Halloween? - The Origin and Some Basic Bible Knowledge

Mikesee posted a blog on Halloween entitled Happy DEVIL'S Holiday, but he chose to go down the more comical/entertaining side of the subject discussing candy, kids, and costumes. After a couple of comments, he asked me to post on the religious/spiritual side of Halloween so here it goes. (Sorry this took so long Mike. I actually had to work today!)

The origins of Halloween... Here's the story.

On October 31st, a day and night of sheer fear, the Celtics would hold their annual festival of Samhain (Lord of the Dead) in order to appease this terrifying spirit. The Celtic priests did so by holding cruel fire rites in his honor. The sacrafices given in the Lord of the Dead's honor came in the form of live prisoners, animals, and criminials. These sacrafices to the Celtic gods not only served to appease the Samhain but they assisted in the practice of prediction. The powers of prediction seem to be strongest on this night due to the idea that October 31st was the night when dead spirits were allowed to roam free on the earth. These spirits (which turn into today's ghosts, witches, goblins and black cats) are often thought to be at their most horrific and terrifying moments as they are released to run wild about the earth. Most of these wicked spirits are thought to return home, where the living would undoubtedly be frightened. So the living would customarily leave treats outside their houses to pacify the spirits. If the wicked spirits were ignored and no treats were found, the living would be haunted. (Hence the origin of trick or treat.) Others would wear costumes to disguise themselves from these wicked spirits. (Hence the origin of halloween costumes.) In addition, Jack-o-lanters were put out front of houses to be night watchmen for spirits and evil demons. (Hence Halloween pumpkins.) The day of Halloween was used to pray to the sun god Baal who watched over the harvest.

Now, that's the basic story. You can type in 'origins of Halloween' in any internet search engine and basically come up with the same thing.

So, is Halloween really the Devil's day? Well, here we have a holiday that is associated with demons, wicked spirits, false gods, magic, omens, terror, haugting ghosts, fear, etc. To touch on the tip of the iceburg, here are a few Bible principles to think about. The Bible tells us at Deut. 18:10, 11 that there should not be found anyone in you who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. The Bible also tells us that the Devil uses wicked spirits, demons, and fear to do his dirty work. In my origins of Halloween summary, we learned that the worship of false gods was a common practice. As Christians, we should know that God is a jelous god and that we should have no others before him. Revelation 21:8 tells us that those practicing spiritism and idolatry will be done away with. We also know that Jehovah/God/the Almighty/theLord is a god of order and peace. Halloween is anything but. It's a day of terror, fear and chaos. I could go on with the scriptural references but I'm sure you get the point. If you compare Halloween, it's origins, and all of it's practices with what we are taught from the Bible, you might be able to see that it's not in line with God's will.

So that's it. If you want more information feel free to ask. Either way, if you go out tonight, be safe.