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Origin In the pre-Christian era, people in Britain and Ireland celebrated the holiday of Samhain (the Lord of Death) on October 31, to commemorate the Celtic New Year (which began on November 1). They believed that during Samhain the veil separating the living from the dead was at its thinnest, and so evil spirits and the souls of the dead could pass through the barrier and enter the world of the living. Departed family members could therefore visit their earthly homes. The Druids were charged with appeasing the goblins to prevent them from harming the people. They lit bonfires to guide the way of the spirits, and the people left out food for them, hoping that a “treat” would prevent an evil “trick”. Humans could escape the evil spirits by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. Originally the Irish would carve out turnips or beets as lanterns as representations of the souls of the dead or goblins freed from the dead. In America, there were few turnips or beets, so the people used pumpkins instead. The evil faces carved into pumpkins were originally intended to frighten away evil spirits. After the rise of Christianity, children continued to dress as spirits and went house-to-house demanding a treat. If they didn’t receive one, they performed an unwelcome trick. In the 8th century Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints’ Day to replace the pagan festival of the dead, and in 834 C.E. Pope Gregory III moved it from May 13 to November 1, where it remains to this day. (The practice of honoring the saints dates back to the 4th century.) So November 1 came to be called All Saints Day (or All Hallows’ Day). The evening before was called All Hallows’ Evening (“All-Hallow E’en”), or Halloween.
Questions About Halloween Is it okay to adopt a pagan feast for Christian purposes? “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who ... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium, or spiritist or who consults the dead.” “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) Even if we think it’s okay, does celebrating Halloween drive a wedge between us and Christians who object to it? “Be careful … that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9) “I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice ... [The children] are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don't even realize it.” – Pat Robertson Is celebrating Halloween a symptom of materialism? Consumers spend more money – roughly $7 billion – on Halloween accessories and decorations than any other holiday except for Christmas.
Alternatives Celebrate Halloween the right way. “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to the texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.” – C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters “Why allow Halloween to be a pagan holiday in commemoration of the powers of darkness? Fill the house or church with light; sing and celebrate the victory of Christ over darkness.” – Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline Celebrate something different. Recall that October 31 is also “Reformation Day,” celebrating Martin Luther’s beginning the Reformation by posting his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany.
Perspective Other “Christian” holidays:
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