Christians can celebrate Halloween!

Halloween or All Hallows Eve was stolen from Christians.  What started as a day to prepare for All Saints’ Day (November 1st), Halloween became a spooky, evil, and candy filled observance. The term “Halloween” from its beginnings, had nothing to do with any pagan or evil beliefs. The Christian festival “All Hallows Eve” morphed into our current term Halloween.

The term Halloween comes from the sense of what is “hallowed” or “holy”. In the Lord’s Prayer, Christians pray, “Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name…”  In the fourth century the Eastern Church celebrated a festival in honor of all saints who died. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Christians celebrated “All Saints’ Day” formally.

How did Halloween become associated with evil spirits?  The Druids, in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer with sacrifices to their gods. It was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits to attack humans, who could escape only by wearing disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves.

The Christian observance of Halloween began with a religious focus and Christians should take back Halloween. The argument of religious leaders that it is a sin to celebrate Halloween is not valid if we are going to celebrate Christmas and Easter when we do. Christmas and Easter in Europe had pagan connections.  We do not abandon Christmas and Easter and should not abandon All Hallows Eve. No one really knows what happened during the pagan festival of Samhain. There is not one shred of evidence of what actually took place.

Gregory III (731–741) and Gregory IV (827–844) moved the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1 to replace the pagan rituals on October 31 and November 1.  Gregory III instructed people to dress up as saints.

Most Christians may not understand that Christmas was selected for a December observance because of the Nordic holiday of Yule. Scholars believe Jesus Christ was born during a warmer month than December.  Many scholars believe that Jesus’ birthday was in fact during a warmer month. The ancient pagans, in the beginning of the winter solstice, when the days became shorter and the weather became colder celebrated Yule.  As a pagan observance, the Scandinavian cultures would keep a fire going with a giant tree or log and the people often made sacrifices before an oak tree for a period of 12 days…is this a connection with the 12 days of Christmas?  Not to mention the Christmas tree. Pagans would burn or use evergreens in their festivals.

The observance of Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. However, the modern English word “Easter “can be traced to an older English word Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, which refers to Eostur-monath, a month that the Germanic peoples named after the goddess Ēostre. If the word Easter has connections to pagan rituals of celebrating spring time, does that devalue Easter?

Understanding that early Christians contextualized early pagan holidays into Christian holidays helps us to see that we do not have to compromise our beliefs with pagan ones.

Halloween does not have to be a holiday filled with Dracula’s, bloody masks, or witches. There was a time when children dressed up, but their costumes were not sinister. During the Great Depression, children often disguised themselves as hobos, burglars, pirates… in other words, as economic and social outcasts, symbolic of the troubles from which their parents were struggling to escape. Those children were trying to make light of their situation. Halloween in the 19th century was devoid of scary masks and monsters.

If you still think Halloween is an evil day, then maybe you should see All Hallows Eve as a time when Christians can laugh and even mock evil. Martin Luther said, “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.” Thomas More said, “The devil … the proud spirit cannot endure to be mocked.”

The one thing Satan cannot bear is to be a source of laughter. His pride is undermined by his own knowledge that his infernal rebellion against God is in reality an absurd farce. Hating laughter, he demands to be taken seriously. I would say that those Christians who spend the night of October 31st filled with concern over what evils might be taking place are doing the very thing Lucifer wants them to do. By giving him this respect, such believers are giving his authority credence.

Christians should instead celebrate Halloween with enthusiasm. If we follow the traditional formula of having a good time at his expense, Satan should flee. By laughing and mocking evil by goofy costumes we can take a posture of triumph with Christ.

Christians should focus and teach the concept of celebrating All Saint’s Day, November 1st in churches.

The term “saint” is used over 60 times in the New Testament. Protestants use the word saints to describe the Christians living and dead.  We can also honor our loved ones who have given us Christ, such as our parents, grandparents, etc.…  We can thank God for them and pray for the living “saints”.  Churches can use All Saints Day to light candles as an act of prayer for thanking God for the special people (“saints”) in our lives.

Protestants can learn from the saints of the church for the last 2,000 years. Protestants have often been fearful of honoring and learning from the Church saints for fear that they are venerating them as Catholics do.

When Jesus confronted evil demons in the New Testament they were fearful and obeyed the commands of Jesus to leave the people they possessed.  Much of the outcry concerning Halloween comes from the fear of evil or welcoming evil into their homes or lives.  No one should go out and look for spiritual warfare, but we should take comfort in knowing that Christ has given us the tools to fend away evil through faith in God, scripture, the power of Christ, the Holy Spirit, fasting, and prayer.

Why should Christians allow others to claim Halloween as their own? We should take back “All Hallows Eve” by embracing “All Saints Day” and remembering our “saints” by separating “All Hallows Eve” from the pre-Christian practices.

