SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN?
Even though the modern
name ‘Halloween’ derives from the contraction of the English term ‘All-Hallows-Eve’,
which is the day before the Christian festival of ‘All Saints Day’, in reality,
Halloween comes from before the traditional Church elected the 1st
of November as the ‘Day of All Saints’ and the 2nd of November as ‘Day
of All Souls’. (1)
SAMHAIN
Halloween is a revival
of the Celtic pagan celebration of ‘Harvest Day’ or ‘Samhain’, where the pagan
used to celebrate the end of harvest and the commencement of Winter, from the
night of the 31st of October to the 1st of November, through
the use of magic, sacrificial offerings to spirits, invocation of elves,
fairies, pagan gods and other demonic characters were called for protection for
the coming winter. (2)
After Christianity
tried to ‘redeem’ these pagan celebrations by adopting the celebration of all
Saints on the day, centuries later it revived in England during the 16th
century, with the support of occultist and from there migrated into the
American English colonies from where it took the form and the name it has
today.
TRICK OF TREAT
The practice of ‘trick
or treat’ was adopted where witches would go around asking for gifts for their
pagan celebrations under penalty of ‘trick’ or cast evil spells on you if refused.
(3)
PUMPKINS
In the 18th
century it was also adopted the use of lighting up candles inside pumpkins cut
out in the form of a head. It is said that the custom was adopted from the
practiced initiated by a condemned man, called Jack, who gave his soul to Satan
and whose penalty became to roam the planet with a lamp to see his path. (4)
SECULAR WORLD
All connotations with
Halloween are related to evil and satanic ritual, and the customs people are expected
to wear, are supposed to represent condemned spirits and demons, and the
secular world uses this to increase sales and make money from this celebration.
WHAT ARE CHRISTIANS
TO DO
CHRISTIANS are true
followers of JESUS, the Son of God, who came to destroy the works of Satan
(1John 3:8) and bring people who used to live under his tyranny and darkness to
the light and freedom of God (John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8).
St Paul, speaking of
the necessity of Christians to marry other Christian believers, he asked the
question, ‘What communion has Light with Darkness?” (2Corinthians 6:14); and about
eating from food sacrificed to idols, he said, ‘You cannot eat from the Lord’s
Table and the table of demons’ (1Corinthians 10:21).
If Paul spoke like that
about marriage and food, how much more the same principle will not be included not
only in these two aspects of our lives, but in everything else?
A true disciple of
Jesus looks for the Glory of this Master and not his own benefit, specially if an
action promotes the kingdom of Satan and its evil on the planet, in open defiance
of God’s will.
CONCLUSION
True Christians are called
to condemn those celebrations as evil and demonic. Are called to teach their children
to stay away from them, and teach them to honor Christ as their King, and be proud
to be called ‘Elect’ and ‘Children of God’. Only Satanist, people who do not know God and
apostates, are participant of these celebration of Hell and Evil, and we are
not part of them, if truly we have come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
“Whoever says he
abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1John 2:6
Omar Flores.
(1)
Walter
A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2001.
(2)
Time,
December edition, 2019.
(3)
Nicholas
Rogers, Halloween, From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2003.
(4)
Ronald
Hutton, The Stations of The Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, 1996.
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