by Albert Mohler
(This article appears in the November issue of the "Nebraska Family Times".)
The issue of Halloween
presses itself annually upon the Christian conscience. Acutely aware of
dangers new and old, many Christian parents choose to withdraw their children
from the holiday altogether. Others choose to follow a strategic battle
plan for engagement with the holiday. Still others have gone
further, seeking to convert Halloween into an evangelistic opportunity. Is
Halloween really that significant?
Well, Halloween is a
big deal in the marketplace. Halloween is surpassed only by Christmas in
terms of economic activity. According to David J. Skal, "Precise figures are difficult to
determine, but the annual economic impact of Halloween is now somewhere between
4 billion and 6 billion dollars depending on the number and kinds of industries
one includes in the calculations."
Pagan Roots
The Halloween holiday
is rooted in the Celtic festival of Samhain, which came at summer's
end. Scholars dispute whether Samhain was celebrated as a festival of the
dead, but the pagan roots of the festival are indisputable.
How should Christians
respond to this pagan background? Harold L. Myra of Christianity
Today argues that these pagan roots were well known to Christians of
the past. "More than a thousand
years ago Christians confronted pagan rites appeasing the lord of death and
evil spirits. Halloween's unsavory beginnings preceded Christ's birth when
the druids, in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer with
sacrifices to the gods. It was the beginning of the Celtic year and they
believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans,
who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking live evil spirits
themselves."
Thus, the custom of
wearing costumes, especially costumes imitating evil spirits, is rooted in the
Celtic pagan culture. As Myra summarizes, "Most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to the old
pagan rites and superstitions."
The Dark Side
The Dark Side
The complications of
Halloween go far beyond its pagan roots, however. In modern culture,
Halloween has become not only a commercial holiday, but a season of cultural
fascination with evil and the demonic. Even as the society has pressed the
limits on issues such as sexuality, the culture's confrontation with the
"dark side" has also pushed far beyond boundaries honored in the
past.
As Skal
comments, "The Halloween machine
turns the world upside down. One's identity can be discarded with
impunity. Men dress as women, and vise versa. Authority can be mocked
and circumvented, and, most important, graves open and the departed
return."
This fascination with
the occult comes as America has been sliding into post-Christian
secularism. While the courts remove all theistic references from America's
public square, the void is being filled with a pervasive fascination with evil,
paganism, and new forms of occultism.
Danger
Danger
For this reason, many
families withdraw from the holiday completely. Some churches have
organized alternative festivals, capitalizing on the holiday opportunity, but
turning the event away from pagan roots and the fascination with evil
spirits. For others, the holiday presents no special challenges at
all.
These Christians argue
that the pagan roots of Halloween are no more significant than the pagan
origins of Christmas and other church festivals. Without doubt, the church
has progressively Christianized the calendar, seizing secular and pagan
holidays as opportunities for Christian witness and celebration. Anderson
M. Rearick III argues that Christians should not surrender the holiday. As
he relates, "I am reluctant to give
up what was one of the highlights of my childhood calendar to the Great
Imposter and Chief of Liars for no reason except that some of his servants
claim it as his."
Nevertheless, the
issue is a bit more complicated than that. While affirming that
make-believe and imagination are part and parcel of God's gift of imagination,
Christians should still be very concerned about the focus of that imagination
and creativity. Arguing against Halloween is not equivalent to arguing
against Christmas. The old church festival of "All Hallow's Eve"
is by no means as universally understood among Christians as the celebration of
the incarnation at Christmas.
Making Decisions
Making Decisions
Christian parents
should make careful decisions based on a biblically-informed Christian
conscience. Some Halloween practices are clearly out of bounds, others may
be strategically transformed.
The coming of
Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real
and that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own
celebrity. Perhaps the best response to the Devil at Halloween is that
offered by Martin Luther, the great Reformer: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to
texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear
scorn."
On October 31, 1517
(what is now known as Reformation Day), Martin Luther began the Reformation
with a declaration that the church must be recalled to the authority of God's
Word and the purity of biblical doctrine. With this in mind, the best
Christian response to Halloween might be to scorn the Devil and then pray for
the Reformation of Christ's church on earth. Let's put the dark side on the
defensive.
-------------------------------
For
more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler go to www.albertmohler.com. Reprinted
with permission.
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