🍁 2000 years ago, Ancient Celts and Druid priests celebrated Samhain, dressing as animals and monsters thinking it would keep evil spirits from kidnapping them while they prayed for the dead.
🍁 As Catholicism spread in the 10th century, the Celts tried to incorporate elements of Samhain into All Saints’ Day (All-Hallows Eve).(1)
🍁 Then in the Middle Ages, “souling” was added to the celebration: going door-to-door, promising to pray for dead relatives in exchange for pastries. Eventually, children went door-to-door asking for gifts and food.
🍁 In the 19th century an Irish myth about the devil led to the display of jack-o'-lanterns which were supposed to scare away evil spirits.
🍁 When Irish immigrants brought Halloween to the States in the 20th century, it was marked by “vandalism, physical assaults and sporadic acts of violence.”(2)
This was also when the Samhain tradition of costumes was revived, and the pagan decorations emphasized death, witches, ghosts, black cats, bad luck, and tricks.
Halloween has an evil theme, and it trivializes evil spirits, witches, and evil symbols, encouraging children to see them as fun and fictional.(3)
When we read Old Testament passages like Deuteronomy 18:10-12, we realize that paganism has always been sick and disgusting. But the more our world rejects Scripture, the more paganism thrives. That's why we see an increase in the display of evil symbols at Halloween.
If you feel comfortable participating in Halloween, please at least use it as a way to share Christ.(5)
My thoughts:
I’ve had an uneasy feeling about Halloween ever since I became a Christian. I tried to justify it at times, but eventually kept my children from participating. I just couldn’t feel comfortable with what it represents. However, if Christians avoided occult and pagan symbols and costumes, I've always seen it as a Romans 14 “allowed difference” among Christians. See Handling Non-Essential Differences.
But I felt like writing this stronger warning this year because we are dealing with so much compromise and evil in our culture right now, and I think it’s more important than ever that we “come out from them and be separate.”
If we fear that our children won’t “fit in” with other kids if they can’t celebrate Halloween, we should realize that fitting in is the worst thing we could want for our children. And the sooner they learn their need to stand against worldly influences, the better. See You Can Fit In or You Can Follow Jesus.
Many people have tried to tie Christmas to pagan holidays even though Christmas has a Christian name, is always defined as the birthday of Christ, and does not directly resemble ancient rituals or pagan symbols. Nor does it glorify Satan, witches, or demons.
If a person wishes not to celebrate Christmas, this is a genuine Romans 14 difference, and we should respect each other's choices even if we disagree. But unlike Christmas, Halloween maintains its pagan emphasis, so I encourage you to pray about whether God would have you involved. See Christmas Confusion: Don't Accept Unsubstantiated Claims.
Please see my other posts regarding Halloween:
I also recommend these resources:
Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Seminary
Footnotes:
(1) All Saints' Day was established to honor saints hundreds of years before Celtic practices were added, and All Saints' Day has maintained its original meaning. Halloween is a holiday unto itself.
(2) Halloween has always been associated with mischief. In fact, in the 1970s and 1980s, arsonists celebrated the holiday by setting fires. In 1984, Detroit had more than 800 dangerous fires lit for this purpose.
(3) Halloween is celebrated by Wiccans: "Wicca, the largest of the modern Pagan, or Neo-Pagan, religions. Its followers, who are called Wiccans, typically identify as witches and draw inspiration largely from the pre-Christian religions of Europe." (Britannica)
(4) 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ And, ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’”
(5) Living Waters ministry sells tracts to hand out to trick-or-treaters. For example, see Albert Brainstein and Curved Illusion. They also sell another tract with a jack-o'-lantern on it, but I don't recommend using symbols of Halloween to share the gospel.
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