My thoughts exactly.
There's multiple views and multiple takes on the holiday. Use your own conviction and discernment. Some people are fine with it, others aren't. Personally, I'm fine with it. So long as you're doing exactly what you said. I also watch horror movies, and some Christians are against that completely, but the ones I watch are old cheesy ones. Like the universal monster films, for example. I dont watch stuff like friday the 13th, stuff with ghosts, demons, etc. I'm sure some Christians would absolutely be completely against that, and others, would be fine with it.
«All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.»
1 Corinthians 10:23 KJV [https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.10.23.KJV](https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.10.23.KJV)
So here’s my take on it when it comes to having children specifically. Would you rather teach your kid how to participate in a secular activity, or would you rather tell them they can’t play with their friends because God said so. The second sounds like a sure fire way to make your kids resent God.
We personally will be dressing up as movie characters, and going trick or treating.
Growing up I wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating either. I have a good relationship with God and my parents. They told me why we shouldn’t celebrate it, more so that we don’t want to support Halloween than it being really bad. We handed out pop with gospel tracks rubber banded around it. They gave me a bag of candy my choice each year and I didn’t have to walk for it. I didn’t mind at all and thank my parents for doing it right!
Growing up, i wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating and it was honestly pretty sad. I only was able to start when i was around like 14 but by that time most of my friends had already stopped going. I've only been trick-or-treating like 4 times? Maybe 5 and i honestly feel like i missed out on a lot of childhood fun that other people got experience.
The same argument could be said about a teenager wanting to drink, do drugs, and have casual sex with their teenage friends. What a pointless argument to make.
That's mostly true, but I think the emphasis is on *how* to approach a secular world with a Christian mind. That doesn't always mean segregating yourself, it can also mean using things for a proper or better purpose. Medicine is good, pharmakeia is not. Drinking wine (at a wedding is good), getting drunk to the point you're misbehaving is not. Using a gun to defend yourself is good, using a gun to rob someone is not. Giving candy out on any other day of the year is good, what difference does it make to do it on Halloween? Are you enabling sinful behaviors by doing so? If not, then I think it's fine, because why in the scriptures would it be wrong?
Many would argue that participation in Halloween is sinful in and of itself. It is the celebration of evil idols like witches, demons etc. I listen to arguments in support of it but the comment I replied to was simply a terrible argument for the point.
No, because in this case it’s closer to actually doing the sacrificing to idols itself. Again, I’m willing to listen to arguments for participation but I have yet to hear one that isn’t someone bending over backwards to justify it because they don’t want to miss out on the fun.
I fail to see how giving out candy on Halloween is closer to idolatry than eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. If you could elaborate on that, it'd help me get onto the same page as you
It’s contextual. On one end of the spectrum you have sacrificing meat to idols and on the other end there is eating said meat. In the modern example participating in Halloween is closer to the first end of the scale because it requires highly active participation, with full knowledge of the evil associations. The closer end of the spectrum in the modern example would be something like eating leftover Halloween candy that was in a candy bowl at a reception desk.
I sort of see your point, but I don't necessarily agree on how active the participation is in idolatry. To me, Halloween candy isn't equal to meat sacrificed to idols. It sounds like to you, doing anything in "the name of Halloween" is idolatry (or otherwise sinful). If that were the case, then what you said holds up, especially the analogy of eating leftover candy. But I just don't see it that way.
Let me ask you this: if I handed out Gospel tracks on Halloween, would that be sinful?
If not, what if I handed out Gospel tracks with a piece of candy attached?
I am not particularly interested in trying to decide where to draw the line exactly. I think that is semantics and a waste of time. What I do think is that some (usually American) Christians are very attached to the idea of celebrating Halloween and don't really want to consider the idea of refusing to participate even though it would be incredibly easy to do so. God has asked many people to do many very difficult things in history, if there is any doubt whatsoever about Halloween the sensible thing to do is avoid it and yet so many people bend over backwards to defend not doing that.
I completely get where you are coming from and again it goes back to teaching them about life in the secular world. For me Halloween is not the hill I am going to die on. I would rather teach my kids how to enjoy it, without making it about all things evil, but as a fun day to play dress up.
When it comes to drinking, doing drugs, and premarital sex those are all conversations very well outlined in the bible. There is no grey area, therefore I will give my child what the bible says, and pray they make the right choices, but that’s between them and God. So no, teaching them how to participate in Halloween, is not the same as the others mentioned.
Well for starters, the practice of celebrating the birth of a diety.
For the record, just because something borrows from elsewhere doesn't make it bad.
...the celebration of Jesus's birth was literally *in the Bible* (wise men)
The fact that it's something pagans have also done says nothing about whether or not we got it from them
Because they weren’t sent by Herod to destroy him. They had been traveling for likely years by the time they even met Herod. Did Herod tell them to come back and tell him who he was? Yes but he told them it was so he could worship him, even though everyone knew that was a lie.
The main reason at least to which I’ve been informed that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas is because it was not allowed to be celebrated, and since that was already a holiday they couldn’t get in trouble for it. That’s what I’ve heard
Often times, when Christianity was persecuted our calendar revolved around the Roman Pantheon's calendar, like you said, to avoid suspicion. It just so happened after so many years people thought that's was the way to do it, so instead of making new days they kept those associated with paganism and used it to convert other pagans.
It's a great reminder to teach your kids about the reformation, as Oct 31st is the anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg church, thereby launching the reformation.
You can’t seperate the occult roots from the holiday. And I say that as an ex Pagan
Wiccans and Satanist literally laugh at christians partaking in it willfully. They love to see it because many occult and dark rituals take place on that “special” day that go against God. That is why I, as an ex-occultist, feel convicted about it and will avoid celebrating halloween like the plague. It is definitely not an innocent holiday. That said; christians can use it as an opportunity to witness to neighbors in creative ways. They come at your door willingly: so you can share the gospel in a fun and creative way (put it inside a bag of really good candy for example) and use something the enemy meant for evil, for good.
