Got those born-again feelings, again

Journalists rarely get to use terms such as "White House," New Age" and "seance" in the same story.

But they did in 1996, when the news broke that Hillary Rodham Clinton and her "sacred psychologist" Jean Houston were using meditation and visualization techniques to chat with Eleanor Roosevelt. Commentators smirked and said this behavior was wacky, if not "cult-like."

For scholar Wade Clark Roof, this ruckus was perfectly timed to aid his ongoing research into the Baby Boomer soul. Out in sanctuary pews and on suburban couches, Roof and his associates found that, as expected, the fundamentalist Protestants and Catholic traditionalists that he calls "Dogmatists" were outraged, while his "Secularists," "Metaphysical Seekers" and "Mainline Believers" were not.

The big news was that most "Born-Again Evangelicals" were taking the news in stride. As one born-again woman in North Carolina said, the first lady's rites were "a bit weird I must admit, but if that's what she wants and it helps her, that's what counts."

Hidden in his data is what Roof believes is a major trend. He is convinced there has been a seismic shift in America's spiritual landscape, one that has great implications for everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Billy Graham, from Al Gore to George W. Bush. To state it bluntly, the born-again label doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Consider, for example, reports that actress Jane Fonda is attending a Baptist church and has embraced the faith that her estranged husband Ted Turner once called a "religion for losers." From newspaper accounts, it seems clear she has had some kind of profound spiritual experience. She may, eventually, even call a press conference and say she has been born again. But this does not necessarily mean that Fonda, or any other born-again believer, has made radical changes in her personal convictions.

"It's crucial to understand that what unites most of the people who call themselves born-again Christians is their claim to have had a highly personal spiritual experience that has changed their lives," said Roof, whose most recent book is entitled "Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion."

"You are born again," he added, "because of certain feelings and emotions and experiences, not because you believe any particular set of doctrines or because you share certain beliefs about moral issues. ... Born-again Christians are increasingly becoming part of the American mainstream."

A third of America's 77-million Baby Boomers call themselves born-again Christians. According to Roof's most recent research, only 55 percent or so have any link to a conservative-Protestant denomination. In terms of their backgrounds, 38 percent grew up as evangelicals or fundamentalists, 28 percent as Catholics, 27 percent as mainline Protestants and another 7 percent as Jews or as members of some other harder-to-define group. Twenty percent say they are not members of a local congregation. Many prefer to watch religious television programs or attend a "house church" or another fellowship group.

Many born-again Boomers believe they have made a spiritual decision that is right for them, but not necessarily for everyone. Half affirmed that the various religions of the world are "equally good and true," and the younger the born-again Christian, the more likely he or she was to say this. A third of the born-again believers said they believe in reincarnation and astrology. And 48 percent of the born-again Christians said "yes" when asked, "Should a married woman who doesn't want any more children be able to obtain a legal abortion?"

As a rule, born-again Christians now join other Americans in saying they are "spiritual," rather than "religious." In the 1950s, said Roof, evangelicals tried to distance themselves from "liberal churches" and secular society. Today, increasing numbers of evangelicals want to make sure they are not seen as too doctrinaire or too judgmental and, thus, as fundamentalists.

"All of this is very American," said Roof. "Americans like new beginnings and new chances to start over. Being born again appeals to them. ... But Americans don't put much faith in institutions or traditions or doctrines. They aren't sure that they need a church. Americans believe in themselves and they trust their own experiences, more than anything."

Just another voice on the Metro

WASHINGTON -- The elderly black woman began preaching moments after the train left the Capitol South subway station.

"Praise the Lord. It's a good day," she said, starting a 20-minute sermon as her rush-hour congregation rolled toward the Maryland suburbs.

Her voice was calm, strong and serious. She was carrying a cane and, I wouldn't dare make this up this detail, a fragrant box of spicy fried chicken. I didn't take precise notes, but what follows is real close to what she said. My father was a Southern Baptist preacher and I have a knack for remembering sermons.

"God's grace is real, but that doesn't mean you can just keep on sinning and sinning and sinning," she said, gazing straight ahead. "God is watching all the time. God sees all of you. ... Our God is a Holy God."

