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Should Christians Observe Halloween?
Bible study on Halloween.

About this time last year I wrote an article concerning Halloween. This year I would like to again write on this subject emphasizing the historical aspect of Halloween. Now it is true that many things in our society have been taken from extinct pagan religious practices, but Halloween is different.

For example, our word "Saturday" originated from the Roman god "Saturn." Now if there were people in our community worshiping "Saturn," I would be concerned about giving credence to pagan worship. I would probably avoid the word "Saturday" which was intended to glorify a false god, or I would have to restrictively use the word in a form neutral to Roman idolatry. The point with Halloween is that there are people in our country practicing witchcraft derived from idolatrous pagan practices lying at the foundation of Halloween; therefore, I must be very careful as to my participation in associated festivities.

Get an encyclopedia and look up Halloween. Some encyclopedias will not inform you of the pagan practices (especially those intended for children), so you may need to check a couple of sources. Originally this night, October 31st, was purely a time for witchcraft and evil spirits beginning with the Festival of Samhain. The Celtics and their Druid priests believed that Samhain, who was Lord of the Dead, would assemble the souls of the dead for sentencing. The following day, November 1st, was also a festival day in which the Celtics would worship the idolatrous god Baal. After many years and cultural changes in the festivals observed on October 31st, the Catholic Church moved All Saints' Day from September 13th to November 1st in attempting to distract parishioners from old idolatrous practices. All Saints' Day later became known as All Hallows. The day preceding All Hallows became know as All Hallows Eve and later was shortened to Hallowe'en from which we now call the evening of October 31st.

Let me encourage spiritually minded people to be careful in the observance of Halloween traditions so that the practices of witchcraft are neither encouraged nor glorified. May I suggest that we do not dress our children in costumes of witches, ghosts, spirits or anything else resembling evil. And may I suggest that we replace the ancient practices of these evil festivals with good, pure and wholesome practices - even to replace "trick-or-treat" with "may I please have a treat".

Let us take the practice of witches and their associated emblems of evil out of Halloween and no longer carry forth a torch for evil, but replace evil with good. Remember Paul says: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light" (Eph. 5:11-13).