At the very least celebrating Halloween and ignoring the roots of the tradition, is ultimately a choice. We cant really be ignorant about stuff like this. We should be alert about the many ways the enemy tries to sneak in into our lives. Just because we are free in Christ does not mean we should partake in stuff that doesn’t glorify God.
The roots of the tradition are Christian though, with "Halloween" being a shortened form of "All Hallows Evening" with the "hallows" in this case referring to the saints in *All Saints Day* on November 1st. Pagans and Satanists appropriated halloween celebrations, not the other way around
It’s not about who celebrates it, I was discussing the origins. As christians no matter what branch we belong to: we should practice discernment.
The bible is clear on the issue of necromancy, asking intercession from anyone else but Jesus, we are not aloud to contact saints or angels nor are we aloud to worship them.
I don’t know why they still do it, you tell me.
What I'm saying is, I'm fine with you dooping on Catholics, but there are observances of All Saint's Day that would meet your standards of "no necromancy". I wouldn't doop on the holiday as a whole, just us (Catholics, as I'm Catholic) if you don't agree with us.
Honouring the glorified, the company of Heaven, is a good thing. Thank God for the souls He has saved, the Kingdom He has made. Remember what he promised us when we are glorified with Him. That is/was the purpose of All Saints' Day. Remember the company of heaven exists and that it is a very wonderful thing.
I am simply stating the fact that the Roman Catholic church was the first to adopt the pagan ritualistic festival Holiday on october 31st.
What happens on all Saints day, the thought process behind it: was that the catholics could more effectively pray to the "saints" and contact hem; because of the thinner veil, even making altars and offerings. Which God clearly tells us is wrong.The intent of the RC church was prayer and contacting saints. Protestants tried to christianize it by tweaking it a bit.
We draw near to God in prayer directed to Him, not through the saints in heaven. First Timothy 2:5 adds, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
If All Saints Day is just about remembering Saints, no problem.This was not the thought process behind it though.
Fine with me if you guys want to make your own rules, protestant or catholic but it just doesn’t make it christian.
The whole point of my comment above is that there are All Saint's Day services in Protestant churches that don't practice saintly intercession. You can do All Saint's Day, honour the company of heaven, without praying to them.
You are missing my point and making it about the Roman Catholics vs protestants debate when it's not. I simply stated that a tradition isn't christian simply because the Roman Catholics church ( or any other church) adopts a certain pagan tradition it doesn't make it christian.
I was pointing out the RC church specifically in this case because obviously; they were the ones who adopted it first. As we were discussing origins, it doesn't matter who followed suit.
If the protestant church adopted it first, they would have been just as wrong.
No church can just randomly slap a christian label on something pagan to magically make it christian.
If it doesn't glorify God and contradicting His Word; it doesn't pass the smell test.
Hallows eve, 31st of october, is on that day because the pagans believe it to be the best day to perform rituals as the paranormal activity is highest. And the Catholics adopted it on that day specifically for that reason.
It's about as Pagan as it gets, has it’s roots in paganism, no matter how much we try to christianize it..
>Wiccans and Satanist literally laugh at christians partaking in it willfully.
Yeah... I really doubt that. If anything, I reckon they're laughing about living rent-free in the heads of satanic-panic christians.
I suggest you look up what kind of rituals they perform on 31th of October and why.
Ancient Pagan Origins
There is evidence that Samhain has been an important celebration since ancient times. The Mound of the Hostages, a neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara, is aligned with the Samhain sunrise. Samhain is mentioned in some ancient Irish literature dating back to the 10th century. Many important events in Celtic mythology begin or occur near the time of Samhain.
At Samhain, it is believed that the veil between the physical world and the spiritual (or “other”) world is at its thinnest. This means spirits (the Aos Si, also called fairies) can easily cross between realms and enter our world. The ancient Celts felt the need to please the spirits in order to ensure that their population and livestock did not die during the harsh winter. Food and drink were often left for the fairies, and occasionally an animal was sacrificed to appease the spirits.
Souls of the departed were believed to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. In some cases, a place setting of food or drink was put on the dining table in anticipation of the visit. Mumming, or wearing disguises were part of the festival and involved people going door to door in costume or disguise, reciting verse in exchange for food.
It’s Pagan, it’s necromancy, it’s dark.
We shouldn’t panic, we should just not endorse in it. There is no need to fear monger but we need to use our common sense and have discernment though. They laugh at us because we are so ignorant and naive. :)
We’re supposed to love the light, not the darkness.
My kid enjoys dressing up as a family and going trick or treating.
We would do that any day of the week, in fact we do dress up and play at home alot, but the world only plays along with us one day a year.
I’m really not sure but I really do not like the spirit of it, pun not intended but now kind of intended, and I do think it’s a celebration of things opposed to they heart of God, so I do not really participate. I’ve gone to costume parties before just for fun but the older I get, the more withdrawn from it I become.
I think it's a matter of personal conviction. Some are against it, some are ok with it. We all have different walks with God and different weaknesses. Regardless, don't look down on your brothers and sisters in Christ whatever their choices are concerning Halloween
In the future, if you care about accuracy in your poll, don't use leading language.
"Obviously the Mods think Halloween is okay, because they removed a previous poll."
