Posted on 10/22/2006 10:37:57 AM PDT by DouglasKC
I'm kind of wondering the same thing as post #80. What happens when a kid comes to your door on Halloween?
I grew up trick-or-treating. I had fun and there was no "devil-worship" or B.S. involved. It was fun.
I am a born-again Christian Evangelical, and I do not fear Halloween.
"Scripture focuses on the holy days that God created which are listed in Leviticus chapter 23, not days employed in pagan worship practices. However, the bible is clear that pagan worship practices are not be observed by those who worship God."
Really? Hmmm. Do you honestly believe that Jesus was born on December 25th?
We live out in the country, on a private road with only a few neighbors, none with small children. I can't ever remember seeing a trick or treater out here.
But IF a kid did come by, I would politely explain to them that we don't celebrate Halloween and thank them for stopping by.
No I don't. Scripture is completely silent on the date of his birth, however we can deduce that he was probably born sometime in the autumn.
As opposed to DVD's and broadcast channels? I don't know how wrathful God would be, but I don't think he's overjoyed to know that demons or demonic activity are being marketed as entertainment.
If by "sanctify" the author means "make holy" then it's impossible. Only God can make a day holy....and he already did it.
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Halloween, All Soul's Day or All Saint's Day are not one of the holy days God created and cannot be made holy by man.
So is dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating "witchcraft"?
If a communitywide festive celebration threatens your faith, you don't have much to begin with.
It's not about threatening my faith..you have that wrong. It's about little kids and their unthinking parents who get sucked into a "fun" holiday never realizing its dangers. Recently a resurgence of paganism and witchcraft in our culture is caused largely in response to the secularization of our nation. When people feel a void in their lives the void can easily be filled with evil.
I can handle it...and you can too...but there are those who cannot. That is why the article that was posted is relevant and important.
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[The vigil of this feast is popularly called "Hallowe'en" or "Halloween".]
Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.
In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).
Nothing to do with the disgusting candyfest promoted by every drug store in our neopagan culture, because they seek ruin of souls. Don't do it, folks.
Tooth decay?
And your analogy! You equate people that celebrate Halloween to people that would celebrate some pig that rapes little girls...sure you are entitled to your opinion, but you are one sick individual.
Satan may indeed be promoting his agenda, but not through Halloween. Rather through religious fanatics reactions to Halloween and their damning of people that celebrate it.
As an aside, I think it would be hilarious to dress up as Dutch 'toon Mohammed, maybe make the bomb out of paper mache and somehow afix it to the turban and glue some cotton painted orange and yellow to the wire "fuse". Unwise but undeniably hilarious.
The Pagan roots of things in our culture and our language are all around us and don't mean anything unless we choose to let them. Relax, Halloween is all about a bit of fun, just like Harry Potter.
Douglas can speak for himself, but it is not the roots, that bother me, it is the fruit of the roots.
The way Halloween is currently celebrated promotes superstition and celebrates indifference to true religion. In a cultural vacuum it is probably defencible, like the Nazis celebrating German folk mythology. In the context of today's culture, it is deplorable. Just like Harry Potter, or Nazi goosstepping in Berlin.
H.L. Mencken defined "Puritanism" as a reaction to the sneaking fear that someone, somewhere was having fun. This silly fear of Halloween and HP is just as indefensible. Let the kids enjoy the night and the Harry Potter books and let the grown ups concentrate on something important.
Doug, if you are married, you are probably wearing a wedding ring. That was a pagan invention and a pagan practice. Does the Bible tell you to wear a wedding ring?
And it is routinely trashed for having done it proving the truth of another old axiom- No good deed goes unpunished.
I do. There is plenty of evidence He ws born on the 25
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