St. Nicholas – The Real Story

St. Nicholas – The Real Story

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

CHARLOTTE, NC (ANS) -- Lachlan Creative announces its latest film project: St. Nicholas – The Real Story. This 60-minute film will take an in depth look at the story of St. Nicholas through historical fact, archaeological evidence, faith, artistic expression and contemporary celebration.

What is the real story?

Santa Claus is a legendary character for many people around the world. His appearance is celebrated at Christmas time as a symbol of compassion, gift giving and merriment. But is there any historical evidence on which this jolly old character is based? Was there a real Santa Claus?

To answer that question, we have to journey back in time to the fourth century. Christianity at that time was growing quickly throughout Asia Minor (now part of modern-day Turkey). It was into that setting around AD 275 that a child named Nicholas was born to wealthy Christian parents in the small coastal town of Patara.

The director of the film, Stuart Lachlan Bennett says, “There is plenty of evidence of Nicholas’s life and in recent years, ancient documents have been translated which support this fact. Even though people may be vaguely familiar with stories of good deeds attributed to Nicholas, most people are not aware that he played a significant role in Christian history. Nicholas was one of the senior bishops attending the Council of Nicea in AD 325 and was a signatory of the Nicene Creed.”

Stuart Lachlan Bennett

Facts such as this have never before been explored in a film. Dr. Adam English is the author of the book The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus. English says, “Documentaries have been made on Jesus, Mary, Peter and Paul, but not on Nicholas who is the most popular non-biblical saint of all of Christian history. We are not talking about a minor saint, but literally the most well loved saint throughout history. It is truly astonishing that a historically attested and solidly researched film has not been made about him at this point.”

The film will be hosted by Dr. Mark Wilson, a historian and director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Antalya, Turkey. The production will be filmed in Patara, Nicholas’s place of birth, Myra, the town where he was bishop, the site of the Council of Nicea and in Bari, Italy where Nicholas’s bones were finally laid to rest.

Bennett says, “We have just launched a fundraising campaign on the Indiegogo website. We’re hoping that people who recently celebrated Christmas will catch the vision to want to know more about the real man behind Santa Claus. This will be something they can share with their children to bring clarity to why his story became so popular. At the same time, it’s very interesting to me that one part of the story that is not so popular is that Nicholas lived through one of the greatest eras of persecution Christian have ever known. He was a real hero of the faith.”

Saint Nicholas – The Real Story is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non- profit 501(c)(3) registered arts service organization. All contributions to the project in the U.S. are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. To make a pledge to the campaign please click on the link below to the website:www.indiegogo.com/projects/st-nicholas-the-real-story
You can also learn more about the project on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Nicholas-The-Real-Story/827358683974568

Stuart Lachlan Bennett can be contacted by e-mail at: sb@stuartbennett.net

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