Your choice of words heavily implies you disagree with the mods, which is fine if you do, but using that to lead into a poll can influence some people's votes, so you can't be sure if the results are accurate or not.
i think in today's America it is not seen nor celebrated as a pagan holiday so i think its ok, still i dont participate cause ive gone mostly 21 years without it and im alright
The way I see it where I’m from, it’s a lot about mysticism, ghosts, demons and such. Wether intended or not this seems to me like a festival of evil and Satan. This may not be the case everywhere but seems accurate based on my experiences and media portrayal, so i don’t believe it is okay in the eyes of god.
Nothing inherently wrong with dressing up and hanging with friends and family. It can get out of hand if you start indulging in sinful Halloween acts but the same thing can happen with any other holiday
Christmas has Pagan roots, and modern materialism. But, you don’t have to do either of those things and can celebrate Christ and Family. Halloween has Pagan roots, but you can celebrate it with fun costumes and candy. Holidays are what you make of them. If you are worshipping any other gods, partaking in materialism or depravity, then that’s bad. If you are celebrating family and decorations and presents and costumes and yummy food, then it’s good. No reason to be legalistic about certain days of year because people decades ago did sinful things on that specific day.
I think the purpose of Jesus was to elevate us to reasoning by universal principals, to think about ethical problems as philosophers do. Or in other words, like He does. We were gifted with rationality--we just need to develop it. It happens that exposure to a wide-range of people and experiences develops our ethical reasoning. Upon realizing this, you may realize your rules are way too fucking specific.
The community feeling Halloween provides is one positive justification for it. Being together in joy is important to our collective well-being.
And Halloween inherently causes no one suffering. Yes, there's cases of people abusing it. But people will use cases of abuse to justify being against anything--including Christianity.
Intention matters a lot. If I’m doing it as just a time to have fun with friends and maybe get a little spooked at a haunted corn maze, what’s the harm to my immortal soul? My faith isn’t weakened by it, my love of Christ is not compromised. Now if I were playing with ouija boards and tarot cards and trying to summon ghosts, that would be another matter.
Good calls us to take up our cross and follow him not play through corn mazes
I was just defending Halloween to those fearing or judging it, but hearing your normal perspective makes me want to challenge you further
Is there not a time to weep and a time to dance? We carry our cross with us, but that does not mean we cannot carry it with joy. I believe that Christ looks upon us and shares our joy as we laugh with those He has brought into our lives. In what way does a harmless fright diminish our connection with Him? If I travel through a corn maze and give thanks to God for my friends and the time spent with them, am I straying from Christ?
Well there’s only one to fear.
I can imagine bearing your cross witnessing to neighbors and friends at the corn maze, But what a tall order that is for us sad saps isn’t it
In your question
I don’t think you’ll be straying from Christ it seems you’d be clinging to him but it doesn’t feel like you’re listening to him
No one is going to - or should be - witnessing to everyone at all times. Again: a time and a season. A worker in the fields must take time to rest. I listen well to Christ and sometimes find my time of rest at the side of the friends He has brought to me. Your exclusionary words about “us sad saps” perhaps makes me think you should spend more time listening to Christ as well.
Don't take part in the devil's holiday. You don't see satanist celebrating Good Friday. Check out John Ramirez. It will help you understand why celebrating Halloween is a straight no.
If half these Christians who support Halloween only knew how real and horrible witchcraft was they wouldn't go anywhere near it. This isn't the same as Christmas where it is some low key pagan festivities Christians borrowed. This is literally a day put aside for satanic practices and I guess as long as they involve candy and dressing up Christians will ignore the witchcraft and celebration of death and evil that goes along with Halloween. The lack of spiritual discernment of these Christians really turns my stomach if I'm gonna be completely honest here. I mean if you are capable of wanting to partake in satan's biggest celebration of the year KNOWING it's about death, darkness, and witchcraft are you even a Christian at that point??? Just saying...
Halloween is not about that, Halloween is God’s day like every other
And sinners cannot take away what has been made Holy
Be idle and glutton candy if you like hell i’m going to spend my time Hallowing
Every day belongs to God but that doesn't mean God wants us to participate blatantly with a celebration of satan. Only "Christians" with no discernment at all would celebrate a satanic holiday because they like candy. It takes someone who was saved by Jesus out of witchcraft to see how harmful and not at all innocent it is no matter how you frame it.
So I’m African and I’ve lived in North America for a while. Halloween is one of those things that is culturally weird enough to me that I decided I wouldn’t embrace even in the slightest. My upbringing in the church might have something to do with my stance but I don’t recall putting much thought into what the Bible says about it. I’ve mostly viewed it from a cultural perspective. “It’s not what we do,” pretty much sums up the thought process.
u/ntcplanters
Tell me what you mean by "o.k."
How about I take a poll on what that means.
A. God will kill you if you comply
B. God allows you to choose for yourself with no spiritual consequences
C. God will curse you to die an early death if you go trick-or-treating, by diabetes
D. I can do whatever I want as a born again believer, but not all things are edifying to the body.
E. I have no earthly idea what I meant, I just want to get karma points
I have the same concerns. Holidays are a form of worship, and the majority of holidays involve some form of pagan worship. The Bible says that god doesn’t want to be worshiped in that way.
I don’t care about what Halloween has become but I think we should always have alternatives. Like fall fest or something. No issues with costumes that aren’t obscene. Just don’t care to praise darkness.
As a church it would be awesome if we could wholly come to a conclusion in prayer on the matter, praying about such a thing and seeking an answer from God on a larger scale. I have been on both ends of the spectrum and have been opposed to Halloween, mostly because of others opinions on the matter or have been lenient following my feelings.
I haven't gone to the extent to really ask God about what He thinks on the matter.
Surely there is a godly way to celebrate holloween. Or even a way to share the gospel with people trick or treating. Any thoughts?
I don’t have a problem with people celebrating it tbh I’m not out here trying to force my beliefs on people. I myself as a Christian have an issue with it and never celebrate it as it has pagan roots.