People kept their eyes down, reading their newspapers and paperbacks. A young black woman across the aisle giggled. "Oh no, it's church," she whispered to a friend. New riders glanced around in surprise, as they boarded the crowded car. But no one challenged the preacher or asked her to stop.

"God doesn't ask that much of us," she said. "He wants us to love each other and take care of each other and follow the commandments that are in His Word. Is that too much to ask?"

A youngster listening to rap on headphones said, "Preach it, sister." Surely the collision between the pounding music and the sermon was causing a storm in her head. At first she was amused. Then she began shooting daggers at the preacher with her eyes.

"I know what you're thinking," said the elderly woman. "You're saying, 'How are we supposed to know how we're supposed to live?' ... You know what the Bible says: 'For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' You all know that verse, right?"

No one answered.

"Sweet Jesus is all the guide we need. But God also gave us his Word. You open up your Bible and read it and tell me that God hasn't made himself perfectly clear how we're supposed to live. The Bible is God's book. There's no other book like it. Some of you may go to church and you may read your Bible. But have you ever let it get inside you and change you? That's what I'm talking about. We've got to change on the inside. We've got to change how we live."

I moved to the Washington, D.C., area six months ago and I have, in that short time, seen many people reading worn-out Bibles on trains. But I think I have seen exactly one white person reading a Bible. I wonder how many white believers ride around in the political capital of the world looking at these faithful black Christians, wondering who they are, why they are marking up their Bibles, what churches they go to and why we seem to live in separate worlds.

Come to think of it, I haven't read my Bible on the Metro either. I wonder what this preacher would think of that? I was reading a stack of religion-news magazines and wearing a cross. I wondered: Was this good, or bad? Was I a fake, to her?

By the time we reached the last station, out by the Beltway, many people had left their seats and were lining up to exit -- even quicker than normal.

The preacher brought her message to a close.

"What I'm saying is that God loves you and sent his Son to die for you. But I know that many of you are not listening," she said, still in her seat. "Maybe one person will go home tonight and think about what I am saying. Maybe God will touch one person's heart and they will go home and talk to their children about Jesus. Maybe one person will pray with their children tonight.

"That's why I'm saying what I'm saying. If one person hears the Word, then this is worth it. Just one person."

She was the last person to leave the train.

Intolerant Christians in the public square

As they lurched through a blinding snowstorm over Tokyo, the Rev. Billy Graham watched as the nervous pilot focused single-mindedly on his cockpit instruments.

When it came time to land that plane, the pilot and the air-traffic controllers followed a dogmatic set of rules. They were intolerant of errors, and Graham was thankful for that.

"I did not want these men to be broad-minded," he said, in a sermon that is currently circulating on the Internet. "I knew that our lives depended on it."

There are times, said the evangelist, when tolerance is bad. For centuries, Christians have proclaimed that the journey from earth to heaven is like any other difficult journey. It is crucial to have accurate directions and a trustworthy pilot, when souls are at stake. Thus, Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus is intolerant, said Graham, when it comes to matters of salvation.

Try defending that stance on CNN. By the end of 1999, pundits and politicos were starting to suggest that evangelism equals hate speech.

The anonymous person who launched this text into cyberspace, with the title "Jesus was not tolerant," has a good memory and a nose for news. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's records indicate that this sermon was delivered in 1956, before being published as an evangelistic tract in 1957, 1984 and 1996.

The bottom line: If the world's most famous evangelist preached the same sermon today, it would make headlines and draw flack on the evening news. It would be hard to imagine anyone making a more inflammatory statement than the one attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Questions about heaven, hell and salvation have been lurking between the lines of many news stories. Politicians want to bless new ties binding the government and "faith-based charities," so long as workers don't proselytize. GOP frontrunner George W. Bush said Jesus saved his soul and that other people may not understand what that means. Evangelical military chaplains have said they are being told to preach safe, non-judgmental sermons - or else.

While visiting India, Pope John Paul II said "there can be no true evangelization without the explicit proclamation of Jesus as Lord." The heir to Graham's pulpit - his son Franklin - angered many non-evangelicals when he urged non-Christians at the Columbine High School memorial service to turn to Jesus, before it was too late. The list goes on and on.

Leaders of the 15.8 million-member Southern Baptist Convention have repeatedly refused to cease their efforts to evangelize all non-Christians - including Jews, Muslims and Hindus. The interfaith Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago cried "foul" and said an upcoming Southern Baptist evangelistic push "could contribute to a climate conducive to hate crimes" in the city.

