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Should a Christian celebrate Halloween? Print E-mail

Should a Christian celebrate Halloween?

 

The celebration of holidays for a Christian is addressed in Romans 14:1-23 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-33.  The controversy of special food and special days may have had different names in the times of the apostles, but the principles of how to handle them is still relevant today.

 

The final decision for a Christian’s participation in Halloween will ultimately lie with the individual believer, but there are a number of factors one should consider.

 

Dressing a child in a cute costume as a cowboy, princess or a favorite sport’s hero and asking people for candy is of course, an innocent activity.  On the other hand, dressing as a witch, vampire, evil spirit or murderous villain is another idea altogether.

 

The origins of almost all holidays are with national events or Christian-related ideas even if their precise dates are not known.  Halloween, on the other hand, is a purely pagan and spiritually dark celebration of the gods of pre-Christian Europe with no association with anything from God.

 

Christians may choose to avoid any associate with Halloween based on the Old Testament’s prohibition of any form of demon communication or witchcraft

(Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27).  In the New Testament as well, the apostles spoke strongly against fortune telling and mixing with evil spirits  (Acts 8:9-24; Acts 13:6-11; Acts 19:19).  

 

A Christian who chooses not to celebrate any form of Halloween has legitimate concerns and honors God by avoiding any association with a demonic-influenced holiday.  There is clearly something to avoid in Halloween.  Horror movies, occult practices and haunted houses are grotesque perversions of anything good, moral and godly.  However, a parent who encourages his child to dress as a clown or a football player can hardly be faulted for enjoying an innocent party.

 

Some believers use the opportunity to communicate with their neighbors with gospel tracts or have fall parties in order to share the gospel.  Some countries have more drastic demon-influenced traditions than others.  Some believers have friends who are more likely to be offended by Halloween celebrations than others.  The final decision as to participate in fall parties lies with a well-informed believer who wishes to not cause offense to neither Jew, gentile nor to the church of God.

Shad David Sluiter


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