Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
This article is taken from the Amazingfacts.org website. I know a lot of people enjoy dressing up and handing out candy and also having their little ones dress up. I don't mean to be an extremist or judge anyone, I simply want to just promote awareness and information. No matter what you choose to do this Halloween please be safe. Enjoy the article
http://www.amazingfacts.org/Home/InsideReport/tabid/123/newsid457/198/Should-Christians-Celebrate-Halloween/Default.aspx
4 comments:
Folks I have to break the news to you all but if you can’t celebrate Halloween on the basis of its origin’s then your going to have to stop celebrating Birthdays, New Year’s Eve, and Christmas Traditions too (and I am not talking about Santa, I am talking about gift giving, and Christmas trees). They all have their orgions in Peigon traditions and in many cases even witchcraft. Here is a little food for thought:
http://www.abcog.org/birthday.htm
http://www.abcog.org/nh/xmas.htm
Here is my belief, plain and simple, you can either use holidays to spread evil or to spread joy and happiness. You give me any holiday, and I will point you to people who use it to spread evil. You give me any holiday, and I will point you to its pigeon origins. We can either run away from all holidays on this basis or we can reclaim holidays from evil and make them days of happiness, joy and love. I choose to look at holidays for what they are today, not for what they were. I choose to look at holidays for the good people get out of them, not the evil. Yes there will always be evil people that use holidays for evil things, but you don’t have to be one of them.
I would never dress up my kid in an evil outfit like a ghost or witch... that is glorifying evil. I do dress up my kid in piglet outfits, and my favorite thus far, a Penn State Cheerleader outfit (this year). ... We celebrate the good, not the evil. If people choose to use Halloween to celebrate the evil, that is there problem, not mine. For every person that celebrates evil on Halloween, there are others that celebrate the good. ... and of course there are people that don’t celebrate it at all.
I respect those who choose not to celebrate Halloween. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I guess I just don’t understand why those same people celebrate Birthdays, New Year’s Eve, and Christmas Traditions.
For the Christian I think any answer given in response to one who would "sugar coat" certain holidays or use reasons why "today" it's ok to celebrate holidays which pagans celebrated years before us, should be from the Word of God. We live in a modernistic society that is always calling us to conform to it's pattern and ways. "Get with the times" they will say. "Everyone is doing it" But the scriptures say to
"not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2) We must be careful when we start off an argument with "Here is my belief....." When you make such a statement (this being an argument from Christianity) you push God out of the equation. You are saying that what you believe is right and God is wrong because you negate the scriptures therefore making God out to be a liar.
God said:
I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right
Jesus said "I tell you the truth......" many many times
"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
"it is impossible for God to lie"
Now that we have established that Gods word is truth and when He speaks, he speaks only the truth and that it's impossible for God to lie, statements like "here's what I believe..." have no baring to God's word. They are but mans thoughts and ideas. And I must remind you that Isaiah tells us "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. and "Mans wisdom is but foolishness to God"
So what does God's word say about Halloween?
First I want to squash this notion people use when defending Halloween, and that is that "well I dress my little one up as a butterfly or a lady bug not a devil or a witch or a ghost" Yes I would agree a few people dress their kids "cute" but in all honestly a majority of the kids will often be a grotesque, evil or hellish character" (this is especially true of adults) But we are also talking about everything else that Halloween promotes witch people seem to leave out. They tend to only relate Halloween with the dressing up portion of it. However it's roots go much deeper than that. What about the Worshipping of Satan, instilling fear into many people and stuffing our faces with candy and goods which on any other night normal sane parents would never let their children do?
Scripture says:
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31, NKJV It is a contradictory to glorify God while celebrating Halloween for "no man can serve two masters..." (Matthew 6:24)
"Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11
These are but a few, there are many other verses and examples as well.
As stated in the article Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
Throughout its history, Halloween has been thought of as the time when supernatural forces prevail. Anton LaVey, author of "The Satanic Bible" and high priest of the Church of Satan, says that Satanists consider Halloween the most important day of the year. He says that on this night, satanic, occult, and witchcraft power are at their highest potency level, and that any witch or occultist who has been having difficulty with a spell or curse can usually achieve success on October 31st because Satan and his powers are at their best that night.
Divination, or fortune telling, is also believed to reach its highest powers on Halloween, as people are eager to learn what might happen to them in the upcoming year. Even today, predictions of leading psychics and astrologers are generally released about the time of Halloween.
Satan would love nothing more than for someone to read this and say "I think your reading into this too much" "It's not that bad" or "I don't believe in the devil" I would say C.S. Lewis stated it accurately in his book "The Screwtape Letters"
"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight." Should we not be at home praying (since this is a heightened time for Satan) or be along side his people trick or treating with them?
Question? in light of this knowledge would you still feel it ok to involve your little one to participate in such a celebration? If your answer is yes, I would question whether Gods word is your authority or not.
I suppose one could argue a lack of knowledge of what God's word says about these things, but I don't think anyone is arguing that.