Asked about President Clinton's view of this controversy, press secretary Joe Lockhart said the Southern Baptist in the White House is convinced that one of the new century's major challenges will be "dealing with intolerance and coming to grips with the long-held resentments between religions. So I think he's been very clear in his opposition to whatever organizations, including the Southern Baptists, that perpetuate ancient religious hatred."

Southern Baptist leaders immediately cried "foul," accused Lockhart of being hateful and called for his resignation. The Rev. Morris Chapman, president of the SBC's executive committee, said: "It is the right of every person to agree or disagree with the internal doctrines of Christianity, but we believe for any governmental office to endeavor to pressure Christians to change their doctrines or practices is improper and reprehensible."

This conflict will not fade away.

There is no question that the First Amendment protects the free speech of non-Christians and others who are offended by intolerant, narrow-minded Christians who proclaim that Jesus is the only savior for all of humankind. Right now, the question appears to be whether Christian evangelists will retain their right to preach that message in the public square.

A rose for 1999

Moments before the fateful lunch break, a Columbine High School classmate saw Rachel Joy Scott drawing in one of her spiral-bound journals.

It was a pencil sketch of a rose, which her family believes was meant to symbolize youth. The poet, dancer, musician and missionary also drew two eyes - weeping 13 tears onto the rose. Police found the journal in her bloody, bullet-pierced backpack.

Why 13 tears? Then, Scott's journal ended with this prayer: "Am I the only one who sees? Am I the only one who craves Your glory? Am I the only one who longs to be forever in Your loving arms? All I want is for someone to walk with me through these halls of a tragedy."

There were many important religion news stories this year -- from Kosovo to Kansas. But it was Columbine's shattering images of evil, faith, violence and courage that dominated 1999, inspiring fierce debates about whether America's soul is twisted. The massacre followed a bloody stream of school violence and preceded the slaughter of seven worshippers in Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Was Columbine a clash between pietistic believers and bitter acolytes for a media-fueled youth culture, or a cautionary tale about tolerance and guns? My answer is "all of the above," and Columbine tops my list of the top 10 religion news stories of the year.

In an April 20, 1998, journal entry - precisely one year before the tragedy - Scott wrote: "I have no more personal friends at school. But you know what? I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus, I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything I will. I will take it."

In their pre-rampage videotapes, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold discussed - in their litany of hate - how they wanted to start a "religious war" and mocked a girl named Rachel who had shared her Christian faith.

In audio tapes aired on CNN, and transcripts released by parents, Klebold said: "Stuck-up little b----, you f------ little Christianity, godly little w----."

Harris: "Yeah, 'I love Jesus, I love Jesus.'... Shut the f--- up."

Klebold: "What would Jesus do? What would I DO? (Makes shotgun sound at camera)"

Yet Columbine insiders know it could have been much worse, said the Rev. Bruce Porter, who preached at Scott's funeral. They also know that Harris and Klebold were not uniquely wicked villains, but bright young men who managed to hide their rage. This could have happened anywhere.

"We want to know: How could these students have done these evil acts? Where did this rage come from? It looked like these students had every advantage in life, or at least they had everything that our world considers an advantage in life," said Porter. "All of this just exploded on us. Columbine has become the Pearl Harbor of the culture wars."

Here are the remaining events on my 1999 list.

2. Secular Serbs clash with secular Albanians in Kosovo, while diplomats ignore the peace efforts of all faith groups. NATO bombs Serbia during Holy Week and on Pascha (Easter).

3. China arrests 35,000-plus members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, while continuing crackdown on underground Protestants and Catholics.

4. President Clinton impeached, but not convicted, in a riveting showdown between the religious right and the lifestyle left. His ultimate defense is that he could not have committed perjury, because of his biblical interpretation of what is and what is not "sex."

5. Kansas State Board of Education shelves mandatory tests covering Darwin's theory of macroevolution and allows teachers to cover controversies linked to Darwinian philosophy. The "intelligent design" approach to creation issues continues to rise.

6. Coalition of Protestants and Catholics begins governing Northern Ireland.

7. Is evangelism hate speech? Southern Baptist Convention attacked for efforts to convert Jews, Muslims and Hindus. Pope John Paul II visits India, stressing that "there can be no true evangelization without the explicit proclamation of Jesus as Lord."