Christians can take comfort in understanding the historical Christian remembrance that is associated with “All Hallows Eve” and “All Saints Day”.  Children can collect donations for UNICEF or for a local cause. We Christians can also view Halloween as a fun event for children by having events in churches or in our communities where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and share some treats in a safe place.

If celebrating Halloween is a sin, it is a man-made sin and not a sin defined by God! To give you an example of this I will tell you a true story. A friend of mind decided to give the children of the community an opportunity to celebrate Halloween in the fashion he did as a child. We all know it is no longer safe in all neighborhoods to allow children to go door to door asking for treats. He decided, along with his parish council, to have a Halloween party in their fellowship hall. The community was invited. They requested no scary costumes. Prizes were given for the best homemade costume, best angel costume and most original costume. They had a large piñata shaped like a cloud. When the children broke the piñata open candy fell to the floor along with ‘Bible scriptures written on colorful paper’. There was a ‘pin the wings on an angel’ game.  The men of the church dressed like Biblical characters. There was absolutely nothing about this party that would make one think of evil spirits or the devil.

The Southern Baptist minister in the community attacked my friend and his church unmerciful. He even gave an interview to the local newspaper accusing the church of being an occult. On the following Sunday in his pulpit he told his people that the church was practicing witchcraft and devil worshipping. He said my friend and the members of his church would be, “fried, boiled and stewed in hell”.

The following week he discovered some of his members had taken their children to the party. That Sunday he called out the names of those people and asks them to leave his church and never return. I will leave it up to you who do you think committed the sin my friend or the narrow minded Southern Baptist minister.

I have one more question for you - do you still wonder why the younger generation is leaving organized religion when we practice such bigotry in our churches.

Southern Baptist Convention in recent years has decreased in membership every year; although the number of small churches opened were over 200 last year. Last year they had fewer baptisms than ever, which mean less people are joining the religious organization. They also did not meet last year’s financial goal they claim they need to maintain their outreach programs. 

Please know I am not being critical of Southern Baptist Church members or all Southern Baptist ministers. I am speaking of only one Southern Baptist minister. I also am not saying only the Southern Baptist Convention is getting smaller most, if not all, organized religious organizations are growing smaller.

Is it biblically correct to pray to Mary?

This discussion is difficult for me.  I am sure there are friends that I will offend.  I never had a problem with the subject until I moved to the Philippines.  Down through the years I encountered a few people whom I felt might be abusing the devotion to Mother Mary, but in the Philippines it began to really concern me.  It seems to me many good Catholics have become confused when it comes to their devotion to Mother Mary.

The practices of many Catholics depart from the "official traditions" of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Roman Catholic Church does not "officially" teach Catholics to worship Mary, but rather to honour and revere her. However, through my observation, it is clear that many Catholics do in fact worship Mary. This is the result of the Roman Catholic Church not doing a good job of teaching and explaining our doctrines.  Many Catholics are completely ignorant of what Catholic doctrines and practices truly mean and signify.

I do not believe that Mother Mary is co-equal with the Father, Son or Holy Spirit and attending Mass any Sunday in the Philippines you would wonder if fifty percent of the people realise she is not.    I know there is a movement among some Catholics around the world to make her co-equal, but as of this writing the Pope has not seriously considered it.  I do not believe any Pope would ever approve it.  I think what disturbs me the most is it seems to me more prayer and devotions are offered to Mother Mary in the Philippines than to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity.

 I have always heard that many Evangelicals and Protestants think the word pray means worship.  So it makes sense that they think Catholics who pray to Mary actually worship her.  The problem I now have is that I have come to believe that a vast number of Catholics no longer pray to Mother Mary they worship Mother Mary and the clergy seem to look the other way.  I honestly believe some of the clergy I have met in the Philippines worship Mother Mary themselves.

Let's look at the word pray in the dictionary.  Here is what Webster's says about the word pray: (1) to utter petition to God ... (2) to make a fervent request: PLEAD (3) to beseech: implore (4) to make a devout or earnest request.  The word worship is not included in the definition of pray.   A prayer to Mary is clearly not a petition to God.  Mary is not God, and I know of no knowledgeable Catholic who has said she was.  Clearly worship is not the first meaning of pray.

When Catholics pray to God they "utter a petition to God" and when they pray to Mary they make “earnest request for prayers” from Mary.  Catholics believe Mother Mary is a prayer warrior. 

There is a difference between veneration of Mary and worship of Jesus. This was formalized in writing back in 757 AD at the Seventh General Council:

1.Latria - adoration that is given to the Trinity alone occurs 5 times in the Bible, but always refers to God (John 16:2, Romans: 9:4, 12:6, Hebrew 9:1,6).

2. Hyper-dulia – veneration (showing respect) to Mary as the mother of God.

3. Dulia - honour paid to saints and angels occurs 5 times in the Bible (Romans 8:15, 21; Galatians 4:24, 5:1; Hebrew 2:15).

