Continued From


I understand that Halloween is a lot of different things for a lot of different people and I understand that some of today's popular celebrations associated with Halloween have pagan roots stemming from the ancient Celtic festival, Samhain. This harvest festival of the Druids ushered in the New Year, beginning on the evening of October 31, with the lighting of bonfires and the offering of sacrifices. As the Druids danced around the fires, they celebrated the ending of the summer season and the beginning of the season of darkness. It was also believed that at this time of year the invisible "gates" between the natural world and the spirit world would open, allowing free movement between the two worlds.

During the 8th century in the diocese of Rome, Pope Gregory III moved All Saints Day to November 1, officially making October 31 "All Hallows Eve," some say, as a way of claiming the celebration for Christians. However, this feast commemorating the martyrdom of the saints had already been celebrated by Christians for many centuries prior to this
time. Pope Gregory IV broadened the feast to include the entire Church. Inevitably, some of the pagan practices associated with the season persisted and have been mixed into modern celebrations of Halloween.

Halloween didn't become an American holiday until the immigration of the working classes from the British Isles in the late
nineteenth century. While early immigrants may have believed the superstitious traditions, it was the mischievous aspects of the holiday that attracted American young people. Younger generations borrowed or adapted many customs without reference to their pagan origins.

Today Halloween is almost exclusively an American secular holiday, but many who celebrate have no concept of its religious origins or pagan heritage. But what about Christians?

As I mentioned earlier - I am not a Christian. Which means I needed to do a lot of research in order to receive some type of
possible understanding.

What I have learned is Christian perspectives on the observance of Halloween are strongly divided. Some believers feel
complete freedom to observe the holiday considering the modern-day Halloween activities of most to be harmless fun, others believe that participating in Halloween is a form of involvement in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness, and many boycott or ignore it.

With no direct references to Halloween in the Bible, resolving the debate can be a challenge. 
 
Rather than providing an answer, the purpose of this article is to cause you to ask yourself questions and think about your convictions on this issue if you are a Christian.

Are some Christians trying to remove themselves from the world? Ignoring Halloween or celebrating it with believers only is not exactly an evangelical approach. Aren't they supposed to "become all things to all men so that by all possible means" we might save some? (1 Corinthians 9:22)

There are many other Bible verses similar to this, but nothing that specifically warns against observing Halloween.

As Christians, why are they here in this world? Are they here to live in a safe and protected environment, guarded against the evils in the world, or are they called to reach out into a world filled with dangers and be the light of Christ?

Halloween brings people of the world to their door step. Halloween brings their neighbors out into the streets. Is there not various creative ways to seize this opportunity for developing new relationships and sharing their faith?

Is it possible that their negativity toward Halloween only alienates the people they seek to reach? Can they be in the world, but not of the world?

Could they not have limited, non-compromising participation in Halloween. There's nothing inherently evil about candy, costumes, or trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. In fact, all of that can provide a unique opportunity with their neighbors. Even handing out candy to neighborhood children -provided they are not stingy -can improve their reputation among the kids. As long as the costumes are innocent and the behavior does not dishonor Christ, trick-or-treating can be used to further Christian interests.

From a non-Christian point-of-view on Halloween: I remember asking my Father (a Christian) a long time ago about Halloween and this is what he told: "It all started long ago - even back before Christ was born. In what is now Britain and France, people called the Celts, observed the end of summer with pagan rites. They believed a lord of death sent evil spirits into animals, who then roamed around all winter playing terrible tricks on people. To escape, you had to wear a disguise, so that the evil spirits would think you were one of them.," Dad explained. "Centuries later, Christians came along and tried to change the holiday from a festival of fear to one of joy. October 31 eventually became All Hallows' Eve. All Hallows' means  all holies or all the saints. The Bible says every true Christian is a saint. We celebrate all saints. That means if you had a brother, sister or grandparent who loved God and died, you remember that person. You'd celebrate the joy those loved ones are experiencing in heaven and remember the good times you had with them when they were alive."

I believed him then, as I do now, but like most Americans, I take a rather irreverent/indifferent view of holidays. President's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day--all just a day off from work.  Thanksgiving: an excuse to get stuffed.  New Year's: an excuse to get drunk. Independence Day: an excuse to start a brush fire.

For an ostensibly "Christian" nation, America pretty much drops the ball with regard to Easter; in Europe, especially the Catholic countries, they shut everything down for up to two weeks. I find it something of a disappointment to have to put up with all the cloying hypocrisy of living in a Christian culture and miss out on the theologically concomitant pageantry.

America reserves its greatest cultural-commercial efforts for Christmas. I have deeply held beliefs about the proper observance of Christmas, but they are restricted to myself and my family; I don't consider my Christmas to be public property, and I eschew all attempts to conflate my celebration with community spirit. Which brings me back to Halloween. With Halloween, I get the greatest sense of community
.
My first experiences of it were of course trick-or-treating; My second experience, I took upon myself the duty of passing
out candy on Halloween. I would make a half-hearted effort at getting into a theatrical role, but I never seemed to get into the Halloween spirit. I realize now, in retrospect, that my generally alienated adolescence necessarily prevented me from understanding the social role I should have been attempting to fill. I moved out into an apartment and my proximity to trick-or-treaters dropped dramatically.  I carved pumpkins and wore costumes to work, but I NEVER avoided any Halloween parties. Am I lush? No, I was just young and liked parties!

It's only been in recent years that I've realized the qualitative difference between my feelings for Halloween and those for other holidays. Of course moving into a house and having children helped greatly.

Now, Halloween is about craving pumpkins, costumes, trick-or-treating with my children. In other words - making memories with my children.

I close with a recommendation to give serious thought to the appropriateness of judging another for observing or not observing Halloween. We do not know why
another person participates in the holiday or why they do not. We cannot
accurately judge the motivations and intentions of another person's heart.

I believe the most appropriate Christian response to Halloween is to study the matter for yourself and follow the convictions of your own heart. Let others do the same without condemnation from you. Perhaps the answer to the Halloween dilemma is ... there is no right or wrong answer! I believe one's unique convictions about Halloween must be individually sought, independently found, and personally followed.

Happy Halloween Everyone.