A year ago, I wrote of my distaste for the coming “holiday”. I not only still feel that way, every year at the end of October, I feel even stronger about it. Originally a Druidic holiday, it is a celebration of death, they worshipped the “god of Death”. Do you know who that is Christian?
It really is “the Devil’s Holiday”.
From KHouse.org:
THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN
There is a great deal of controversy about whether or not
Christians should celebrate Halloween. On the surface Halloween
appears to be an enjoyable time filled with costumes, candy,
pumpkins, and other fun family traditions. Those traditions may
seem very innocent, but we cannot forget that Halloween has a dark
side.Satan is an expert at parading as an “angel of
light.” If he did not make evil look attractive, people would not
be deceived and drawn in by it. Witchcraft is practiced in the real
world today and it has been made to look appealing. However, the
Bible absolutely condemns witchcraft and sorcery, consulting with
“familiar spirits” or attempting to contact the dead. These
practices open the participants up to demonic deception and
oppression, from which they may not be able to
escape.“There shall not be found among you any one
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or
that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or
a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a
wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an
abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the
LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
–
Deuteronomy 18:10-12“Woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
– Isaiah 5:20“For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect.”
– Matthew 24:24“Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.”
– Ephesians 6:10-12We have additional
information and resources available for those of you who would like
to know more about the origins of Halloween and what the Bible has
to say about it. Several years ago, we even sponsored a contest for
the best script of Saul and the Witch of Endor, a
Biblically based play suitable for high school students or youth
groups to use as an alternative to Halloween. Copies of those plays
are available on our website free of charge. See the list of links
below for these and other resources we have available.Related Links:
• Trick or Treat: The Dark Side of Halloween – K-House Article
• Halloween: An Invitation to The Occult? – K-House Article• Consulting the Witch at Endor – K-House Article
• Saul and The Witch of Endor (Five Plays) – Kononia House
• Resources for Halloween – Koinonia House
Just some food for thought:
http://de.essortment.com/christmaspagan_rece.htm
Thanks. Actually I was well aware of that. While I take a cold approach to Halloween, I take only a luke-warm approach to Christmas, for that very reason. I celebrate the birth of our Lord, but I’m not big on Christmas trees or any other trappings of purely traditional Christmas.
Not that I justify anything to do with the pagan origins of Christmas, but at least people celebrate something to do with our Lord at Christmas. Haloween makes no claims to be in any way Christian. On the contrary, it’s greatest symbols are distinctly anti-Christian.
Man, I totally agree, and am glad to see someone else say it. Some of my friends and I have actually been contemplating dropping all holidays which have their roots in paganism (Christmas, Halloween, Easter) in favor of the Holidays and Feasts ordained by God in the Old Testament. I believe those holidays should be honored by Christians as well as Jews.
Jeremiah 10:3-4 blew me away. Check it out.
I have recently been very conflicted on this issue. I had already come to the decision not to even remotely celebrate Halloween (and had even explained to my 4 year-old why we would not be going “trick or treating”) when I came across some articles about how Christians shouldn’t be hiding behind closed doors in darkened houses especially on this night and that we should be full of light, welcoming and friendly and give the best candybar (with a tract) on the block and let our polite and biblically or joyously dressed children go around the block all to show that Jesus loves everyone. Basically the idea is that we shouldn’t hide our light under a bushel, but rather reach out in love to our neighbors, just as Jesus did to the lowliest sinners in his time. It’s all rather difficult to work out, especially when the majority of my family and friends think I am becoming more than a little too legalistic.
I will be the quiz man. If you want candy you must be able to name at least 5 of the 10 commandments (yeah, i’ll probably get egged :)). If you can’t (and even if you can) you get the “hey kids” tract from http://www.livingwaters.com. The parents will get a “million dollar bill” from the same site.
As far as my kids go (i have 3 boys under 7), we teach them that Halloween is nothing to fear for Christians. We are mocking death because Christ died on the cross for our sins, death has no hold on us. It may be compromise on my part, i dunno. It’s always a struggle, but I think I’m doing my best this year to use it to spread the gospel.
The only way I’ll be involved at all is if I were giving out tracts. I did order four packages of those “Hey Kids” tracts and have them ready to give out, but I will likely not be home when the kiddies come around, so I will probably save them for next year. I don’t have the million dollar bill, but I got two packages of the oversized $100 bill. I also got a pack of the wallets, a pack of the reading skills tracts (Einstein on the front), and two packs of pressed pennies. Those are all great tracts!!
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort were in town last weekend. My fiancee and I got a chance to see them preach outside at the University of Minnesota. They are awesome preachers!!
I wish you look at the origins of Halloween. Find a good Catholic or a high Anglican and they will confirm what I am about to say.
Halloween is the evening of All Hallows Day – 1 November. All Hallows Day is the old English name for All Saints Day. Halloween is All Souls Day. It started as a bit of fun before the seriousness. The scary stuff were just medevil tradition to scare away evil spirits whcih no one believed in but it was FUN!
I’m well aware of the All Saint’s Day connection to Halloween, but frankly most of the Catholic Holidays (and those celebrated by the Protestants as well), have their roots in Pagan and Occultic traditions (many of those go back to Babylon). Because you can explain it back to the Catholics doesn’t mean it can’t go back further to Pagans.