But even then Christians have a certain mentality that says "God said this but I think........" Or "God said this but i don't see whats wrong with........" or "Here is my belief...."
Gods word is the final authority for his people. If one claims a lack of knowledge of something that is one thing, but if one is fully aware of what God requires but does not do it, he sins. (Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins - James 4:17) Luke said "But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be required."
"Here is my belief, plain and simple, you can either use holidays to spread evil or to spread joy and happiness"
To do this would be to compromise God's word.
"I choose to look at holidays for what they are today, not for what they were. I choose to look at holidays for the good people get out of them, not the evil." The very fact that you get to "choose" is a privilege from the Lord for he gives us the choice of free will. We have the choice to follow him or our own beliefs. We have the choice to accept salvation or don't. We even have the choice to choose which so called god we want to serve. I think we need to reevaluate our choices and line them up with The One True God's will and Word in obedience (But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams. )
Joshua said it best when he said "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)
"We celebrate the good, not the evil. If people choose to use Halloween to celebrate the evil, that is there problem, not mine"
Exactly which part of Halloween is the good part? Is it Satanism and/or praying to Satan? The Occult? Witch Craft? Casting spells on people? Divination? Fortune Telling? Psychics and Astrologers? Is it calling up the dead?
The Lord said "'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritist, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."
and
"do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son of daughter in the fire, 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. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God"
In addition to your comment on "If people choose to use Halloween to celebrate the evil, that is there problem, not mine" I'm sure you would make it your problem if your little one were to be hurt by someone who was following a ritual or evil practice by placing something deadly in his/her candy bag. May God forbid this from ever happening to you.
"I respect those who choose not to celebrate Halloween. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I guess I just don’t understand why those same people celebrate Birthdays, New Year’s Eve, and Christmas Traditions."
I equally respect your view as well. And I most certainly agree with the latter statement. Christians should not pick and choose which pagan holidays they would follow and which one's they won't. To be honest it's difficult in my own home sometimes to remember to teach our children the truth between Christmas (Santa, presents etc..) and Jesus Christ. The same goes for many other holidays. However we must remember that celebrating one's birthday is not forbidden in scripture nor is it sin to do so.
It is a sin however to worship anything or anyone else other than God. And the truth of the matter is that this day was made from and for Satan and his followers not believers in Christ for we are "be imitators of Christ"
So to sum it up, Once again, I quote Debra J. Hicks
"No matter how fun or exciting it may seem, Halloween is no celebration for a Christian. If we truly seek to glorify God, then how can we devote one day of the year to worshipping Satan?"
Thanks again.
Jsirianni7
You said: We must be careful when we start off an argument with "Here is my belief....."
My Response: Certainly, but let’s not take this too far. I figured it went without saying that “my beliefs” are developed from my understanding and interpretation of the Bible. I certainly don’t expect anyone to take that at face value, but I kind of figured that it went without saying. I agree though, I should have been clearer about this because not everyone reading this blog knows me well enough to have understood this. I am not trying to convey arbitrary beliefs that are not founded in an understanding of the Bible (be I wrong or right). Also, naturally if I was serious about proving my arguments, I would need to quote my references from the bible. That is understood and agreed. I have not done that due to limitations in time. So with that said, I agree that nobody reading this blog should take may comments as fact until those arguments can be supported by the Bible.
You said: Now that we have established that Gods word is truth and when He speaks, he speaks only the truth and that it's impossible for God to lie, statements like "here's what I believe..." have no baring to God's word.
My Response: Naturally, I agree that when I say “I believe”, those beliefs do not supersede the Word of God as written in the Bible. It is kind of silly to even suggest that could have been the case, but I guess if you are dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s, you do have to make that distinction. ... Let’s also be clear however that you are also presenting your own “beliefs” here too, even though you’re not out rightly labeling them as such. You don’t expect your beliefs to supersede the Bible either, however, nonetheless you do have them and they are “your own”. There is nothing wrong with that. We all have beliefs and that is not only OK, but expected. Everyone just needs to understand that because we are human, our beliefs are never perfect. Inherently our beliefs are always flawed in one way or another. Only the Word of God is the Truth and the reader must interpret the Word of God for themselves to form their own beliefs.
Everyone should now understand that unless they have analyzed the Word of God for themselves, then little to no credibility should be automatically assigned to what either you or I state here. Furthermore, even when we post quotes from the Bible, the reader should be careful, because quotes from the Bible can be presented out of context and in ways that are not consistent with all aspects of the Word of God. A single quote from the Bible cannot stand alone unless it is consistent with the entire rest of the Bible. This certainly makes the validation of one’s beliefs difficult, but without it, we open ourselves up to false doctrine.
Ok, now that we got that disclaimer out of the way, maybe things will go a little smoother. :-)
After reviewing your arguments, my initial reaction is that some of your arguments hold water, some of them don't. Overall though, I do tend to agree with you. At any rate, it will take many hours of Bible study to be able to respond to the views you presented. Certainly, when I have time, I will look into it further.
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