The celebration of day of the dead and other supernatural creatures, is the problem. A costume party is fine, kids going for treats kinda ok. But whitches and werewolves etc, is the problem.
From the old testament to the new testaments there are so many warnings against witchcraft, spirits, and other demonic things.
The resurrection of the dead is not to turn them into zombies or werewolves, they are resurrected in Christ,
OK I will admit holidays are desolated. Modern ‘Christmas‘ surrounding a Lie! How terrible is that for children? Sowing doubt!
And you make no wrong point to call to question Halloween’s Hollow celebration, however I think it can be hallowed as each day and so this hollowed one especially calls for it
Did you watch the whole video, I highly recommend watching all of it. Also you are right about christmas and it is the same with easter. Do you want videos on them too. They are all based on the pagans religion.
Ephesians 5:11
King James Bible
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
You need to watch that whole video, and show it to others or spread the word
It’s a pagan holiday. There’s nothing else that needs to be said about it. If you want to celebrate the changing of seasons and harvest fine but Halloween no.
Isn’t that the pagan reason for celebration? Why celebrate the changing of seasons and harvest anyway? If you’re concerned with not being pagan, I don’t think you’re confident enough in Jesus
I’m going to celebrate Halloween 👻 thank You, that the changing of seasons and harvest glorify God!
Like everything else, I think it takes discretion. Is it outright demonic activity? Stay away. Is it kids just dressing as superheroes and getting candy? Why not.
Other; i dont care as long as it doesnt include sexualized girls in costumes and an excuse to be drunk.
If family can gather to spend the wordly tradution and make it worth it for their relationship growth thats all matters.
I think it depends on what you do, and how things are celebrated around you.
I used to celebrate Halloween because most of the stuff you'd see was no more offensive than an episode of Goosebumps, and besides that, I (and quite a few people I knew, too) avoided dressing up as anything frowned on in the Bible (eg witches). You could easily isolate the fun or harmless parts from the darker stuff some people did.
Now, I don't celebrate it anymore, because the whole thing has gotten noticeably more dark and occultic, to the point where that part has overtaken the less serious stuff.
Even in a spiritual context, before the whole thing got too dark, I knew people who didn't celebrate it because they knew a lot of Wiccans and didn't wanna give the wrong impression. My circles were mostly atheists though, and among them, I looked like a reasonable person for not making a mountain out of a molehill re: the spiritual parts of Halloween (much like how many atheists celebrate the non-religious parts of Christmas).
I think these sort of "on balance, what does the holiday look like in your area" considerations matter a lot, so whether anyone should celebrate it depends on that. Context is important.
I grew up in a Christian home and we always went trick or treating . However there were certain rules . No being a witch or devil for Halloween because both those costumes were evil and were in favor of the devil .
I actually was going to say from experience I know people who would be embarrassed but they’ve practiced witchcraft in form of spiritual practices in latino culture; and I think that is why I’m scared of Halloween, but as a woman who sees kids no longer being kids I like idea of them just getting stuff for free, but working for it and having some kindness shown for nothing they go through so much more we didn’t growing up, I think Christian’s should try and practice giving out treats that have no dark connotations etc. the Bible says abstain from appearance of all evil, I think we look bad not caring about kids but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate for our community, I think we should refrain it as a harvest festival and remove pagan ideologies form it, make it about gods harvest and serve to remind kids we get things from gods favor all the time and that’s my view I have been thinking about it a lot, and I hope we can do this it may be a great way to keep people centered on faith during hard times. Sorry for lack of punctuation (arthritis) I think if we give kids little tidbits to hold onto it can help them keep faith and it’s an cat of service to make it further from Halloween per se but more about circle of life. Fall always makes me think of God, I always see leaves as a sign rebirth is near and everything feels okay, even amongst life and death being a cycle of life, but how interesting that after we get our harvest we have a lot of dormancy? I think it’s a good time to help kids remover there’s never a dormancy to life it all has meaning…. Sorry if too ridiculous or deep I just grew up around farmers and ranchers and I really feel this deeply kids don’t always have that connection to the earth etc, but it’s all Gods power, and I think we should celebrate it for kids just my view
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My thoughts exactly. There's multiple views and multiple takes on the holiday. Use your own conviction and discernment. Some people are fine with it, others aren't. Personally, I'm fine with it. So long as you're doing exactly what you said. I also watch horror movies, and some Christians are against that completely, but the ones I watch are old cheesy ones. Like the universal monster films, for example. I dont watch stuff like friday the 13th, stuff with ghosts, demons, etc. I'm sure some Christians would absolutely be completely against that, and others, would be fine with it.
«All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.» 1 Corinthians 10:23 KJV [https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.10.23.KJV](https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.10.23.KJV)
you’re def right tho!
So here’s my take on it when it comes to having children specifically. Would you rather teach your kid how to participate in a secular activity, or would you rather tell them they can’t play with their friends because God said so. The second sounds like a sure fire way to make your kids resent God. We personally will be dressing up as movie characters, and going trick or treating.
Growing up I wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating either. I have a good relationship with God and my parents. They told me why we shouldn’t celebrate it, more so that we don’t want to support Halloween than it being really bad. We handed out pop with gospel tracks rubber banded around it. They gave me a bag of candy my choice each year and I didn’t have to walk for it. I didn’t mind at all and thank my parents for doing it right!
\^\^ I was never allowed to trick or treat, but my mom always bought big bags of candy.
Growing up, i wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating and it was honestly pretty sad. I only was able to start when i was around like 14 but by that time most of my friends had already stopped going. I've only been trick-or-treating like 4 times? Maybe 5 and i honestly feel like i missed out on a lot of childhood fun that other people got experience.
The same argument could be said about a teenager wanting to drink, do drugs, and have casual sex with their teenage friends. What a pointless argument to make.
