- by Jerold Aust
Every year at Halloween, well-meaning parents dress their children in
grotesque and ghoulish costumes. Is Halloween really harmless? Who and
what is behind this bizarre holiday?
It all looks like so much fun and seems so harmless: jack-o'-lanterns,
grotesque grinning masks, long black witch attire with pointed black
hats, costumes painted like skeletons, outfits that represent demons
and goblins, and children going door to door, soliciting treats from
compliant neighbors.
But when Halloween comes around, do you find yourself yearning for the
hours to pass until the whole trick-or-treat farce is over? If you
don't, you should!
HALLOWEEN'S N0T-SO-FUN SIDE
Since when is it acceptable for little children to threaten to commit
vandalism?
What happens if the homeowner doesn't come to the door or doesn't have
the treats the kids might expect?
Is it permissible for children to then soap his windows, toilet paper his trees, chalk mark his sidewalk or turn over plants as they leave?
When is it okay for children to commit vandalism while on another person's property?
Isn't it about time for all well-meaning citizens to just say NO to Halloween?
The clergy, in general, hasn't stood against it. Some churches even
have Halloween parties. Some citizens do speak up against it, as the
letters to the editor in your newspaper occasionally show.
Is Halloween simply good, clean fun, or is it something else entirely?
You need to know!
God is giving a wake-up call to professing Christians. As it was with
those the prophet Elijah addressed in his day, so it is with us: "'How
long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow
Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered him not a word"
(1 Kings 18:21). What will it take for Christians to accept and stand
for God's truth rather than harmful traditions that originated in
paganism?
WHERE DID HALLOWEEN ORIGINATE?
Just where did Halloween come from, and why is it so widely
celebrated? The Encyclopedia of Religion explains: "Halloween is the
name for the eve of Samhain, a celebration marking the beginning of
winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient
Celtic culture of the
the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November).
"On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural
forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day
of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the
human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such
as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and
humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods
and supernatural creatures."
"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human
beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the
fertility of the land... Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of
nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (1987, pp.
176-177, "Halloween").
On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away
evil spirits... The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their
homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister
significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies,
and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to
placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature"
(The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p.
862, "Halloween").
It was - bluntly put - a day devoted to appeasing demonic spirits and
the dark side of the spirit world—something no Christian should
have any part in (Ephesians 5:11).
HOW DID THIS DARK COLLECTION CONTINUE INTO MODERN TIMES?
Sadly, Halloween came down to us from the Roman Catholic Church, which
had assigned a day of each year to each of their 'saints'. When it
reached the point that they had more than 365, they then combined them
together on Nov. 1 and called it "All Saints Day" or "All Hallows
Day", and subsequently, the night before being called "All Hallows
Eve" or "Hallow Even" (holy evening)... which is now the name
Hallowe'en or Halloween.
WHY DID THEY CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR DAY?
Again The Encyclopedia of Religion explains: "Samhain remained a
popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the
Christianization of Great Britain . The British church attempted to
divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian
celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian
festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown
saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and
paid tribute to the Celtic deities" (p. 177).
Thus a pagan celebration was relabeled as Christian.
THE BIBLE VERSUS HALLOWEEN
You cannot find any support for Halloween in your Bible, because God
is adamantly opposed to it and the pagan, occult practices it revels
in. God warns His people to have nothing to do with these (Leviticus
19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12). They blind us from the truth of God.
GOD DOES NOT TAKE HALLOWEEN LIGHTLY.
As He says, "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2, King
James Version). And, "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared
to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you
do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve
their gods? I also will do likewise'" (Deuteronomy 12:30).
God will not always remain tirelessly patient with those who insist on
celebrating harmful and superstitious customs such as Halloween. " The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" II Peter 3:9-12
SATAN IS THE AUTHOR OF HALLOWEEN
The author of sin and death, Satan the devil, is also the
behind-the-scenes author of pagan customs like Halloween. Jesus said
that Satan is a liar and the father of all lies (John 8:44). God is
the God of the living, not the dead (Matthew 22:31-32). He is the God
of not only true Christians alive today but, because of the certainty
of the coming resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15), of those
who will yet live when raised from death. So certain is this
resurrection that to God it is looked on as an accomplished fact (see
Romans 4:17).
Conversely, Satan is the "lord of the dead." Hebrews 2 speaks of
Jesus Christ that "only by dying could he break the power of the
Devil, who had the power of death".
Satan is the lord of the dead in that he leads people by his lies and
influence into the way of death and, as the next verse shows, puts
them in bondage to the fear of death.
He has foisted Halloween on ignorant people and even well-meaning
Christians in a subtle and deceitful way, perpetuating it through the
Catholic Church with a "Christian" mask that hides its demonic
origins. Can people make Halloween harmless?
When it comes to Halloween or any other holiday for that matter, you
should ask yourself, "Did God make man in His image, or did God intend
man to remake God in man's image?" Should man divert from the God of
the Bible? Now that's a sobering thought.
The religious excuse for perpetuating Halloween might be that - as
we've seen - church leaders long ago called it a "holy evening" for
all the Catholic saints who had no day assigned to them. But face it:
People who celebrate this evening today couldn't care less about such
religious notions. All they think about is instant gratification, to
follow the pack with everyone else and to have some fun.
The Encyclopedia of Religion goes on to say: "Modern Halloween
activities have centered on mischief making and masquerading in
costumes, often resembling otherworldly characters. Folk customs, now
treated as games [such as bobbing for apples], have continued from the
various divination practices of the ancient celebrants of this
occasion. Supernatural figures [such as the ghost, the witch, the
vampire, the devil] play a key role in supplying an aura of the
mysterious to the evening, whether or not they originally had an
association with the festival.
THE DEVIL DOESN'T NEED ANY MORE PRESS.
"Children are particularly susceptible to the imagery of Halloween, as
can be seen in their fascination with the demonic likeness of a carved
and illuminated pumpkin, known as the jack-o'-lantern. In recent
times, children have taken up the practice of dressing in Halloween
costumes and visiting homes in search of edible and monetary treats,
lightly threatening to play a trick on the owner if a treat is not
produced" (p. 177).
Halloween is one of many human traditions that cloud biblical
teachings and keep people in the dark from God's truth that can set us
free (John 8:32). It is not a harmless holiday for you or for your
children. God warns us to avoid it and to follow His ways, because He
hates for us to dabble in the spirit world of Satan and his demons!
Instead, as God tells us in Isaiah 66:2, "On this one will I look: on
him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."
from an email by Leroy P.
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