Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

I have several atheistic friends who tell me it is hypocritical of me to call myself a Christian and to celebrate Halloween. My children love getting candy and I really never thought of this. I have been trying to witness to these individuals at the office. What should I do? Is it okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween?

Thank you for your question. This is a tough question that many Christians wrestle with. In order to fully answer your question I will first provide a brief history of Halloween and then suggest several key Scriptures to consider. Then I will describe how I personally have addressed this matter.

Although various websites and other resources differ (see, for example, www.history.com), it is generally agreed that Halloween dates back over 2000 years and comes from the Celts in Ireland. On October 31 the Celts believed that spirits returned to earth. The Celtic priests, called Druids, would use this day to talk to the spirits and make predictions about the future. This event was very important to the Celtic people who would build bonfires and burn portions of their crops and animals as a sacrifice to the Celtic gods. The Celts danced around the bonfires in costume so the evil spirits would not recognize them. Although the Celts did hollow out vegetables such as turnips and place candles in them to light their path home from the bonfire celebrations, the use of pumpkins for the carving of jack-o-lanterns is an American tradition dating back to the mid-1800′s. Even though Halloween is often understood as a harmless secular holiday, it remains a celebration of evil spirits with police departments reporting animal sacrifices and cemetery vandalism throughout the United States.

In a partial response to the pagan practice of celebrating Halloween, the Christian church in the eighth century began celebrating “All Hallows Eve” on October 31st and “All Saints Day” on November 1st. The stated purpose of such special occasions was to celebrate the known and unknown Christian saints, whether canonized or not, who are part of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hw 12:1) who have labored on behalf of the faith. In my experience most individuals (Christian and non-Christian) are unaware of this Christian link to celebrations on October 31. Undeniably the vast majority of individuals see Halloween more as a pagan holiday than a Christian one.

This, of course, still begs the question: “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?” In considering this question Christians must carefully examine God’s Word as set forth in two different sets of Bible verses. The first set of Bible verses may be categorized as dealing with the occult. More specifically Scripture asserts that God does not want believers to practice fortune-telling, witchcraft, or sorcery or to cast spells, function as mediums or psychics or to call forth the spirits of the dead (Lv 19:26; Dt 18:10-11). In other words, God does not want us to have anything to do with the occult. Such practices are detestable to the Lord (Dt 18:12). Most individuals would agree that at least certain aspects of Halloween and much of its origin is related to the occult.

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The second set of Bible verses that need to be considered deal with causing others to stumble (Romans 14:12-21). By changing Paul’s references in his letter to the Romans from “eating meat sacrificed to idols” to “Halloween” and changing certain generic terms such as “unclean” to “sinful” we may read this passage to apply to Halloween as follows:

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no celebration is sinful in itself. But if anyone regards something as sinful, then for him it is sinful. 15If your brother is distressed because of you celebrating Halloween, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your celebration of Halloween destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of celebrating certain cultural observances, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

 19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of Halloween. Even assuming Halloween is not sinful, it is still wrong for a man to participate in Halloween if it causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to celebrate Halloween or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.          (Romans 14:12-21, NIV with my Halloween edits)

For these reasons, my children did not go “trick or treating”. They are now grown and only slightly warped. We did purchase them each a sack of their favorite candy and allowed their grandparents to do likewise. Then on Halloween night the children helped me witness to 40 or 50 children by passing out age appropriate tracts (with candy) about Jesus Christ. You can find any number of these tracts at Christian bookstores or online at www.christianbook.com with Halloween themes that contain games and an age appropriate message of salvation (20 for .50 is a typical price). We have also passed out the book of John, “What would Jesus do?” bracelets, and small New Testaments which can be purchased online for .00 to .50 each. Sure a substantial number of the children will only eat the candy and never read the information we give them, but some will. If only one seed of faith in Jesus Christ is planted in one child it is more than worth it. What other day of the year can you witness to 40 or 50 children who are eager to take whatever you hand them with a piece of candy.

Given the fact that you are trying to witness to these individuals at the office, it seems that not celebrating Halloween or approaching it as I suggest in the prior paragraph is the best manner of maintaining your witness to your atheistic friends. Which is more important, your witness for Christ or your children going door to door begging for candy they don’t really need? Of course, the choice is ultimately yours. Before you make your final decision consider Romans 14:23: “But if you have doubts about whether or not you should participate in Halloween, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning” (NLT with my Halloween edits). This verse can be roughly paraphrased as similar to my mother’s standard admonishment: if you have to ask the question, don’t do it.

Hopefully, you will find this helpful. If you have further questions or desire to discuss this matter in more detail, please feel free to contact me at steve@heartpointe.com or visit the HeartPointe website, www.heartpointe.com.