The conservative evangelical author John Piper has dismissed Santa Claus as "pitiful" and "irrelevant" and urged Christian parents not to teach their children that he exists and gives them presents, saying that instead everything at Christmas should "point to Jesus".

Piper, the founder of desiringGod.org and for 33 years pastor of of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was talking in an 'Ask Pastor John' podcast on the Patheos blog.

Answering a question about Santa from a reader, Piper responds: "My question is this: How could we possibly even think of giving our children a bowl of bland, sugarless porridge when they are offered the greatest meal in the world? Why would we give them Santa Claus when they can have the incarnation of the Son of God? It is just mind-boggling to me that any Christian would even contemplate such a trade — that we would divert attention away from the incarnation of the God of the universe into this world to save us and our children. I scarcely have words for it that people would contemplate this. Not only is Santa Claus not true and Jesus is very truth himself, but compared to Jesus, Santa is simply pitiful and our kids should be helped to see this."

Piper, a veteran theologian, adds: "Santa Claus offers only earthly things, nothing lasting, nothing eternal. Jesus offers eternal joy with the world thrown in. Yeah, the fire engine is thrown in. Santa Claus offers his ephemeral goodies only on the condition of good works...And Jesus offers himself all the gifts freely by grace through faith."

He goes on: "Santa Claus is make-believe. Jesus is more real than the roof on your house. Santa Claus only shows up once a year. Jesus promises, "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). You say to your kid every night: He is standing by your bed. He is with you when you get up in the morning. He is with you when you go to school today. If mommy and daddy die, he will be right there with you. Santa doesn't hold a candle to this flame: Jesus.

"Santa Claus cannot solve our worst problem, and Jesus did solve our worst problem — our sin and our alienation from God. Santa Claus can put some icing on the cake of the good life, but he cannot take a shattered life and rebuild it with hope forever. And our kids need to know that about Christmas.

"Santa Claus is not relevant in many cultures of the world. And Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords and all the peoples of the world.

"Santa Claus will be forgotten some day, and Jesus will be the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

"So...there is no contest here. I cannot see why a parent — if they know and love Jesus, if they have found Jesus to be the greatest treasure in the world — why they would bring Jesus out of the celebration and Santa into the celebration at all. He is just irrelevant. He has nothing to do with it. He is zero.

"My counsel is to give all your efforts to making your children as happy as they can possibly be with every kind of surprise that is rooted in the true meaning of Christmas. Let your decorations point to Jesus. Let your food point to Jesus. Let your games point to Jesus. Let your singing point to Jesus. Out-rejoice the world. Out-give the world. Out-decorate the world, and let it all point to Jesus. And if being Jesus-focused is a killjoy for your Christmas, you don't know him well."