Fall, Halloween, and a Biblical Perspective

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I’m a huge fan of this time of year. I love colder weather, the leaves changing colors, warm comfort foods, and the expectation of the best holiday time of the whole year. I’m all for Thanksgiving and cannot wait for the Christmas season, but I could definitely do without Halloween. Now the problem I run into currently is that I have two little ones eager to dress up and knock on doors for some candy. I’m all for redeeming the night by taking the opportunity to spend time with my kids and dressing them up in ridiculously cute outfits, so they can attempt to say “Trick or Treat” in exchange for some delicious sweets. But our culture seems to have much more invested in this holiday than that. Our culture seems to fit right in when it comes to people dressing up and pretending to be someone they’re not, the obsession with the demonic side of the supernatural, and this compulsive element that can’t help but spend obscene amounts of money on this holiday. According to CNN, total Halloween consumer spending in the United States is expected to reach 6.9 billion dollars. The average American will spend $74.34 on candy, costumes, and decorations. Even roughly 15% of people plan to dress their pets up for this unique night.  So, what is Halloween all about and how should we think about this night of costumes and candy?

The word “Halloween” comes from the All Saints day celebration of the early Christian church, which was established to remember the martyrs who had been killed for their faith. All Hallows Eve began this period of remembrance and gradually became shortened to Halloween. As the church began to expand through Europe, it became exposed to the various rituals and holidays of other pagan cultures. One of the common ways the church dealt with the celebration of these pagan holidays was to set up their own alternative holiday for Christians in place of the pagan one. What often resulted was the Christianizing of a pagan holiday.

For example in Northern Europe, the Celtic people would prepare for the difficult winter weather by harvesting their crops and slaughtering the animals which wouldn’t make it through another frigid season. Thus, you have the inclusion of harvest, the imagery of death, and darkness all circulated around this fall holiday. Other festivals like the Samhain festival, which is celebrated from October 31 to November 2, introduced the idea of spirits being summoned and allowed to roam the earth during this time. With the rise of this divination and spirit summoning, superstitions ramped up and people began to fear being haunted by spirits. They would give the spirits some treats to ward them off because if they didn’t the spirits would trick the people. In order to protect themselves from the spirits, people would try to fool them by dressing up as a spirit or by carving faces into gourds and placing a candle on the inside as a way to keep them away. And herein, we find many of the pagan roots to our most common elements of Halloween.

Now, Halloween wasn’t introduced as an American holiday until the late 19th century with the movement of many immigrants from the British Isles. From there, younger people and generations who were into the spooky and scary began piecing parts of these pagan traditions together without any concept of the pagan origins. With the help of our popular culture and influences like Hollywood, Halloween has slowly evolved into a massive revenue generating ghoulish celebration where most people don’t even see a connection to where these elements of the holiday came from.

So that leaves us with the need for a Biblical worldview. When thinking about Halloween, we must always funnel it through the lens of Scripture.  Consider these two things:

First, Halloween can be a massive gospel opportunity. While the world around us is engulfed in fears, superstitions, and jokes about the demonic, we have an opportunity to engage our neighbors in a way that is unique to the rest of the year. There is no other time in the year where so many people from your streets will voluntarily come up to your door and stand outside for hours on end while kids trick or treat. Perhaps, this is your opportunity to strike up a conversation with some folks. Be creative and use the elements of the season to enter you into easy conversations about Jesus. The truth is goblins and ghosts in the front yard aren’t nearly as scary as the prospect of an eternity separated from God.

Second, as Christians we don’t succumb to fears and superstitions. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Ephesians 6 says that God has given you everything you need to stand amidst the onslaught of demonic attacks with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, gospel shoes, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. We rest in the only God who has “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col 2:15).

This all being said, you must continue to exercise wisdom in your participation. While the amount of people practicing the occult in your neighborhood is likely low, the bigger problem is likely those who choose to make Halloween a day to get completely inebriated and do stupid things. You would do well to evaluate the circumstances and extent of your family’s engagement. On the other hand, there are reasons not to participate at all. If that is your conviction, there are still opportunities to engage your neighbors on why you don’t participate that could lead to fruitful conversations. Maybe, you decide to turn Halloween into a Reformation celebration. Whatever you decide let it be a decision of faith (Rom 14:23). We are not of the world, and yet we want to be engaged with the world of those who are perishing. There are many ways to do that. Perhaps this is one of them for you.