a. In pre-Christian Scotland/Ireland, a pagan group, the
Druids, honored their god on Nov. 1st, Samhain, whom they considered the
lord of the dead. They believed spirits of the dead roamed the earth on Nov.
1st, their New Year’s Day & the dead entered into the bodies of animals to
roam the earth. According to this belief, the dead came back to the home in
which he lived, so the Druids would place food out for the spirit-a treat.
While waiting, they painted their faces & wore costumes to welcome the
spirits’ arrival. If the spirit was not satisfied with the treat, he would
place a curse or trick on you.
b. When Roman Catholicism came to this area in the 7th
century, church authorities were faced with a problem. The pagans were
reluctant to abandon many practices & holidays. Should the converted pagans
be kicked out of the church for keeping some of their practices? To do so
would reduce the membership size & income of the Catholic Church. So church
authorities convinced the new converts to keep the holiday but change it’s
meaning. Instead of commemorating ghosts, witches, & spirits of the dead,
Halloween came to be a day of honoring dead saints & martyrs. So all the
pagan holidays were Christianized & given Christian names. The night before
the pagan holiday was called “All Saint’s Day,” “All Hallow Evening” & was
shortened to Hallow Evening, Hallow Even, then Halloween. The prefix Hallow
is connected with holiness, in this case, the holiness of the lives of godly
Christians who had died. If you asked some of these people about Halloween,
they would have never connected Halloween with Satanism.
c. This process of mixing two different religions is
called syncretism. A good example of this is Voodoo in the Caribbean---a
mixture of an African religion known as Juju, & a corrupt form of
Christianity. Another example is theistic evolution-a belief in God but that
creation was by evolution. The mixing of Paganism & Christianity can also be
seen in 2 other American holidays: Easter & Christmas. Pagans celebrated
both Easter & Christmas in pre-Christian times. Today, the pagan holidays
remained but have been given Christian meanings.
Biblical Principles & Halloween. There is nothing in the
Bible about holidays like Christmas or Easter. But God has given us several
biblical principles that can help us come to a reasoned conclusion about
Halloween.
d. Eph. 5:11 Christians are not to have any dealings with
evil works but we are to rebuke them. Rebuke means to show them where & why
they are wrong. A Christian living in pre-Christian Ireland would not
participate in the Pagan celebration of Samhain. Jesus is the Lord of the
dead, not the Druid god Samhain. Early Christians were correct to oppose a
pagan holiday.
e. Those who object to Halloween do so on 3 grounds.
i. Authority. The only day we are authorized to
celebrate as a religious day is Sunday. If we lived during the middle
ages, we would not celebrate Halloween as a religious holiday, even one
authorized by Catholic authorities. Where does the Bible command such a
practice? No one has the right to speak where God has not spoken, nor to
legislate where God is silent. Col. 2:14-17 Christians were freed from the
chain of the law of Moses. If they did not keep the Jewish holy days, no
one else had the right to condemn them.
ii. Origins. Interestingly, some who object to Halloween
for its paganistic roots are the very one who celebrate Christmas &
Easter-two holidays that also have origins in pagan festivals. It seems to
me that if you object to Halloween because of its pagan beginnings, to be
consistent, you’d also object to Christmas & Easter-pagan holidays that
were also Christianized. When a cultural practice or event has direct ties
to pagan gods, we cannot participate. But when a long-standing practice no
longer can be tied to paganism, a Christian has the freedom to observe it
if he chooses. The names of days in our week have pagan backgrounds.
Sunday & Monday honor the gods of the sun/moon. Wednesday & Thursday honor
the Nordic gods Woden & Thor. Saturday honored Saturn. The fact I use
these terms does not mean I worship idols. The names have lost their pagan
significance. Ancient Egypt honored the birthdays of their pharaoh’s &
considered them holy days with no work being done. Ancient Jews considered
the keeping of birthdays a pagan practice & looked down on it. Does this
mean that if a husband buys his wife a birthday gift, he is honoring a
pagan tradition? Who would make such a claim? For most people, Halloween
no longer has a pagan connotation. It has become a secular tradition.
iii. Abuse. It is true that some on Halloween vandalize
property or participate in cruel & humiliating tricks. There is no place
in a Christian’s life for destruction of the property of others or the
humiliation someone. Such actions show disrespect for the humanity of
others. Others during this time focus on evil characters. We should not
believe in the occult or in the supposed powers of witches or Satan
worshipers. Psychics, palm readers, horoscopes, astrologers, & channelers
all fit within this category. We should make sure that our children know
these things do not have God’s approval. We also need to show a clear
distinction between fantasy & reality not only with things like monsters,
but also with characters like Santa Claus, tooth fairy & the Easter Bunny.
The abuse of something does not negate the right to practice something. It
only shows that we should not abuse freedom.
f. Romans 14:1-9 Paul dealt with the pagan practice of
eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Christians with stronger
faith knew the gods that idols represented did not exist. The stronger ones
had no problem eating discounted foods that one had been sacrificed to
idols. Food is food they thought. But weaker Christians had a problem with
it. They thought it was wrong. Paul took the principle beyond food & applied
it to days. One man sees every day as equal, but another honors one day
above another as a religious holiday. So Paul teaches both groups:
i. Weaker. He’s the guy who cannot in good conscience
eat meat or treat every day as equal. He see some days as more important
than others. If eating meat makes you uncomfortable, don’t do it. But
realize that others who have a different conclusion may practice it. Do
not look down on them for eating meat because Jesus has given them that
right. You thank God that you show your commitment to God by not eating
meat. But if God has accepted your brother who is a meat eater, you should
accept him too. Don’t argue with him or look down upon him.
ii. Stronger. He’s the person whose knowledge allows him
to participate in certain activities. Paul tells him not to argue with
those whose conscience won’t allow them to participate. They are not to
flaunt their freedom in the face of weaker Christians. In fact, love would
have him to limit his freedom for the sake of others. The kingdom must not
be destroyed over food or candy. Halloween is a holiday that once was
dedicated to a pagan god. Some understand there is no such thing as
goblins or monsters & have no problem
g. Dress your children in costumes that focus on history,
pretend or fantasy, rather than on the macabre or occult -- Bible heroes,
Abraham Lincoln, the American flag, sailors, cowboys, Indians, ballerinas,
princesses, doctors, firefighters.
h. Halloween as we practice it encourages our children to
indulge in consuming cheap and abundant empty calories. Not only do they
think nothing of doing so, the practice engenders in them an affection for
inferior sensual pleasures. Give your kids enough kandy korn and they’ll
spit out Lindt on the floor. Halloween is an affront to good taste.
i. Dressing up in costume was once a wonderfully creative
and entertaining affair. Today it’s anything but. When was the last time you
saw a really good costume? Now instead of clever renditions of Don Quixote,
Fagan, or Cleopatra we see mass-produced Batmen, faces hastily soiled to
make "hobos," and plenty of Madonnas (or, as she’s known in her more recent
incarnation, Britneys).