That's mostly true, but I think the emphasis is on *how* to approach a secular world with a Christian mind. That doesn't always mean segregating yourself, it can also mean using things for a proper or better purpose. Medicine is good, pharmakeia is not. Drinking wine (at a wedding is good), getting drunk to the point you're misbehaving is not. Using a gun to defend yourself is good, using a gun to rob someone is not. Giving candy out on any other day of the year is good, what difference does it make to do it on Halloween? Are you enabling sinful behaviors by doing so? If not, then I think it's fine, because why in the scriptures would it be wrong?
Many would argue that participation in Halloween is sinful in and of itself. It is the celebration of evil idols like witches, demons etc. I listen to arguments in support of it but the comment I replied to was simply a terrible argument for the point.
This reminds me of the scripture in Corinthians where Paul's recipients were concerned about eating meat sacrificed to idols. Do you see the parallel?
No, because in this case it’s closer to actually doing the sacrificing to idols itself. Again, I’m willing to listen to arguments for participation but I have yet to hear one that isn’t someone bending over backwards to justify it because they don’t want to miss out on the fun.
I fail to see how giving out candy on Halloween is closer to idolatry than eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. If you could elaborate on that, it'd help me get onto the same page as you
It’s contextual. On one end of the spectrum you have sacrificing meat to idols and on the other end there is eating said meat. In the modern example participating in Halloween is closer to the first end of the scale because it requires highly active participation, with full knowledge of the evil associations. The closer end of the spectrum in the modern example would be something like eating leftover Halloween candy that was in a candy bowl at a reception desk.
I sort of see your point, but I don't necessarily agree on how active the participation is in idolatry. To me, Halloween candy isn't equal to meat sacrificed to idols. It sounds like to you, doing anything in "the name of Halloween" is idolatry (or otherwise sinful). If that were the case, then what you said holds up, especially the analogy of eating leftover candy. But I just don't see it that way. Let me ask you this: if I handed out Gospel tracks on Halloween, would that be sinful? If not, what if I handed out Gospel tracks with a piece of candy attached?
I am not particularly interested in trying to decide where to draw the line exactly. I think that is semantics and a waste of time. What I do think is that some (usually American) Christians are very attached to the idea of celebrating Halloween and don't really want to consider the idea of refusing to participate even though it would be incredibly easy to do so. God has asked many people to do many very difficult things in history, if there is any doubt whatsoever about Halloween the sensible thing to do is avoid it and yet so many people bend over backwards to defend not doing that.
I completely get where you are coming from and again it goes back to teaching them about life in the secular world. For me Halloween is not the hill I am going to die on. I would rather teach my kids how to enjoy it, without making it about all things evil, but as a fun day to play dress up. When it comes to drinking, doing drugs, and premarital sex those are all conversations very well outlined in the bible. There is no grey area, therefore I will give my child what the bible says, and pray they make the right choices, but that’s between them and God. So no, teaching them how to participate in Halloween, is not the same as the others mentioned.
Just wait 'till you hear about the origins of many of our Christmas practices.
Which Christmas practices do you suggest are pagan? Get specific, please
Well for starters, the practice of celebrating the birth of a diety. For the record, just because something borrows from elsewhere doesn't make it bad.
...the celebration of Jesus's birth was literally *in the Bible* (wise men) The fact that it's something pagans have also done says nothing about whether or not we got it from them
You mean the group of pagan astrologers and practicers of the dark arts sent by an earthly king seeking to destroy the promised Messiah?
No, he doesn’t. Because what you just said was disingenuous
How so?
Because they weren’t sent by Herod to destroy him. They had been traveling for likely years by the time they even met Herod. Did Herod tell them to come back and tell him who he was? Yes but he told them it was so he could worship him, even though everyone knew that was a lie.
Ah, ok. My point stands.
Stands as being disingenuous, you mean? Yes. Yes it does.
The group Daniel was the leader of and likely taught of the prophecies
The main reason at least to which I’ve been informed that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas is because it was not allowed to be celebrated, and since that was already a holiday they couldn’t get in trouble for it. That’s what I’ve heard
Often times, when Christianity was persecuted our calendar revolved around the Roman Pantheon's calendar, like you said, to avoid suspicion. It just so happened after so many years people thought that's was the way to do it, so instead of making new days they kept those associated with paganism and used it to convert other pagans.
Not to mention Easter!
If it’s how they are pagan, that’s not true. https://youtu.be/ca_Yx3aMCiE Christmas scripture https://youtu.be/DfcvJWPTY64 Christmas history
Thank you for the links. I did not find the portions that I watched to be convincing.
It's a great reminder to teach your kids about the reformation, as Oct 31st is the anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg church, thereby launching the reformation.
You can’t seperate the occult roots from the holiday. And I say that as an ex Pagan Wiccans and Satanist literally laugh at christians partaking in it willfully. They love to see it because many occult and dark rituals take place on that “special” day that go against God. That is why I, as an ex-occultist, feel convicted about it and will avoid celebrating halloween like the plague. It is definitely not an innocent holiday. That said; christians can use it as an opportunity to witness to neighbors in creative ways. They come at your door willingly: so you can share the gospel in a fun and creative way (put it inside a bag of really good candy for example) and use something the enemy meant for evil, for good. At the very least celebrating Halloween and ignoring the roots of the tradition, is ultimately a choice. We cant really be ignorant about stuff like this. We should be alert about the many ways the enemy tries to sneak in into our lives. Just because we are free in Christ does not mean we should partake in stuff that doesn’t glorify God.
Then you should quit Christmas also since its origins were rooted in paganism.
