Halloween--Yea or Nay?
Christianity Today has a Hermeneutics blog post by a woman who likes Halloween and defends it by saying that the Bible is as creepy in its narratives as the Halloween trappings. I am not sure if the Bible stories are creepy and spooky or just what they are, real; actually, I found the posters' comments more interesting.
It comes down to your understanding of Halloween's origins: was it a pagan feast that was brought over by the Irish, or was it a celebration before All Saints' Day, done by Christians in the Dark Ages, where they tried to scare away evil spirits with scary costumes? I have heard and read arguments on both sides.
I will invoke another controversial pop culture icon: Harry Potter. The evil character in the Harry Potter stories (I have only read the first one) is called "He who is not to be named." But in the stories it is pointed out that not calling him that gives him more power. One of the commentators on the blog states that we are giving the day (October 31) to Satan and therefore giving him more due than he should get. This is the day that the Lord has made, and God is sovereign; Satan doesn't own a day.
I tend to agree with this person. I don't see that we are supposed to be afraid of Satan, only aware of him and his devices and prepared to do battle when there is true spiritual warfare. We are not to live in fear, anyway--greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, and God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sanity. That's not to say Satan has no power; of course he does, but I am not serving Satan or ceding him any power if I give out candy at my door or allowed my son to dress up as Robin Hood when he was six.
A speaker on Moody this week was very critical of anyone who allowed their children to trick or treat or dress up, saying that the child would succumb to peer pressure later in life. She had been very involved in Halloween before her conversion. I think for those people we have an issue of conscience and the weaker brother, so I defer to anyone who doesn't want to "do Halloween." That's cool. I am not going to push it either way. But I am not going to bow to unnecessary fear. Satan is not captain; he doesn't run my world, God does, and Snicker bars to the neighbor kids tomorrow night is a better gesture of friendship than a scowl at the door.
It comes down to your understanding of Halloween's origins: was it a pagan feast that was brought over by the Irish, or was it a celebration before All Saints' Day, done by Christians in the Dark Ages, where they tried to scare away evil spirits with scary costumes? I have heard and read arguments on both sides.
I will invoke another controversial pop culture icon: Harry Potter. The evil character in the Harry Potter stories (I have only read the first one) is called "He who is not to be named." But in the stories it is pointed out that not calling him that gives him more power. One of the commentators on the blog states that we are giving the day (October 31) to Satan and therefore giving him more due than he should get. This is the day that the Lord has made, and God is sovereign; Satan doesn't own a day.
I tend to agree with this person. I don't see that we are supposed to be afraid of Satan, only aware of him and his devices and prepared to do battle when there is true spiritual warfare. We are not to live in fear, anyway--greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, and God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sanity. That's not to say Satan has no power; of course he does, but I am not serving Satan or ceding him any power if I give out candy at my door or allowed my son to dress up as Robin Hood when he was six.
A speaker on Moody this week was very critical of anyone who allowed their children to trick or treat or dress up, saying that the child would succumb to peer pressure later in life. She had been very involved in Halloween before her conversion. I think for those people we have an issue of conscience and the weaker brother, so I defer to anyone who doesn't want to "do Halloween." That's cool. I am not going to push it either way. But I am not going to bow to unnecessary fear. Satan is not captain; he doesn't run my world, God does, and Snicker bars to the neighbor kids tomorrow night is a better gesture of friendship than a scowl at the door.
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