8. U.S. Catholic bishops pass guidelines enforcing the pope's "Ex corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church)," a philosophical map for life on 235 college campuses.

9. George W. Bush's sermons at Second Baptist Church in Houston trigger a rush of spiritual testimonies, and calls for "faith-based" social work, by White House wannabes.

10. Y2K: apocalypse or a symbolic signpost?

A Christmas mystery -- 12 days worth

Three decades ago, Father Harold Stockert's passion for history sent him digging through stacks of correspondence between French Jesuits and their embattled brethren across the English Channel.

It wasn't easy being a Roman Catholic in Elizabethan England. It was, in fact, illegal and often downright dangerous. This Jesuit correspondence was particularly intense after the 1611 publication of the King James Version, when Catholics in England needed the help of the French in publishing a Catholic Bible.

"You bump into all kinds of interesting things when you read original documents," said Stockert, who now serves at Saints Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Granville, N.Y. "This correspondence included a lot of details about what life was like for Catholics in England. I mean, you did have Jesuits being hanged, drawn and quartered. People can look it up."

One detail fascinated the priest, a reference to English Catholics using many symbolic songs and poems -- some serious, some light-hearted - to help them cling to their faith. One children's song may have been part of a dance or a game and focused on the season between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany.

It began: "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree."

In the midst of his other research, Father Stockert took a few notes about "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and later wrote an article about the song for friends and parishioners. He posted this article - complete with documentary references - on an ecumenical computer site in 1982, back in the early days of online networks.

"The 'true love' mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, it refers to God Himself," he wrote. "The 'me' who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings."

The turtle doves represented the Old and New Testaments, while the three French hens symbolized the virtues of faith, hope and charity. Four calling birds? The four evangelists and their Gospels. The five golden rings correspond to the "Pentateuch" that opens the Hebrew Bible. The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. The seven swans a-swimming represented the seven sacraments. Eight maids a milking? Eight beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing? Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Ten lords a-leaping? Ten Commandments. Finally, the 11 pipers represented the 11 faithful apostles and the 12 drummers the doctrines in the Apostle's Creed.

Today, versions of this article dot the Internet, usually with no mention of the author, including Protestant versions linking the song to "persecuted Christians," in general. And every year, this Christmas lesson circulates via e-mail. Some of these texts are much shorter than his original article and others include material that he did not write. Most importantly, none of these articles include his bibliographical references.

"I've got all kinds of people writing me demanding references for my work," he said. "I wish I could give them what they want, but all of my notes were ruined when our church had a plumbing leak and the basement flooded." Meanwhile, he said, his copy of the original article is on "a computer floppy disk that is so old that nobody has a machine that can read it, anymore."

Meanwhile, the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society's giant site (http://www.snopes.com ) dedicated to dissecting "urban legends" has declared that this account of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is clearly false. This site claims it is a secular song, probably with French roots. This "Twelve Days of Christmas" may also have become confused with a Christian song, which dates back to 1625, that is often called "In Those Twelve Days."

It is also possible, said Father Stockert, that a French song was claimed by English Catholics or that the two songs were blended.

"I'm sure there are elements of legend in this," he said. "But if it is a legend, it's a legend that dates back to the days of Queen Elizabeth. Maybe somebody will go dig this all up again."

The century -- death by 'quasi-religion'

The images are unforgettable, from the faces of the victims to the face of the tyrant who ordered them dead, from the shocking death camps to the spectacular rites of hate that made them possible.

The journalists who cover religion in the secular press have selected the Holocaust as the 20th century's most important religion event.

While the Holocaust stands alone atop the poll, members of the Religion Newswriters Association of America chose as the third-ranked event another example of what happens when political regimes claim god-like powers. This was the Russian Revolution, which led to Joseph Stalin and the Gulag, to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution and on and on.

"It's hard to compare anything to horror of the Holocaust. It is a unique event, in so many ways," said historian Martin Marty of the University of Chicago, America's best-known commentator on religious life. "But when we look at the whole century, we can see the Holocaust as the ultimate example of an even larger trend. It is the unforgettable event that helps us see the entire picture."

