Every year around this time many people of faith struggle with the issue of Halloween. The implications of death that surround this holiday make it a curious mixture for those who proclaim the gospel. Many believers decide not to celebrate this festival because of the holiday's glorification of witchcraft. Some churches hold harvest festivals as a type of compromise and other groups simply see no problem with costumes and fun. Does Halloween have its history in druidic worship? Yes. Does the Bible speak against believers acting like pagans? Yes. Is Halloween a high holy day of Satanism and Wicca? Yes again. "Don't participate in the things these people do. For though your hearts were once full of darkness, now you are full of light from YHWH*, and your behavior should show it! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true," Ephesians 5:7-12. (*YHWH is the ancient Hebrew name of the Almighty given to Moses in Exodus 3 and found throughout English Bibles as the capitalized LORD.)
Through the years, Halloween has evolved from a day of satanic worship into a secular celebration of sugar. Ancient customs that were once used to conjure up spirits have been adopted by the modern world. Dressing up children for trick-or-treating or decorating with witches and ghosts may be fun, but such actions are inherently immoral. "Abstain from all appearance of evil," 1Thessalonians 5:22. Regardless of these facts, perhaps ALL Christians should celebrate Halloween. Maybe every church should encourage their members to have a merry time on All Hallows eve. This is of course, unless Christians are willing to forsake all pagan holidays and practices. With false worship and paganism, it's all or nothing. Churches shouldn't ban Halloween if they to allow the recognition of the god Mithras on December 25 or the dying of eggs on Easter.
The truth is that just as Halloween has its roots in paganism, so does Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter and most holidays on the Christian calendar. If a person doesn't party on October 31st because of the day's pagan history, then is that same person willing to forsake other pagan festivities? The only difference between the dangers of Halloween and Christmas is that Halloween is easily distinguished as evil. Both holidays originated in non-Christian societies and retain unbiblical practices. The Savior never celebrated Halloween or Christmas, and would no doubt abstain from such practices if He walked the earth today.
About Halloween the Bible says, "you shall not learn to follow the abominations of the surrounding nations. There shall not be found among you anyone... who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to YHWH," Deuteronomy 18:9-11.
About Christmas, Jeremiah 10:2 says, "Do not learn the ways of the pagans, for the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."
The evils of Halloween are easy to recognize while the pagan past of other customs are hidden in plain sight for those with eyes open to the truth. It's not easy to ignore the trick-or-treators or to abstain from believing in a magical overgrown elf but such an effort is noteworthy if it is done out of respect to the Biblical faith. Christians should celebrate Halloween (and Easter and Christmas) or they should forsake all other pagan rituals.
By Daniel Rendelman
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