Halloween and the Christian

Should Christians celebrate or take part in Halloween? Most Christians would tell you that it is okay to celebrate Halloween, while others would tell you NO! I on the other hand will leave it between you and God. This article is to let you know the origins of Halloween and what the Bible has to say about taking part in the rituals of Halloween.

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) approximately 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, which marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

We know that there are no such things as ghosts, but that they really are demons portraying themselves as ghosts of living relatives. In Ecclesiastes 9:5,6 we see that the dead no longer know anything, or have any rewards (verse 5) as the memory of them is forgotten. Neither do they have a portion of anything that is done under the sun (verse 6).

In addition to these spirits causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Okay. In Deuteronomy 18:9-14 God tells Israel not to learn to do of the abominations of those people He was going to drive out of the Promised Land. When people learn any sort of craft, they normally practice that craft, this is what God did not want Israel to do as He lists those things He did not want to find among them (verses 10,11) He wanted them to be perfect with the Lord their God (verse 14). As with Israel, we should not learn to do those things because Paul tells us to “be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). In other words, do not conform yourself to the same pattern as the rest of the world.

Ever attend a bonfire on Halloween? Well, to commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. Druids also did human sacrifices believing that their soul would be reincarnated into another. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:20,21 that the Gentiles sacrifice to devils and not to God. In verse 21 Paul tells us that we “cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of the devils.”

The idea of “trick or treat” also came from the Celts when they would go around and ask for food to appease the “good spirits”, or if you didn’t give food, then you would basically be cursed. Yea, this sounds really fun.

When Christians participate in Halloween, they partake in a demonic ritual. Read what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Paul first tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and then in verse 15 he asks “And what concord hath Christ with Belial?” In other words – and this is just my own interpretation of this part – “What likeness or agreement does Christ have with Satan?”

If we separate ourselves from these things and He will receive us (verse 17).

Concerning the wearing of costumes. The Celts believed that if they had to leave the house that night the spirits would bother them, so they wore what we would call costumes, mainly of animal skins to make the spirits think they were also spirits. This tradition has continued to the modern day. We are to abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), this includes abstaining from taking part in a demonic celebration.

Halloween is considered my many witches to be their holiday and they are very pleased that Christians celebrate it. So why do Christians take part in a demonic holiday? I say they take part in it for the following reasons:

1. They are ignorant of the real reason for Halloween.
2. They just don’t care because it is for the children.
3. They don’t know what God’s Word has to say about taking par, consorting with witches, diviners etc.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning any Christian who wants to celebrate Halloween, as I said at the beginning, it is entirely between you and God. So I pray that you will look into this yourselves, and read God’s Word yourselves, and then really pray about whether or not you should celebrate this demonic holiday.