Around this time every year, it seems like the Christian debate about Halloween gets brought up. I’ve witnessed both sides argued, I’ve done a fair amount of research myself, and as a dad of a two-year-old, my wife and I have made our decision.
And… we’ll be letting our 2-year-old son enjoy Halloween.
Depending on your background and personal convictions, you could either be shocked about that decision or shocked that we even had to make a decision. To be honest, because I was allowed to participate in Halloween growing up I never really had any intentions of not letting Asher participate. But, I wanted to at least do my due diligence, so I did some research.
I don’t want to get too bogged down in the details, but I do want to look at one of the major points argued against Halloween. One of the biggest claims is that at its very origin — Halloween is an evil holiday created by pagans.
Well, it’s not. At least, not definitively. In fact, the word “Halloween” actually has Christian origins.
Halloween literally means “hallowed evening” or “holy evening” and many historians believe Halloween actually began as a Christian celebration to celebrate the eve of All Saints Day on November 1.
So, based on the research that’s available, it’s just as likely that Halloween has Christian origins instead of pagan or evil ones. Plot twist, right?
This is one of the reasons I believe that we should engage in the act of reclaiming Halloween, instead of running from it.
There are, of course, all of the traditions and activities involved with Halloween like trick-or-treating, haunted houses, ghosts, and vampires. So, what about all of those?
Well, simply put, I think all of those things should be approached with wisdom and discernment. I have a two-year-old son so this means I’m not going to be staying up with him on Halloween to watch Friday the 13th 😂
Claiming that all Christians should avoid all aspects of Halloween because of a few bad things would be like claiming that all Christians should avoid the internet because of a few bad things. These kinds of broad, sweeping statements are unhelpful because they remove the nuance that’s needed.
Like anything, it deserves intelligent conversation and thoughtful conversation.
Overall, I think you should do what’s best for you and your family this Halloween. But in my opinion, I don’t believe Satan is anymore, or less, powerful on October 31 than he is any other time of year. If we’re not careful, we’ll unintentionally give our focus and attention to something that doesn’t deserve it.
Colossians 1:13-14 says that God has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son.” On Halloween, I don’t see this to be any less true. I believe that because God’s Spirit lives inside of us, we don’t have to fear what surrounds us. And even on a day permeated with fear, we don’t have to submit to it and give the Enemy more credit than he’s due.
God is creator, originator, and giver of every day — even the ones associated with haunted houses and horror movies.
A sane response in what can sometimes seem an insane world. Thank you for this perspective. God is almighty, so we shall not fear.
Thanks so much, Eric!
Hi Tyler – I’ve considered the arguments on both sides of this and agree with you. We let our kids fully participate when they were young. We don’t participate in or believe in paganism, so it’s really just a celebration. I think that a lot of the anti crowd gets legalistic on this subject and it isn’t necessary. We don’t need to be opposed to everything in order to be believers. I for one don’t want to be better known for what I oppose than for what I believe. That completely missed the mark and turns into a negative witness.
I think we get some guidance on this from Paul in 1 Cor 8. It relates for eating meat from animals sacrificed to idols, and that isn’t a sin because those gods aren’t real and we don’t believe in them. Same thing with Halloween. We can celebrate it because we don’t believe in the “evil” behind it.
“So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”…But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.”
Too much time is wasted on this topic, especially considering that our salvation doesn’t hang on it. But good on you for bringing it up with counter thoughts.
Great comment, Kevin. I especially agree with what you mentioned about being known for what you are for rather than what you are against. Always enjoy hearing your perspective!