When historians add up the statistics, 100 million or more were killed by what Marty called the "quasi-religious tyrannies" of the 20th century. These regimes were secular. But they had charismatic, almost messianic leaders supported by hierarchical structures built on their authority. They produced elaborate systems of myths, symbols, scriptures, metaphysics, rituals, art, history and law. When the faithful in other faiths refused to convert or compromise, these regimes responded with deadly force.

Thus, many of this century's most horrific events shared cult-like characteristics - from Germany to Russia, from Tibet to Cambodia, from Rwanda to the Balkans. They were united by victims, tyrants, death camps and litanies of lies.

Here are the century's top 10 religion news events, as selected by the 30 reporters and editors who responded to a questionnaire prepared by the Religion Newswriters Association.

1. Six million Jews and millions of others die in Nazi camps, a Holocaust that leads to worldwide revulsion and the founding of the state of Israel.

While it's easy to call the Holocaust as a "Jewish event," it is also important to recognize that this event "represented a total breakdown at the heart of what was supposed to be a Christian civilization in Europe," said historian Steven Katz of Boston University, author of the multi-volume "The Holocaust in Historical Context."

"The murderers were supposed to be Christians, but all across Europe many people did not act as Christians. The church did not always act like the church. The Holocaust begins as a failure within Christendom."

2. The Second Vatican Council changes Catholicism's relationship with the world and other faiths. It's work in the early 1960s leads to ongoing efforts to reform the church's liturgies and teachings, sparking an era of creativity and tensions in the world's largest Christian body.

3. The Russian Revolution of 1917 ushers in 70 years of communism. Millions of religious believers are slaughtered in China, the Soviet Union and other nations. Visits to his native Poland by Pope John Paul II lead to a collapse of communism in Poland and, eventually, in the rest of Eastern Europe.

4. The Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles of 1906 launches modern Pentecostalism, which becomes the fastest growing segment of Christianity in the late 20th century. This can be seen as a capstone event after generations of evangelical movements that emphasized the role of personal conversion experiences in Christian faith.

5. The ordination of women begins in Protestant churches in the United States and spreads into Judaism. The United Methodist Church becomes the first mainline denomination to elect a woman bishop.

6. The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered in 1947.

7. Radical Muslims gain influence throughout the wider world of Islam. Ayatollah Khomeini becomes the leader of a new theocratic state in Iran.

8. Pope John Paul is elected in 1978, becoming the first non-Italian Catholic pope in 450 years. He later survives an assassination attempt and continues his global evangelization efforts.

9. Led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the America Civil Rights Movement gains strong support from a broad religious coalition.

10. The non-violent tactics of Hindu leader Mohandas "Mahatma"' Gandhi inspire the world and end England's control of India.

Y2K Top 10 -- Luther meets the printing press

The question is impossible to answer, but that hasn't kept those who study religion and mass media from asking it: Would the Protestant Reformation have happened without the invention of moveable type?

While stopping short of directly linking Martin Luther and Johannes Gutenberg, members of the Religion Newswriters Association of America have selected the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press as the top events in a poll to determine the top 10 religion stories of the Second Millennium.

"There were all kinds of reform movements before Martin Luther and there were other reformers hard at work all around him," said Lutheran scholar Martin Marty, who has written 50-plus books and is, according to Time, America's "most influential living interpreter of religion."

"But Luther is a dramatic leader who comes along and is in the right place at the right time. So, for a lot of reasons, it is the revolt of the junior faculty at the University of Wittenberg that gets the attention. Luther becomes the symbol of an entire era of change."

Luther did more than nail his convictions to a church door -- he published them. His story combines a dramatic personality with dramatic ideas that set in motion dramatic events. He made precisely the kind of history that looks great in print, helping shape modernity and, especially, Western culture.

"When we talk about history, and journalism, too, we talk about great people and great stories," said communications scholar James Carey, best known for his work at the University of Illinois and, now, at Columbia University. "There have been so many great changes in this world that were never really captured as history, precisely because they were not captured in print. Our collective memories are structured by print, and we can see that in this kind of poll."

Here is the top 10 list for the millennium, as selected by the 30 religion reporters and editors who took part in the poll, which was based on a questionnaire prepared by the Religion Newswriters Association.

