend that the observance of this birth is the "real meaning" of the Christmas holiday. Often, next to the images of Santa Claus displayed at Christmas time, one will see images of the birthing scene of Jehovah's son.


9. Which "gentleman" is often thought of as a benevolent "father figure"?

Answer: Both.

Santa Claus.is sometimes called "Father Christmas." His benevolence is his most prominent trait since he supposedly gives gifts to all good children around the world.

Jehovah is frequently referred to as "Father" in the Bible, and is called "God the Father" by some of the largest sects of Christians. The Bible calls him the "Father of lights" and the giver of every perfect gift:
Jms:1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.



10. Which "gentleman" reportedly ordered the murdering of countless babies?

Answer: The one on the right (Jehovah).

Santa Claus has never been depicted as doing anything more cruel than giving a "bad" child a lump of coal instead of their wish.

Jehovah ordered, on more than one occasion, the murder of infants. Here is just one example:
1Sam:15:3: Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.


Conclusion

Santa Claus and the God of the Bible bear many striking similarities, and one is just as believable as the other. But, when it comes to the committing of barbaric atrocities and acts of outrageous immorality, the similarity ends. Santa remains a benevolent figure, while Jehovah shows himself to be an archfiend.

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