Posted on 10/25/2008 7:00:34 AM PDT by DouglasKC
It all looks like so much fun and seems so harmless: jack-o'-lanterns, grotesque grinning masks, long black witch attire with pointed black hats, costumes painted like skeletons, outfits that represent demons and goblins, and children going door to door, soliciting treats from compliant neighbors.
But when Halloween comes around, do you find yourself yearning for the hours to pass until the whole trick-or-treat farce is over? If you don't, you should!
Since when is it acceptable for little children to threaten to commit vandalism?
What happens if the homeowner doesn't come to the door or doesn't have the treats the kids might expect? Is it permissible for children to then soap his windows, toilet paper his trees, chalk mark his sidewalk or turn over plants as they leave? When is it okay for children to commit vandalism while on another person's property?
Isn't it about time for all well-meaning citizens to just say NO to Halloween?
The clergy, in general, hasn't stood against it. Some churches even have Halloween parties. Some citizens do speak up against it, as the letters to the editor in your newspaper occasionally show.
Is Halloween simply good, clean fun, or is it something else entirely? You need to know!
God is giving a wake-up call to professing Christians. As it was with those the prophet Elijah addressed in his day, so it is with us: "'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered him not a word" (1 Kings 18:21). What will it take for Christians to accept and stand for God's truth rather than harmful traditions that originated in paganism?
Just where did Halloween come from, and why is it so widely celebrated?
The Encyclopedia of Religion explains: "Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain, a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. The time of Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November).
"On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.
"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the fertility of the land . . . Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (1987, pp. 176-177, "Halloween").
On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits . . . The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature" (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween").
It was, bluntly put, a day devoted to appeasing demonic spirits and the dark side of the spirit world—something no Christian should have any part in (Ephesians 5:11).
So how did this dark celebration continue into modern times? Sadly, Halloween came down to us from the Roman Catholic Church, which assigned a day of each year to each of their saints. When it reached the point that they had more than 365, they then combined them together on Nov. 1 and called it "All Saints Day" or "All Hallows Day"—the night before being "All Hallows Eve" or "Hallow Even" (holy evening), contracted to the name Hallowe'en or Halloween.
Why did they choose this particular day? Again The Encyclopedia of Religion explains: "Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the christianization of Great Britain . The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities" (p. 177).
Thus a pagan celebration was relabeled as Christian.
You cannot find any support for Halloween in your Bible, because God is adamantly opposed to it and the pagan, occult practices it revels in. He warns His people to have nothing to do with these (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12). They blind us from the truth of God.
God does not take Halloween lightly. As He says, "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, King James Version). And, "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise'" (Deuteronomy 12:30).
God will not always remain tirelessly patient with those who insist on celebrating harmful and superstitious customs such as Halloween. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance . . . What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God" (2 Peter 3:9-12, New International Version).
The author of sin and death, Satan the devil, is also the behind-the-scenes author of pagan customs like Halloween. Jesus said that Satan is a liar and the father of all lies (John 8:44). God is the God of the living, not the dead (Matthew 22:31-32). He is the God of not only true Christians alive today but, because of the certainty of the coming resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15), of those who will yet live when raised from death. So certain is this resurrection that to God it is looked on as an accomplished fact (see Romans 4:17).
Conversely, Satan is the "lord of the dead." Hebrews 2:14 says of Jesus Christ that "only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death" (New Living Translation).
Satan is the lord of the dead in that he leads people by his lies and influence into the way of death and, as the next verse shows, puts them in bondage to the fear of death.
He has foisted Halloween on ignorant people and even well-meaning Christians in a subtle and deceitful way, perpetuating it through the Catholic Church with a "Christian" mask that hides its demonic origins.
When it comes to Halloween—or any other holiday for that matter—you should ask yourself, "Did God make man in His image, or did God intend man to remake God in man's image?" Now that's a sobering thought.
The religious excuse for perpetuating Halloween might be that, as we've seen, church leaders long ago called it a "holy evening" for all the Catholic saints who had no day assigned to them. But face it: People who celebrate this evening today couldn't care less about such religious notions. All they think about is instant gratification, to follow the pack with everyone else and to have some fun.
The Encyclopedia of Religion goes on to say: "Modern Halloween activities have centered on mischief making and masquerading in costumes, often resembling otherworldly characters. Folk customs, now treated as games [such as bobbing for apples], have continued from the various divination practices of the ancient celebrants of this occasion. Supernatural figures [such as the ghost, the witch, the vampire, the devil] play a key role in supplying an aura of the mysterious to the evening, whether or not they originally had an association with the festival.
"Children are particularly susceptible to the imagery of Halloween, as can be seen in their fascination with the demonic likeness of a carved and illuminated pumpkin, known as the jack-o'-lantern. In recent times, children have taken up the practice of dressing in Halloween costumes and visiting homes in search of edible and monetary treats, lightly threatening to play a trick on the owner if a treat is not produced" (p. 177).
Halloween is one of many human traditions that cloud biblical teachings and keep people in the dark from God's truth that can set us free (John 8:32). It is not a harmless holiday for you or for your children. God warns us to avoid it and to follow His ways, because He hates for us to dabble in the spirit world of Satan and his demons! Instead, as God tells us in Isaiah 66:2, "On this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." GN
Holidays or Holy Days: Does it Matter Which Days We Celebrate?
It's ironic that so many of today's popular holidays—including major religious celebrations like Christmas and Easter—originated in ancient pagan festivals and customs, while God's Holy Days revealed in the Bible are almost universally ignored. Which should you celebrate and why?
God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind
Is it possible to know what the future holds for us? The Creator of mankind does have a plan for us, and He reveals it to us through an annual cycle of festivals described in the Scriptures. It is an astounding plan offering an incredible future to every man, woman, and child who has ever lived.
