Many Christians have debated the subject of Halloween for an extremely long time. Strongly divided on the subject, some Christians celebrate the holiday and believe they have the freedom to do just that. Other Christians boycott the holiday, believing Halloween promotes darkness and evil which are against their biblical beliefs.
They also tend to lean towards the belief that Halloween celebrations began from pagan roots. Others yet, celebrate Halloween in a positive way. Approving and allowing dressing in costume and going trick or treating only if their costume represents a positive influence or positive character.
Contrary to popular belief, there are no direct references to Halloween in the Bible. Due to this fact, it keeps the subject both disputed and controversial between Christians. Many Christians classify the subject of Halloween under a “disputable matter” which is referenced in the Bible under Romans 14.
To make this a bit more clearer, other subjects that would fall into this category include smoking, drinking alcohol, working on Sunday or deciding what kind of movies and television should be viewed. There are other subjects as well. You can reference Romans 14 for a further, more in depth discussion about the subject.
The majority of Christians decide not to partake in these actions because they believe they are un-Christian acts, yet there are no specific scripture that tells them not to. Many families with children decide on a “modified” Halloween due to the fact they do not want their children to miss out in any fun with their peers.
They allow them to dress up in a positive costumer or a biblical character, rather than a ghost, goblin or skeleton to reference just a few “un-Christian” costumes. Adults without children tend to lean towards the decision to either celebrate a “normal” Halloween or not celebrate at all. In choosing not to celebrate at all, there are other options available. Consider having a fall party or just inviting church friends and family over for some Christian fellowship instead.
Basically, the decision lies on you and your family. Spend some time in prayer and ask the Lord to guide you. He will never lead you in the wrong direction. Remember not to be swayed by the decision of others, do what you feel in your heart. Since the Lord made no specific reference to it in the Bible, He will let you know what is best for you and those you love.
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Wise words of wisdom! If you’re looking for the origins of Halloween, I posted an article on one of my other blogs about it here:
http://www.opentalkmom.com/2009/10/origins-of-halloween/
But, as you said, pray about it, what’s right for you and your family. God won’t steer you wrong.
Mary, that is a great article! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for posting and sharing this.
~ Jennifer
Great post. I’ve always struggled with this. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with letting my son dress in costume and enjoy in the festivities at school. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with taking him trick-or-treating and heck even several years in a row our church put on a big shin dig type thing on Halloween. Then people (Christian people) started telling me it was wrong to allow my son to partake in the evilness of Halloween and all that it portrays. So then I was freaking out that I was doing something wrong and it caused havoc in my brain…lol. But I had to stop worrying about what those people were thinking of me because I wasn’t being convicted of letting my son do the things he was doing on Halloween.
So all that rambling just to say that it’s exactly like you said – you need to pray and do what you feel led to do. It’s all about what you are convicted of and what God leads you to do.
These two links summarize this topic well for me.
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=2069
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=1844