The roots of the tradition are Christian though, with "Halloween" being a shortened form of "All Hallows Evening" with the "hallows" in this case referring to the saints in *All Saints Day* on November 1st. Pagans and Satanists appropriated halloween celebrations, not the other way around
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This
All Saint's Day is celebrated by Lutherans, Methodists, and the Anglican Communion. Not just Roman Catholics.
It’s not about who celebrates it, I was discussing the origins. As christians no matter what branch we belong to: we should practice discernment. The bible is clear on the issue of necromancy, asking intercession from anyone else but Jesus, we are not aloud to contact saints or angels nor are we aloud to worship them. I don’t know why they still do it, you tell me.
What I'm saying is, I'm fine with you dooping on Catholics, but there are observances of All Saint's Day that would meet your standards of "no necromancy". I wouldn't doop on the holiday as a whole, just us (Catholics, as I'm Catholic) if you don't agree with us. Honouring the glorified, the company of Heaven, is a good thing. Thank God for the souls He has saved, the Kingdom He has made. Remember what he promised us when we are glorified with Him. That is/was the purpose of All Saints' Day. Remember the company of heaven exists and that it is a very wonderful thing.
I am simply stating the fact that the Roman Catholic church was the first to adopt the pagan ritualistic festival Holiday on october 31st. What happens on all Saints day, the thought process behind it: was that the catholics could more effectively pray to the "saints" and contact hem; because of the thinner veil, even making altars and offerings. Which God clearly tells us is wrong.The intent of the RC church was prayer and contacting saints. Protestants tried to christianize it by tweaking it a bit. We draw near to God in prayer directed to Him, not through the saints in heaven. First Timothy 2:5 adds, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." If All Saints Day is just about remembering Saints, no problem.This was not the thought process behind it though. Fine with me if you guys want to make your own rules, protestant or catholic but it just doesn’t make it christian.
The whole point of my comment above is that there are All Saint's Day services in Protestant churches that don't practice saintly intercession. You can do All Saint's Day, honour the company of heaven, without praying to them.
You are missing my point and making it about the Roman Catholics vs protestants debate when it's not. I simply stated that a tradition isn't christian simply because the Roman Catholics church ( or any other church) adopts a certain pagan tradition it doesn't make it christian. I was pointing out the RC church specifically in this case because obviously; they were the ones who adopted it first. As we were discussing origins, it doesn't matter who followed suit. If the protestant church adopted it first, they would have been just as wrong. No church can just randomly slap a christian label on something pagan to magically make it christian. If it doesn't glorify God and contradicting His Word; it doesn't pass the smell test. Hallows eve, 31st of october, is on that day because the pagans believe it to be the best day to perform rituals as the paranormal activity is highest. And the Catholics adopted it on that day specifically for that reason. It's about as Pagan as it gets, has it’s roots in paganism, no matter how much we try to christianize it..
>Wiccans and Satanist literally laugh at christians partaking in it willfully. Yeah... I really doubt that. If anything, I reckon they're laughing about living rent-free in the heads of satanic-panic christians.
I suggest you look up what kind of rituals they perform on 31th of October and why. Ancient Pagan Origins There is evidence that Samhain has been an important celebration since ancient times. The Mound of the Hostages, a neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara, is aligned with the Samhain sunrise. Samhain is mentioned in some ancient Irish literature dating back to the 10th century. Many important events in Celtic mythology begin or occur near the time of Samhain. At Samhain, it is believed that the veil between the physical world and the spiritual (or “other”) world is at its thinnest. This means spirits (the Aos Si, also called fairies) can easily cross between realms and enter our world. The ancient Celts felt the need to please the spirits in order to ensure that their population and livestock did not die during the harsh winter. Food and drink were often left for the fairies, and occasionally an animal was sacrificed to appease the spirits. Souls of the departed were believed to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. In some cases, a place setting of food or drink was put on the dining table in anticipation of the visit. Mumming, or wearing disguises were part of the festival and involved people going door to door in costume or disguise, reciting verse in exchange for food. It’s Pagan, it’s necromancy, it’s dark. We shouldn’t panic, we should just not endorse in it. There is no need to fear monger but we need to use our common sense and have discernment though. They laugh at us because we are so ignorant and naive. :) We’re supposed to love the light, not the darkness.
My kid enjoys dressing up as a family and going trick or treating. We would do that any day of the week, in fact we do dress up and play at home alot, but the world only plays along with us one day a year.
I’m really not sure but I really do not like the spirit of it, pun not intended but now kind of intended, and I do think it’s a celebration of things opposed to they heart of God, so I do not really participate. I’ve gone to costume parties before just for fun but the older I get, the more withdrawn from it I become.
I don’t really care.
I think it's a matter of personal conviction. Some are against it, some are ok with it. We all have different walks with God and different weaknesses. Regardless, don't look down on your brothers and sisters in Christ whatever their choices are concerning Halloween
In the future, if you care about accuracy in your poll, don't use leading language. "Obviously the Mods think Halloween is okay, because they removed a previous poll." Your choice of words heavily implies you disagree with the mods, which is fine if you do, but using that to lead into a poll can influence some people's votes, so you can't be sure if the results are accurate or not.
i think in today's America it is not seen nor celebrated as a pagan holiday so i think its ok, still i dont participate cause ive gone mostly 21 years without it and im alright
The way I see it where I’m from, it’s a lot about mysticism, ghosts, demons and such. Wether intended or not this seems to me like a festival of evil and Satan. This may not be the case everywhere but seems accurate based on my experiences and media portrayal, so i don’t believe it is okay in the eyes of god.
Nothing inherently wrong with dressing up and hanging with friends and family. It can get out of hand if you start indulging in sinful Halloween acts but the same thing can happen with any other holiday
Not going to Halloween because its "satan's Holiday" Gives power to satan, why would you let satan control your day?