There are plenty of Old Testament references that distinguish veneration from worship. "Then Moses went out to meet his father- in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him…" (Exodus 18:7) and (1 Chronicle 29:20, 1 Samuel 24:8).  Moses did not worship his father-in-law, but he did show respect to him.

Some evangelicals say consecration shows that Catholics worship Mary.  The word consecrates means to entrust. I entrust myself to my closest friends, but only Jesus Christ is my Saviour.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe said, “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”  The question is not how much Jesus loved Mary.  The question is how much some Catholics love Mary; do they love her more than the Holy Spirit?  I am sure Jesus loved Mother Mary, but does Jesus love her more than He loves you and me, I doubt that.  I also think you can love Mother Mary too much if you have turned to worshipping her instead of venerating her, showing her reverential respect. 

I have a 5 foot statue of Mother Mary in my private prayer garden.  I do not worship Mary, but I do have the highest respect for her and when I look at that statue I think of her son Jesus Christ and I think of the physical and emotional pain she must have gone through as His mother.  It leads me to ask God to give me the same courage and strength.  I have no intention of removing the statue for it is comforting to me.  I do not pray to Mother Mary or any Saint.  I pray to the Father, through the Son (asking Him to mediate for me) and I ask the Holy Spirit to lead me in prayer.  Christ made it possible on the cross for us to go to the Father.

I believe it is wise for Catholics not to allow themselves to focus on Mother Mary to the point that it distracts them from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  I do not think Mother Mary would want that.  I want to add my time thinking of Mother Mary has never been a distraction for me.  In fact it does the opposite it helps me focus more on Jesus Christ. 

Mary's role was not to jump on center stage and take the place of Jesus.  I do not believe she ever wanted to be in the spotlight.  I do think some men in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church wanted to give her a role that she did not want and God never intended for her to have.  It always perplexes me when men are not satisfied with God’s plan and want to substitute their own.

1 Timothy 2 does not say that God wants us only to communicate with Jesus. It says there is only one mediator between God and man, which is a different thing. The passage does not say do not ask people to pray for us.  The chapter not only allows intercessory prayer by third parties, but it indicates it is helpful.  “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone ...This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth? (Tim. 2:1-4).

Now one question that will arise is how can Mother Mary hear the prayers of all who are praying to her and distinguish between them for she is not all knowing as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Good Question!  I do not know the answer.  My only suggestion would be when a saint enters into the joy of their Master, they are "put in charge of many things" (Mat. 25:21).  Is listening to prayers one of them, I don’t know. 

Evangelical and Protestants will say, "I don't pray to dead people." Catholics don't think people in heaven are dead.  Catholics believe people in heaven are alive (Matthew 19:29, 25:46, Matthew 10:17-22, Mark 10:30, Luke 10:25-30, Luke 18:18-30, John 3:15-16).   We read in the Bible Lazarus was alive by Abraham's side (Luke 16:22).   At the transfiguration we read Moses and Elijah were alive beside Jesus, (Matthew 17:3).  There seems to be a lot of aliveness in Heaven in Revelation, (Revelation 4:10).  I do not believe people are in some type of comma until judgement day and I do not think the majority of Evangelicals or Protestants believe that either.

Some Evangelicals and Protestants think that asking a person in heaven to intercede for them is condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10 -12.  The Catholic Church believes that Deuteronomy 18:10 -12 speaks about the occult, soothsayers, sorcerers, spells, ghosts and spirits.  I think the same. 

Some Evangelicals and Protestants are uneasy asking Christians in heaven to pray for them because the final judgment hasn't occurred.   What does that have to do with the matter we are discussing?   I have never been to an Evangelical or Protestant funeral where they did not say, "He or she is with the Lord now."  They obviously believe as I do as soon as we die believers go to heaven.

This discussion could go on for many, many more pages.  But, I feel the need to bring it to a close.  I do have a problem praying for people after they have died.  I do not believe there are any second chances after death, but I will discuss that later. 

The problem I have is not having reverence for Mother Mary it is I am afraid some Catholics are abusing the tradition and have stopped praying to and reverencing her to WORSHIPPING her.  I think religious leaders have a responsibility to see that their followers do not do that.  Yes, it is easier to turn a blind eye and I have at times.  In the Philippines culture and tradition have deep roots, but religious leaders first responsibility is to teach God’s truths. 

I leave you with this thought Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”  Jesus is not denying his relationship with his biological family; he is pointing out what makes us part of God’s family.  The belief that “blood is thicker than water” no longer applies.  For Jesus the waters of baptism that transform our identity as God’s children become a stronger bond in the Spirit than blood ties.  Water becomes thicker than blood in God’s family.  Spiritual and not physical kinship is the basis of relationships in the new dispensation.  Believers, who receive Jesus through faith and through baptism and are willing to do the will of God, become the true family of Jesus.