All posts tagged holidays

Image by Sarah Ackerman

By Nikki Hughes, Contributing Writer

As a Christian we are asked this by our fellow believers, and nonbelievers alike. Am I “sinning” if I allow my children to participate? If I hand out candy to little witches and goblins? Heaven forbid if I should open up my house to them!

No, do not fall to your knees and beg for forgiveness (just yet!) my friend. I do not believe it is quite so black and white. If you poll one hundred Christians I believe you would get a split-down-the-middle “I’m Torn” response. I fall into this camp. Some people are adamant and allow nothing about Halloween to encroach upon their family. Others celebrate it without a worry in the world. While I lean more towards the former, let’s see what the history is, what the Bible has to say about it, and what other Christians around the blogosphere are saying about it.

The history of Halloween (a very brief synopsis):

The celebration of Samhain, started by the Celts 2,000 years ago, is where we find the first roots of what is now Halloween. Their new year was November 1, so October 31 was their “New Year’s Eve.” During this time, so long ago, the end of summer and beginning of winter marked an entrance to more deaths, depression, and despair. Together this was a horrible time of the year for them. They believed that on this night, the line between the living and the dead was blurred. They believed the ghosts returned to the earth, damaged crops, caused trouble and opened up opportunities to speak to the dead. These people were completely dependent on their earthly well being (their crops and their lives) and were therefore at the mercy of these “ghosts” and those who could speak to the dead.

To commemorate the event, the Celts built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

Throughout the many centuries that followed, those that took over the land then revised the holiday. It began being a celebration for all who have died. The Catholic church then combined their holiday “All Martyr’s Day” with the former Celts’ holiday to form “All Souls Day.” All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

What does the Bible have to say about this?

The Bible doesn’t have “Halloween” in any of it’s words. Even my big huge gigantic Strong’s concordance doesn’t mention Halloween. So what does the Bible say about it?

Nothing.

This is why I believe it can’t be “written in stone” one way or another. But don’t go running to Party City just yet. It may not mention Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve, but trust me, the Bible has plenty to say about darkness, evil, separating yourselves from the world, sorcery, witchcraft, and all things “not of the light of Jesus Christ.”

Again, what does the Bible have to say about all of this? Okay, here you go. (I will include the scripture reference with a brief explanation. I encourage you to open your Bible and read the actual verse for yourself. It’s a powerful tool!

• Ephesians 5:11-12 “We are to live in righteousness and purity. We are to take no part in evil ways or any of the works of Satan AND the world.” The buck doesn’t stop there. Not only are we to abstain from such things, but we are to expose such things! Say it with me “expose and oppose…expose and oppose.” That’s right. Wherever it is found (sometimes right in your own church) – expose it and oppose it!
• I Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Test it. Is it good? If not, toss it out. Evil in every form needs to be “exposed and opposed” So if you believe it to be evil (evil spirits are, well, evil) than you are to have no part in it. If it is evil or unbiblical it is to be shunned.
• 3 John 11 “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good…” I think that is pretty self explanatory.
• Romans 12:9 “Abhor what is evil.” Do you know what abhor means? This doesn’t just mean “don’t like.” The Greek (apostugeo) literally means “to detest utterly.” (I am glad to finally pull my Strong’s out…it has been a while!)
• Deuteronomy 18:9-12: “When you go into a new land you are not to take over their evil customs.“ Do not be influenced. The Celts practice was one based on an evil premise. Contacting the dead, sorcery (and the like), are evil. Taking a holiday or custom that was evil and combining it with a church’s celebration? Not good, my friend.

So now what?

You have the history. You know what the Bible says about evil, being one with this world and darkness versus light. How do you know for sure these all apply to Halloween? I must say, you don’t know for sure. I am sorry to leave you with that. It is a decision you have to make on your own need to pray about.

I have one last verse to share. I Peter 2:11: We are called to a righteous life in a hostile world. We are not of this world. We are different. As believers if there is a worldly celebration we know is evil, we are to oppose, expose and not feel as though we need to fill this with something else. Meaning, don’t feel as though you are depriving your children if you and your family decide to abstain from Halloween. Don’t let the world guilt you into a celebration that you know is wrong. Guilt is from Satan, conviction is from the Lord. You don’t have to make it up to your kids. Trust me, the Lord will take care of your family’s desires!

Here is where it gets tricky (pun intended):

Do you believe that all Halloween festivities are evil? If your child doesn’t dress up as an evil character; If you don’t go trick-or-treating; if you take the outwardly “evil” out of the evening, is it okay?

• A possible Pro “Quasi” Halloween approach: Use this as a chance to celebrate that Jesus is King. Don’t let Satan RUIN a perfectly good day! Don’t let him have a foot hold by making all the Christians hide out while evil runs free for a night. Get out there and spread the word about Jesus. Put your kiddos in a cute outfit and share the good news. Maybe even go to a “harvest festival” to celebrate “not celebrating.” We can take the evil out of it!
• A possible Anti-Halloween approach: Participate in anyway and you are not separating yourself from the world. With an evil basis, this holiday was doomed from the beginning. Do not try to fill the gap or void of Halloween with substitutions such as Harvest festivals or darling little princess outfits. It is an evil day. When else are people allowed to dress up in gruesome attire, pretend to murder people, communicate with the dead and kill innocent kittens? Halloween. It is evil. Christians have no part.

What is my family doing? We are turning off the front porch light, popping some popcorn and watching a movie (with some Reese’s Peanut Butter cups…don’t judge me!). We won’t be handing out candy or dressing up. We feel as though the Bible verses (provided above) have left us with no option but to abstain from the celebrations. Not only abstain, but also to not fill the void with other festivities. We don’t think we need to try to make, what we consider, an evil holiday an “okay” holiday.

Please let me tell you one thing: I am not pointing my finger at you. I am not going to judge you in this regard. I challenge you to get into your Bible. Check out these verses. Pray about it. Talk to your husband. Talk about it here, in the comments. Email me if you would prefer to comment offline (though I do encourage commenting here so we can all be apart of it!).

To help you out if you feel stuck, here is what some other Mommies (and one dude) are saying:

• “We don’t ‘do’ Halloween. When I was growing up, my parents didn’t do it for us either. It just seems like a strange holiday to me…I get a lot of disapproving looks from other Mommies when they find out I don’t get Annie a costume…..as though I am depriving her. But, we just feel this choice is best for us. For holidays, we try to focus on the Biblical outlook instead of the secular outlook…..and I don’t know that Halloween has a Biblical outlook. Nevertheless, I have no problem with other people who want to celebrate it.” Stacy
• “I don’t like to say we celebrate Halloween–or anything to do with evil spirits…but we do dress our girls up. I think last year was the first year we actually walked around our neighborhood and let our little girl go trick-or-tricking…I see it like this: We will never let her dress in anything evil, but we will let our girls dress up like animals, princesses, etc., and we will use that night as a way to reach out to our neighbors. We (my family) are too often so busy with our church and other activities that we don’t take the time to get to know our unbelieving neighbors. We feel like Halloween is the one night of the year we can go knock on their doors with no agenda, smile and show Christ.” Erin
• Here is a brief video that explains a pastor’s view (and a quick excerpt on the history):

All right…the million dollar question…are you celebrating Halloween this year?

 Sources:

History of Halloween