Halloween's Dark Roots
In recent years eye-opening materials have been published about the questionable background of Halloween
Ghouls, Ghosts and Goblins
It seems like such harmless fun—children dressed as witches, skeletons or Darth Vader ringing the doorbell, enthusiastically announcing, "Trick or treat!" But is this preoccupation with the dead, witches and demons really harmless? And do you realize that Halloween was originally an important religious holiday—and still is in many parts of the world?
Can Halloween Be Christianized?
What should you do in deciding how you will approach this hotly debated issue?
I have no idea. But I can tell you that for most of them, witchcraft was generational.
You should go ahead and celebrate.
Does Halloween have certain pagan roots? Yes. And so do all our holidays. Where do you think Christmas Trees and Easter Eggs come from? They were pagan symbols used in their holidays that were near these Christian holidays and got subjugated. When people adopted Christianity they still had a fondness for their old holiday customs, so they changed their reasoning and they became part of the Christian holidays. Really all the Christian holidays are ex-pagan holidays, but that’s OK because to a certain degree all Christians are ex-pagans too, eventually somebody in your genealogy wasn’t a Christian.
Better not let your pastor put of a Christmas Tree, those are pagan too, and Yule Tree are a powerful part of the Winter Solstice celebration for witches.
Paul used to be a pagan, then he switched sides. There’s lots of ex-pagan in Christianity.
You can mock noob. It’s ok. You’ve heard the truth and that is what Christ commissioned us to do.
Well it is rather funny when someone posturing as a guide to the simple asks a rhetorical question only to find the audience has good and reasonable answers that aren’t what the speaker was looking for :o)
The question here, as is usually the case, is not whether the object in question (halloween) is good or bad, but is the writer’s handling of Scripture good or bad.
Personally, I believe anyone trying to find a way to make people fear Smurfs needs to re-examine the focus of their personal ministries.
I’m not mocking. I’m telling it like it is. Most of the symbols used for today’s Christian holidays have pagan roots, as does the timing for Christian holidays. To object to the pagan roots of Halloween while ignoring the pagan roots of Christmas, and Easter is hypocrisy.
All of these holidays have the exact same level of paganism in their history. All of the major symbols for these holidays come straight from those pagan roots. If you’re going to object to one then be consistent and object to them all. No Christmas Trees, no Easter Eggs, no pagan symbols in you holidays. Or be consistent the other way and realize that the Christians won, that all these holidays are EX-pagan, that all these symbols are EX-pagan, and that Christianity has taken it all over and made them all Christian holidays.
No and yes. I think "pagan" generally refers to anybody who doesn't worship the true God. Paul did used to be a Jew, but I don't think the bible equates Jews with pagans although clearly at the time of Christ the Jewish religion had lost it's way. And it's a good point that there are a lot of ex-pagans in Christianity. I'm one of them.
Good points. I agree.
The important part was that he was a persecutor of Christians before being brought to the light. Might have been Hebrew and therefore not technically a full fledged pagan, but he was clearly anti-Christian. But then he was brought to the light.
Similarly the roots of all Christian holidays, which includes All Saints Day (All Hallows) and its predecessor All Hallows Eve (Halloween) are pagan, non-Christian possible even anti-Christian depending on the specific item, but they too have been brought to the light. They are now Christian holidays, their symbols regardless of origin are part of Christian holidays. They, like Paul, have been converted.
So rejecting some because of their history but not others is uneven and nonsensical. If you’re going to reject formerly pagan things there’s a lot to object to. Christmas trees, yule logs, holly wreaths, Easter eggs, the very timing of Christmas and Easter. Or you can accept that they’ve been reborn as Christians, use Halloween to mock the devil and show him his lack of power over you. Even in the pagan times the holiday was always about showing a lack of fear, a willingness to standup to evil and declare it powerless over you. There’s nothing non-Christian about that.
Romans 12:2 :Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
scriptural tourette’s?
A losing proposition. It is better to educate your children to the fact that Halloween is fantasy, for fun (Yes, sometimes it IS fun to be a little scared, look at the popularity of roller coasters). Some of the local towns are eliminating the trick or treating by holding little parades with costume contests or block party type gatherings.
Vandals without an excuse will vandalize anyway; punish them appropriately.
Telling the truth is every Christian’s business seeing that Christ said he was the way and the truth and life in John 14:6.
Is there any place there for propagating falsehoods?
You can celebrate whatever but Halloween obviously doesn’t have God’s approval so why would we do so?
And for those who BELIEVE in witches. Evil does not automatically translate to supernatural; there are plenty of evil and mentally challenged folks out there.
I believe in God and evil, but not in witches.
You're right in that most traditional Christian holiday have pagan roots. However, it's incorrect to think that the bible endorses or sanctions their "Christianization". There's a fundamental change in a person when they become Christian. Their old self is no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Of course baggage is brought into the Christ relationship, but the goal is to disregard it. Get rid of it.
There is however no biblical precedent for taking pagan customs and making them Christian.
In point of fact there are Christian holy days. The same holy days that our saviour Jesus Christ observed while incarnate. These are listed in Leviticus 23.
Traditional (as opposed to biblical) Christianity abandoned the holy days of the Lord and substituted holidays of their own.
There is nothing that is harmless.
Nothing earthly at least.
Everything has a potential for harm.
For most people Halloween is a harmless celebration for creative output and for children to have fun. But of course there other aspects to it as well.
I definetaly respect why the question is being asked in respect to Christianity though. It is good to contemplate in that respect. If the practise of Halloween is going against a person’s spiritual pledge to God then it is obviously causes harm.
Awakening a church that’s “comfortable” takes time. We don’t do eggs but we do have a tree. Most of our members are oldsters. Their thinking is changing, slowly. The young families embrace truth and change more readily.
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