GN Commentary: October 28, 2009 - Harmless Halloween?

Could it possibly be pleasing to God to see us celebrate Halloween? And are you sure you want to get involved?

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Video Transcript

It's about that time of the year again—the time when ordinary front lawns are transformed into skeleton-filled graveyards, sinister orange heads appear glowing on front porches and small bands of witches, demons and goblins roam the streets in an insatiable hunt for their chocolate-coated prey.

We're talking, of course, about Halloween. It's a well-established holiday whose roots reach back some two thousand years, when the Celts, clothed in animal skins, would gather around enormous bonfires as the Druid mystics called upon the spirits of the deceased to tell fortunes.

The holiday was later re-packaged by the Roman Catholic Church in a bid to absorb these pre-Christian groups under the thinly-veiled guise of "All-Hallows Eve," a time for honoring the saints of the church. The title was the only part of the festival to show any noticeable change—the customs, traditions and superstitions have mostly survived in some form up to the present day.

The idea that the spirit world merges with our own physical realm on Halloween prompted those who left their homes to wear masks, in the hope that malicious ghosts would confuse them for a fellow spirit. Over the years, that tradition has morphed and mixed with others to create the trick-or-treating we know today.

No one has attempted to cover up the origins of Halloween. And they're not difficult to trace—if anything, they are almost common knowledge. But what most people don't understand is that the demonic world we treat so lightly on Halloween is very real. Not only is it real; it is both malicious and active.

Throughout the Bible, we find descriptions of Satan—a fallen angel who leads his demonic legions—as our adversary "who deceives the whole world " (Revelation 12:9), and as "a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

And yet every Halloween, we find a huge crowd taking part in a seemingly harmless holiday that has its roots firmly planted in satanic practices. Little children parade through their towns dressed as demons, unintentionally imitating the servants of a murderer, the father of lies and the unabashed enemy of all mankind.

Could it possibly be pleasing to God to see His creation celebrating a day so steeped in these traditions? And are you sure you want to get involved?

For GN Magazine, I'm Ralph Levy.