1. Luther publicizes his 95 theses in 1517. The Catholic hierarchy responds with its Counter Reformation, beginning with the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Meanwhile, King Henry VIII creates the Church of England.

2. The invention of movable type leads to the publication of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455. Soon, many forms of religious material are published for the laity. John Wycliffe translates the first English Bible in 1380 and the King James Version follows in 1605.

3. The great schism of 1054 divides Christendom, separating the ancient churches of the East and West.

4. Six million Jews and millions of others die in Nazi concentration camps, a Holocaust that leads to worldwide revulsion and the founding of the state of Israel.

5. In 1095, Pope Urban II authorizes the Crusades to reclaim Christian holy sites captured by the Muslims. Some of the Crusader armies slaughter Orthodox Christians, as well as Muslims in the Middle East.

6. Muslim invaders crush Buddhism in India at the end of the 12th Century, while Islam also expands into Africa and Asia. Muslim Turks capture Constantinople in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire. But the spread of Islam fails to sweep into Europe.

7. The Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s changes the Catholic Church's relationship with the world, other churches and other faiths. It's work leads to ongoing efforts to reform the church's liturgies and some teachings, sparking an era of creativity and tensions in the world's largest Christian body.

8. Protestants settle in Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, seeking religious freedom. While establishing Rhode Island, reformer Roger Williams furthers the notion of separation of church and state. Guarantees of religious liberty are later enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights, a pivotal moment that helps shape global trends toward religious freedom.

9. Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud - a quartet of titans that Marty called the "bearded God-killers of the 20th century" - promulgate ideas that undercut centuries of belief, helping shape modernity's educational and cultural elites.

10. The Azuza Street revival in Los Angeles of 1906 launches modern Pentecostalism, which becomes Christianity's fastest growing segment in the late 20th century. This is a capstone event, coming after generations of evangelical movements that emphasize the role of personal conversion experiences.

Yes, there is a St. Nicholas

Father Constantine White was ready when his young son asked the big December question: "Is Santa Claus real?"

Instead of answering "yes" or "no," the Orthodox priest responded with another question: "Well, what is the name of our church?"

That would be St. Nicholas Cathedral, named after the 4th Century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. Nicholas has for centuries been one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most beloved saints, the patron of orphans, merchants, sailors and all those in distress. His feast day is Dec. 6.

St. Nicholas is a saint. The church insists that saints live on, in a heavenly "cloud of witnesses." So, yes, there is a St. Nicholas.

"I tell people who are touring our sanctuary: 'We never have to tell our children that there is no St. Nicholas,' " said White, dean of the Orthodox Church in America's cathedral in Washington, D.C. "There is, in fact, a St. Nicholas and he gives us his love and his prayers. These gifts are much more precious than anything people get at a mall."

The secular superman called Santa Claus will be nowhere in sight, when parishioners at St. Nicholas Cathedral gather for weekend services honoring their patron. They will chant ancient prayers and send clouds of incense into a small, but glorious, five-story limestone vault. As in most Orthodox parishes, and some Eastern Rite Catholic churches, the feast day will be moved to the closest Sunday.

The hymns are solemn, befitting a shepherd known for fasting and self-sacrifice. These lines are typical: "With what songs shall we praise the holy bishop Nicholas? O holy father Nicholas, Christ has shown you to be a model of faith. Your humility inspired all your flock. You are known as the protector of widows and orphans."

The sanctuary's interior is covered with iconography, the work of Russians who began working in the fall of 1991 and finished three years later. The main images are of Christ triumphant and of Mary with the infant Jesus. The Russian saints soaring over the choir include martyrs huddled behind barbed wire in Soviet prison camps. The north wall features six rows of large icons -- 34 images in all -- depicting the life of St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker.

The ninth scene is called "Charity of St. Nicholas" and shows the bishop visiting the home of a poor family, carrying a bag of gold. As the story goes, the father could not provide dowries for his three daughters, which meant they could not marry. Nicholas rescued them from slavery or prostitution by dropping gold coins through a window. The gifts fell into stockings, hung up to dry during the night.

This story is actually quite logical, said White. The church at Myra recorded that Nicholas was born into a wealthy family and apparently gave most of his inheritance to the poor. He participated in the Council of Nicea and, when theological debate was not enough, reportedly punched the heretic Arius, who argued that Jesus was not fully divine. Nicholas was imprisoned under the Emperor Diocletian and released under Constantine. He died on Dec. 6, 343 A.D.

