Halloween – A Christian Holiday…?

Halloween. All Hallows’ Evening. Allhallows. No matter what name you call it, it’s the night where many dress up in fun costumes, trick or treat, and get a sugar-high. But there is more to it than that.

It seems so innocent at first, especially if you aren’t really wearing a dark costume. But what is it that we are celebrating exactly? It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

Well, that sounds innocent enough. What’s wrong with remembering the dead? But then…

• Jack-o’-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows’ Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.
  • Acts 19:11-16 (NKJV): Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. These people thought they could remove evil spirits from people and look what happened to them. if these guys couldn’t even remove an evil spirit, then why are we trying to scare them with carved pumpkins? 😳
• Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha, in the Christian tradition, serves as “a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life”…
  • John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Why do we want to be reminded of death when Jesus died so that we could have everlasting life? A cross is different, it reminds us of what Jesus did for us.
• Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.
  • John 8:51: Verily, verily, I say unto you, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” Why do we celebrate and have themes of death if Jesus defeated it on the cross?
• Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, “Trick or treat?” The word “trick” refers to “threat” to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.
  • Proverbs 6:16 & 18: These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him […] a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief… ‘nuff said.
• Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as vampires, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils.
  • Leviticus 19:31: Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. And from the New Testament: Abstain from all appearance of evil. (1st Thessalonians 5:22) If God doesn’t like for His people to associate with witchcraft or darkness, then why is it okay to dress up as witches and warlocks and wizards?

Uh… exactly how is this a Christian holiday anymore? It seems that over the years, something has changed; Halloween is not All Saints’ Day any longer.

Deuteronomy 18:10 – 12: There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses 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 does drive them out from before thee.

If you are like me, you read this and think that most people don’t really do that anymore and that this was written for people long ago who practiced such things. But then I realized something.

**prepares to have rotten fruit thrown at me**

How many of us absolutely LOVED Harry Potter when growing up, or even as adults? That whole book series and movie franchise is about witches, warlocks, wizards and spell casting. Sure, we can use the argument that we are just watching the movie where it is being portrayed and that we aren’t really doing any of it.

For me personally, I loved Heroes Might and Magic IV. In it, the players can play as Might, Order, Chaos, Nature (my personal favorite), Life, and Death. With Death Magic, one can cast spells like “Raise Skeletons” (which brings up skeletons out of the fallen creatures on the battlefield), “Raise The Dead” (brings the fallen creatures back to life), and more. The players play as either a Death Knight or a Necromancer, which has the ability to raise the dead after every battle.

I always justified playing it with, “Well, I’m not really casting spells or raising the dead, it’s all a game.” But now, I can’t play the game aligned with Death without feeling like I am doing something that I shouldn’t be doing: If God hates it so much, then why am I playing this game that has this stuff in it? Same with the movies. I can’t watch it with a clear conscience anymore.

And I can’t celebrate Halloween, or at least, the Halloween of today, with a clear conscience either. (Which is extra hard because my birthday is the day before Halloween and I used to celebrate them together. I was The Wicked Witch for many years running too. XD) But I feel that it was wrong for me to do so, therefore, for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I sacrificed the darkness so I could see by His Light.

This article a friend of mine shared with me heavily inspired this post: Dabbling in Darkness

Because this is already so long as it is, I’m going to post part two, “Sacrificing The Darkness” at a later time. 🙂

 

(**Post revised 11/23/2021)