Jimmy Akin, senior apologist at Catholic Answers, selects from weird and wacky questions submitted via the internet and tackles them head on in this episode of “Weird Questions.” If you have a mysterious, fantastic, or otherworldly query, please email it to [email protected].

Questions Covered:

02:44 – If Mary didn’t suffer any labor and giving-birth pain, how exactly did Jesus get out of the womb?

12:26 – What constitutes a “Christmas movie”? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

16:48 – When does Christmas end? The 26th? New Year’s? After the octave? Twelfth Night? Epiphany? The Presentation?

19:38 – Is there any record anywhere of the midwives (if any) who attended Mary?

28:30 – If other planets were colonized, and we had to create a whole new calendar, how would we adjust Christmas?

32:35 – How did the character of Santa Claus evolve and what is its historical connection (if any) to St. Nicholas?

42:20 – Might Santa be a Time Lord? 1. Would Santa need to travel faster than lightspeed to deliver gifts to all nice Christians on Christmas Eve? If so, could that explain his longevity and his increase in mass over the centuries? 2. Does he use shrinking technology to fit through chimneys, teleportation technology to beam into houses, or some sort of quantum phase technology to render himself and his bag of presents temporarily insubstantial to pass through walls? 3. Could he use said technology to conquer the Martians?

50:35 – I know the so-called secret meanings of the 12 days of Christmas and what they are purported to symbolize, but what about the number of days themselves? I was told that if you add up all the days mentioned in each verse that you get on gift for every day of the year until next Christmas. Is that true?

Want more from Jimmy Akin? 

The Bible Is A Catholic Book 

Teaching with Authority 

A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church 

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