The image of the white-haired saint in red robes, bringing gifts in the night, grew in popularity through the centuries -- especially with children.

Sailors spread his fame along the European coast. Over time, traditions linked to St. Nicholas blended with other legends. The result: Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle, Pere Noel and many others, including Sinter Klaas, who came with the Dutch to the American settlement that became the media capitol called New York City. Then poet Clement C. Moore, cartoonist Thomas Nast, Coca-Cola and legions of ad agencies got a hold of him.

But the true home of St. Nicholas is the season of Nativity Lent, or Advent, which precedes the 12 days of Christmas.

"St. Nicholas is supposed to be the very image of charity and concern for others, especially the poor," said White. "There is some link there to gift-giving, but nothing that resembles what has happened with Santa Claus. I can guarantee you this, any man in a red suit who shows up at this church around Christmas is going to be dressed like a bishop."

Should a Christian do a nude scene?

One by one, the summer flicks have faded from theater screens, entering the brief purgatory that precedes rebirth on video and cable television.

Most are forgotten sooner rather than later.

"The Thomas Crown Affair" was one typical piece of Hollywood eye candy, focusing on a filthy-rich hunk who commits crimes as a hobby and the femme fatale that stalks him. This was not the kind of movie that normally inspires discussions in a seminary or in churches.

Then again, this steamy thriller featured a star-turn performance by 40-something actress Rene Russo, a born-again Christian who bared both her emotions and her body. It raised serious issues for believers who frequent pews and Bible studies in Hollywood.

"I see no sign that the questions she raised are going to go away anytime soon," said evangelical theologian Robert Johnston, who teaches the "Theology and Film" course at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "Movie people always have a lot to talk about, when they get together to discuss the issues that affect Christians who work in this town. But it seems like somebody always asks: 'Would you ever do a nude scene?' It's such a symbolic question."

Russo faced this agonizing issue during promotional interviews, explaining that she spent hours in prayer and turned to a therapist. She discussed her role as wife and mother. She described her charismatic, slain-in-the-Holy Spirit conversion as a teen and her return to faith as an adult in Bible classes at the famous Church on the Way in Van Nuys.

The ultimate issue, she said, was not nudity. "I don't know where in the Bible it says, 'Don't be nude in a motion picture,' " she told Los Angeles magazine. The question was whether she should, as a Christian, accept the challenge of playing a fictional character that is amoral, manipulative and, at times, plain old nasty.

"It was like, whoa, this is a woman who totally leads with her sex," said Russo. "Here is a character who is European. She doesn't know if she has her top on or not. She doesn't care. She is a different kind of woman and it's not who I am. And it was really scary for me."

This line of defense only raises more questions. Would her critics have approved if she played the same amoral, sexy character, yet managed to keep more of her clothes on? Why?

What if she played the same role, but allowed the use of an anonymous "body double" to take her place in nude scenes?

Or how about this somewhat theoretical question: What if a Hollywood director asked Russo to play a loving wife, shown in a romantic nude scene with an actor playing the role of her husband, in a film that defended faith and virtue? Was nudity acceptable in the wedding-night scene in "Braveheart"?

Meanwhile, asked Johnston, why aren't moral conservatives asking as many tough questions about roles that involve other deadly sins? Can Christian artists depict war criminals, tyrants, bigots and crooks? Should a Christian actress think twice about playing Lady Macbeth?

This behavior issue leads to another question: If it is wrong for religious believers to play these kinds of characters, especially in nude scenes, is it just as wrong for other religious believers to watch these entertaining images in theaters or at home?

"We get so upset about issues of nudity and sex in art and entertainment, while issues of violence and killing don't seem to bother us as much," he said. "We Protestants, in particular, have a special problem with body and with images of the body. This affects painting and dance and theater, as well. ... Meanwhile, Rene Russo is right on target when she said that the real question was the behavior of her character."

The actress admitted that her choice raised disturbing questions. She told USA Today that she soon developed a spiritual answer for this essentially spiritual question.

"Did I do the right thing?", asked Russo. "I always say to Christians who say I'm wrong, 'Well, you know what? Pray for me. Just pray for me.' "