Member Since: September 22, 2006
Answers: 205
Last Update: February 1, 2007
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Ever since I was little my family hasnt celebrated Halloween because its an "Evil holiday" is that true? Where in the Bible does it say that? I feel like im missing out on Halloween. Ive only went trick or treeting like 5 times, and im getting old (link)
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Halloween comes from Samhain, the end of the Celtic calender. It also is the name of the 'Lord of the Dead' (remember the concept of death, and the dead, often weren't evil to Pagan socities - it was Chistianity that introduced that idea over time), and there are some who believe that sacrifices were made to him (though of what kind I am not sure - remember there were sacrifices in the Bible as well!).
But on to more important things. The Christian church of course got their fingers in this pie, as they did with other notable cultural days; when they couldn't get the pagans to stop this celebration, they tried to superimpose their own holiday over Samhain. All Saints day got moved onto this date from the spring, even though All Saints day isn't celebrated on Oct. 31 the world over. Some Christians still celebrate it in the spring, but I doubt this happens in Europe or the Americas. This is similar to other Holidays being moved to being on 'Pagan' days: Easter from Eostre, Valentines Days from Lupercalia, and the big one - Christmas to Yule. From what I remember, many scholars believe that the birth of Christ to have taken place sometime in January or February. (if you want references, shoot me a question, and I'll provide some)
Remember though that there is a huge variation of opinion on this, everything from "Its totally evil, you are doing Satans work if you celebrate Halloween at all" to "It was the Christians that paired the holiday with the term 'evil', in order to destroy the pagan worship of it". You can read this site, for example http://bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=170 to get an idea of how many Christians view Halloween. (remember this is an exceprt from the book "Exposing Satan's devices", so it could very well be the bias of an individual) As you are a Christian ,I would actually sugest that you read that first; if you agree then go no further. If, however, you think that its a bit over the top, then you may want to look elsewhere. IMO the 4 passages that the book mentions in reference to Halloween are being stretched pretty far in order to make them applicable to Halloween at all, but then again your family and Church may disagree.
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