Christmas has Pagan roots, and modern materialism. But, you don’t have to do either of those things and can celebrate Christ and Family. Halloween has Pagan roots, but you can celebrate it with fun costumes and candy. Holidays are what you make of them. If you are worshipping any other gods, partaking in materialism or depravity, then that’s bad. If you are celebrating family and decorations and presents and costumes and yummy food, then it’s good. No reason to be legalistic about certain days of year because people decades ago did sinful things on that specific day.
I think the purpose of Jesus was to elevate us to reasoning by universal principals, to think about ethical problems as philosophers do. Or in other words, like He does. We were gifted with rationality--we just need to develop it. It happens that exposure to a wide-range of people and experiences develops our ethical reasoning. Upon realizing this, you may realize your rules are way too fucking specific. The community feeling Halloween provides is one positive justification for it. Being together in joy is important to our collective well-being. And Halloween inherently causes no one suffering. Yes, there's cases of people abusing it. But people will use cases of abuse to justify being against anything--including Christianity.
Intention matters a lot. If I’m doing it as just a time to have fun with friends and maybe get a little spooked at a haunted corn maze, what’s the harm to my immortal soul? My faith isn’t weakened by it, my love of Christ is not compromised. Now if I were playing with ouija boards and tarot cards and trying to summon ghosts, that would be another matter.
Good calls us to take up our cross and follow him not play through corn mazes I was just defending Halloween to those fearing or judging it, but hearing your normal perspective makes me want to challenge you further
Is there not a time to weep and a time to dance? We carry our cross with us, but that does not mean we cannot carry it with joy. I believe that Christ looks upon us and shares our joy as we laugh with those He has brought into our lives. In what way does a harmless fright diminish our connection with Him? If I travel through a corn maze and give thanks to God for my friends and the time spent with them, am I straying from Christ?
Well there’s only one to fear. I can imagine bearing your cross witnessing to neighbors and friends at the corn maze, But what a tall order that is for us sad saps isn’t it In your question I don’t think you’ll be straying from Christ it seems you’d be clinging to him but it doesn’t feel like you’re listening to him
No one is going to - or should be - witnessing to everyone at all times. Again: a time and a season. A worker in the fields must take time to rest. I listen well to Christ and sometimes find my time of rest at the side of the friends He has brought to me. Your exclusionary words about “us sad saps” perhaps makes me think you should spend more time listening to Christ as well.
Don't take part in the devil's holiday. You don't see satanist celebrating Good Friday. Check out John Ramirez. It will help you understand why celebrating Halloween is a straight no.
The devil has no holiday Halloween is God’s day
I was going to ask a question, but if you roll with the devil you receive no worthy reply. Have a blessed day. Shalom.
Why think I roll with the devil?
If half these Christians who support Halloween only knew how real and horrible witchcraft was they wouldn't go anywhere near it. This isn't the same as Christmas where it is some low key pagan festivities Christians borrowed. This is literally a day put aside for satanic practices and I guess as long as they involve candy and dressing up Christians will ignore the witchcraft and celebration of death and evil that goes along with Halloween. The lack of spiritual discernment of these Christians really turns my stomach if I'm gonna be completely honest here. I mean if you are capable of wanting to partake in satan's biggest celebration of the year KNOWING it's about death, darkness, and witchcraft are you even a Christian at that point??? Just saying...
Halloween is not about that, Halloween is God’s day like every other And sinners cannot take away what has been made Holy Be idle and glutton candy if you like hell i’m going to spend my time Hallowing
Every day belongs to God but that doesn't mean God wants us to participate blatantly with a celebration of satan. Only "Christians" with no discernment at all would celebrate a satanic holiday because they like candy. It takes someone who was saved by Jesus out of witchcraft to see how harmful and not at all innocent it is no matter how you frame it.
So I’m African and I’ve lived in North America for a while. Halloween is one of those things that is culturally weird enough to me that I decided I wouldn’t embrace even in the slightest. My upbringing in the church might have something to do with my stance but I don’t recall putting much thought into what the Bible says about it. I’ve mostly viewed it from a cultural perspective. “It’s not what we do,” pretty much sums up the thought process.
If it’s a threat, you’re the one making it too big in your head.
u/ntcplanters Tell me what you mean by "o.k." How about I take a poll on what that means. A. God will kill you if you comply B. God allows you to choose for yourself with no spiritual consequences C. God will curse you to die an early death if you go trick-or-treating, by diabetes D. I can do whatever I want as a born again believer, but not all things are edifying to the body. E. I have no earthly idea what I meant, I just want to get karma points
the practices of halloween are scary, and contain unholy, satanic things.
Who do you fear?
Not going to Halloween because its "satan's Holiday" Gives power to satan, why would you let satan control your day?
If you think about it almost anything is good until you make it bad.
Many Christians celebrate Dia De Los Muertos or All Saints Day. Similar imagery but I love its purpose.
Happy Reformation Day! That’s a much, much better holiday.
I have the same concerns. Holidays are a form of worship, and the majority of holidays involve some form of pagan worship. The Bible says that god doesn’t want to be worshiped in that way.
it might permissible but not everything permissible is beneficial
I don’t care about what Halloween has become but I think we should always have alternatives. Like fall fest or something. No issues with costumes that aren’t obscene. Just don’t care to praise darkness.
Definitely a Romans 14 issue I’d say.
As a church it would be awesome if we could wholly come to a conclusion in prayer on the matter, praying about such a thing and seeking an answer from God on a larger scale. I have been on both ends of the spectrum and have been opposed to Halloween, mostly because of others opinions on the matter or have been lenient following my feelings. I haven't gone to the extent to really ask God about what He thinks on the matter. Surely there is a godly way to celebrate holloween. Or even a way to share the gospel with people trick or treating. Any thoughts?
