In the Halloween party store, I had to distract my children from looking at the creepy electronic "demon babies" that were on display. When did smiling ghosts and jack o' lanterns stop being enough? Like everything, Satan has cunningly and inconspicuously crept in and taken over full throttle. So begs the question, "as Christians, should we celebrate Halloween?"
Although Halloween originates from ancient Celtic and Roman traditions, the holiday that we celebrate today is also greatly influenced by the early church and barely resembles the original celebrations. In fact, Halloween as we know it didn't evolve until the early twentieth century, so we cannot really base our decision of whether to celebrate or not by looking at the history. What we need to do is look at the present traditions. I believe that we should keep our distance from obvious Satanic influence-the extremities of an already ghoulish holiday. Anything that is blatantly against God and the Bible, we should NOT take part in or encourage. This includes witchcraft, devils, demons and even some horror movies. Aside from the candy issue, which I will touch upon later, allowing our children to participate in dressing up and visiting neighbors, friends and family is completely permissible and can actually be used as an opportunity to teach. Point out some of the scary Halloween traditions. Remind them that the world can be a frightening place and when they are afraid, they can always turn to God in prayer. Teach them that, like the Jack'O Lantern lights up the night, we should let our light shine before men.(Matt 5:16) There are endless opportunities. Feel free to share your ideas and opinions here.
Although Halloween originates from ancient Celtic and Roman traditions, the holiday that we celebrate today is also greatly influenced by the early church and barely resembles the original celebrations. In fact, Halloween as we know it didn't evolve until the early twentieth century, so we cannot really base our decision of whether to celebrate or not by looking at the history. What we need to do is look at the present traditions. I believe that we should keep our distance from obvious Satanic influence-the extremities of an already ghoulish holiday. Anything that is blatantly against God and the Bible, we should NOT take part in or encourage. This includes witchcraft, devils, demons and even some horror movies. Aside from the candy issue, which I will touch upon later, allowing our children to participate in dressing up and visiting neighbors, friends and family is completely permissible and can actually be used as an opportunity to teach. Point out some of the scary Halloween traditions. Remind them that the world can be a frightening place and when they are afraid, they can always turn to God in prayer. Teach them that, like the Jack'O Lantern lights up the night, we should let our light shine before men.(Matt 5:16) There are endless opportunities. Feel free to share your ideas and opinions here.
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