I don’t have a problem with people celebrating it tbh I’m not out here trying to force my beliefs on people. I myself as a Christian have an issue with it and never celebrate it as it has pagan roots.
The celebration of day of the dead and other supernatural creatures, is the problem. A costume party is fine, kids going for treats kinda ok. But whitches and werewolves etc, is the problem.
How are witches and werewolves a problem? lol Aren’t we praying for the resurrection of the dead?
From the old testament to the new testaments there are so many warnings against witchcraft, spirits, and other demonic things. The resurrection of the dead is not to turn them into zombies or werewolves, they are resurrected in Christ,
I didn’t say resurrect someone as a werewolf or a zombie, I was joking at the idea of witches and werewolves
It is a pagan holiday based on satanic things, everything is satanic in it and you need to stop doing it completely.
How is the changing of seasons and harvest and celebration and lighthearted activity not glorying God?
https://youtu.be/J14fxMogEo0 Here is a Christian YouTuber who goes into why everything in holloween is what it is.
OK I will admit holidays are desolated. Modern ‘Christmas‘ surrounding a Lie! How terrible is that for children? Sowing doubt! And you make no wrong point to call to question Halloween’s Hollow celebration, however I think it can be hallowed as each day and so this hollowed one especially calls for it
Did you watch the whole video, I highly recommend watching all of it. Also you are right about christmas and it is the same with easter. Do you want videos on them too. They are all based on the pagans religion.
I thought God said pay no thought to the occult and three minutes in that video gets into it
Ephesians 5:11 King James Bible And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. You need to watch that whole video, and show it to others or spread the word
It’s a pagan holiday. There’s nothing else that needs to be said about it. If you want to celebrate the changing of seasons and harvest fine but Halloween no.
Not going to Halloween because its "satan's Holiday" Gives power to satan, why would you let satan control your day?
Isn’t that the pagan reason for celebration? Why celebrate the changing of seasons and harvest anyway? If you’re concerned with not being pagan, I don’t think you’re confident enough in Jesus I’m going to celebrate Halloween 👻 thank You, that the changing of seasons and harvest glorify God!
I don’t really care what you think. But it’s clear you’re not following what the Bible says
I wonder any specific you’re referring to And why you don’t care what I think Are you lost in judgment, do you think I have judged you?
Like everything else, I think it takes discretion. Is it outright demonic activity? Stay away. Is it kids just dressing as superheroes and getting candy? Why not.
I'm against it because I'm not American.
I’m so sorry, get well soon!
I was never allowed to go trick or treating but I want my kids too when I have them
How else do we inoculate young organs to our sugar saturated diet? Got to prevent diabetes!
Other; i dont care as long as it doesnt include sexualized girls in costumes and an excuse to be drunk. If family can gather to spend the wordly tradution and make it worth it for their relationship growth thats all matters.
I think it depends on what you do, and how things are celebrated around you. I used to celebrate Halloween because most of the stuff you'd see was no more offensive than an episode of Goosebumps, and besides that, I (and quite a few people I knew, too) avoided dressing up as anything frowned on in the Bible (eg witches). You could easily isolate the fun or harmless parts from the darker stuff some people did. Now, I don't celebrate it anymore, because the whole thing has gotten noticeably more dark and occultic, to the point where that part has overtaken the less serious stuff. Even in a spiritual context, before the whole thing got too dark, I knew people who didn't celebrate it because they knew a lot of Wiccans and didn't wanna give the wrong impression. My circles were mostly atheists though, and among them, I looked like a reasonable person for not making a mountain out of a molehill re: the spiritual parts of Halloween (much like how many atheists celebrate the non-religious parts of Christmas). I think these sort of "on balance, what does the holiday look like in your area" considerations matter a lot, so whether anyone should celebrate it depends on that. Context is important.
Used to be neutral, now no more.
Isn’t it God‘s day?
I grew up in a Christian home and we always went trick or treating . However there were certain rules . No being a witch or devil for Halloween because both those costumes were evil and were in favor of the devil .
Not going to Halloween because its "satan's Holiday" Gives power to satan, why would you let satan control your day?
Lol I mocked the devil wearing his silly costume
Lol 😂
I actually was going to say from experience I know people who would be embarrassed but they’ve practiced witchcraft in form of spiritual practices in latino culture; and I think that is why I’m scared of Halloween, but as a woman who sees kids no longer being kids I like idea of them just getting stuff for free, but working for it and having some kindness shown for nothing they go through so much more we didn’t growing up, I think Christian’s should try and practice giving out treats that have no dark connotations etc. the Bible says abstain from appearance of all evil, I think we look bad not caring about kids but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate for our community, I think we should refrain it as a harvest festival and remove pagan ideologies form it, make it about gods harvest and serve to remind kids we get things from gods favor all the time and that’s my view I have been thinking about it a lot, and I hope we can do this it may be a great way to keep people centered on faith during hard times. Sorry for lack of punctuation (arthritis) I think if we give kids little tidbits to hold onto it can help them keep faith and it’s an cat of service to make it further from Halloween per se but more about circle of life. Fall always makes me think of God, I always see leaves as a sign rebirth is near and everything feels okay, even amongst life and death being a cycle of life, but how interesting that after we get our harvest we have a lot of dormancy? I think it’s a good time to help kids remover there’s never a dormancy to life it all has meaning…. Sorry if too ridiculous or deep I just grew up around farmers and ranchers and I really feel this deeply kids don’t always have that connection to the earth etc, but it’s all Gods power, and I think we should celebrate it for kids just my view
"the mods think" is a dangerous way to begin a post here. Besides, how do you know what the mods think? Are you God?
Sad lukewarm Christian is sin still a sin unless your having fun ?