Halloween

1. Halloween Series: Uncovering Religion 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

2. Exhortations from Scripture • 1 Corinthians 10:21 “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.” • Ezekiel 34:23 "...teach my people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." • Romans 13:12 "Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the Armour of Light.” • Joe Schimmel uses the time of halloween as an opportunity to honour and worship Jesus, and therefore celebrate a harvest festival instead of honouring demons.

3. Exhortations from Scripture • 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? For what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? ...Therefore, come out from among them and be separate says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you."

4. Halloween • If you ask most people “what is Halloween?” they will usually say that it is this strange holiday celebrated in America on the 31st October. • Even though it is true that America has popularised Halloween, it certainly did not originate in America, but it has a very sinister and demonic origin.

5. Halloween • Halloween whether the average person accepts it or not is a religious day and it is definitely not a Christian day. • Tom Sanguinet, a former high priest in Wicca has said: "The modern holiday that we call Halloween has its origins in the full moon closest to November 1, the witches' new year. It is a time when the spirits (demons) are supposed to be at their peak power and revisiting planet earth... Halloween is purely and absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have, or will do, that would make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus."

6. Origins of the Name Halloween • The word Halloween is derived from the term "All Hallows Eve" which occurred on Oct. 31, the end of summer in Northwestern Europe. "All Saints Day," or "All Hallows Day" was the next Day, Nov. 1st. Therefore, Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day. • All Saints day is a Catholic instituted holy day.

7. Origins of Halloween • Some scholars believe that the origins of the festival of Samhain (Halloween) are at least 2000 years old. • Peter Hammond explains, “Halloween has strong roots in paganism and witchcraft. It began as the Druid festival of Samhain. The Celts considered November 1st the day of death, because, in the Northern hemisphere, this was the beginning of winter, the leaves were falling, it was getting darker earlier, and temperatures were dropping. They believed that their sun god was losing strength and Samhain, the lord of death, was overpowering the sun god. The druids also taught that on 31 October, on the eve of the feast, Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died during the previous year to return to their former home to visit the living.”

8. Origins of Halloween • Matt Slick reveals, “There was much superstition associated with this time of change including the belief in fairies, and that the spirits of the dead wandered around looking for bodies to inhabit. Since the living did not want to be possessed by spirits, they dressed up in costumes and paraded around the streets making loud noises to confuse and frighten the spirits away. In addition, the new year began for the Celts on Nov. 1. So, the day of Samhain was believed to be a day that was in neither the year past or the year to come.  Since it was in between, chaos ruled on that day.”

9. Origins of Halloween • Matt Slick continues, “Later, around the 5th century, as the Catholic Church developed and moved into the area, instead of adding a new day to celebrate, it took over the Samhain celebration. Nov. 1st became "All Hallows Eve" where all the saints of the Catholic church were honored [The Eve before All Saints Day]. A later custom developed where people would go door-to-door on Nov. 2, requesting small cakes in exchange for the promise of saying prayers for some of the dead relatives of each house. This arose out of the religious belief that the dead were in a state of limbo before they went to heaven or hell and that the prayers of the living could influence the outcome.” • I believe that this could be where the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory began??

10. Origins of Halloween • Peter Hammond tells us that, “On Halloween, for thousands of years, druid priests have conducted diabolical worship ceremonies in which cats, horses, sheep, oxen, human beings and other offerings were rounded up, stuffed into wicca cages and burned to death. These human and animal sacrifices were apparently required to appease Samhain and keep the spirits from harming them. To obtain these sacrifices, druid priests would go from house to house asking for fatted calves, black sheep and human beings. Those who gave were promised prosperity, and those who refused to give were threatened and cursed. This is the origin of "trick or treat. While people and animals were screaming in agony, being burnt to death, the druids and their followers would dress in costumes made of animal skins and heads. They would dance, chant and jump through the flames in the hope of warding off evil spirits."

11. Matt Slick reveals, “The Jack-O-Lantern apparently comes from Irish folklore about a man named Jack who tricked the devil into climbing a tree. Once the devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the trunk, preventing the devil from coming down. The devil then made a deal with Jack not to allow Jack into hell after Jack died if only Jack would remove the cross from the tree. After Jack died, he couldn't go to hell, and he couldn't go to heaven. He was forced to wander around the earth with a single candle to light his way. The candle was placed in a turnip to keep it burning longer. When the Irish came to America in the 1800's, they adopted the pumpkin instead of the turnip. Along with these traditions, they brought the idea that the black cat was considered by some to be reincarnated spirits who had prophetic abilities.” The Jack-O-Lantern served as a signal to mark those farms and homes that supported the druids' religion, and thus were seeking the "treat" when the terror of Halloween began. The World Book Encyclopedia says: "The apparently harmless lighted pumpkin face of the Jack-O-Lantern is an ancient symbol of a damned soul.” Peter Hammond

12. Halloween Heroes – Count Dracula • Count Dracula or ‘Vlad the Impaler’ lived from 1431 to 1476. During his six year reign, Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia massacred over 100,000 men, women and children in the most hideous ways. He devised a plan to rid his country of the burden of beggars, the handicapped, the sick and the aged by inviting them to a feast at one of his palaces. He fed them well and got them drunk. Then he asked them: "Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in the world?" When his guests yelled: "Yes!" Dracula ordered the palace boarded up and set on fire. No one escaped this original "house of horror.” The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's patronymic.

13. Halloween Heroes – Skeletons • Halloween is known also as the day of the dead and the skeleton is a symbolic reference to that day. Skulls in particular were considered by many ancient cultures (including the Druids of the Celts) to be the psychic seat of the human whole. As such, occultists believe that skulls are powerful symbols invoking a heightened awareness of their psychic potential.

14. Halloween Heroes – Werewolves • A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope "wolfman”, is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse and/or lycanthropic affliction via a bite or scratch from a werewolf, or some other means. A more modern use of the word is in reference to a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly.

15. Halloween Monsters • Other Halloween monsters include Frankenstein, Mummies, Vampires, Zombies, Ghosts, Goblins, Scarecrows, Jason, Freddy Kruger, Jeeper Creepers, Chucky, Witches, Headless Horseman, Grim Reaper, Devil etc. • Halloween is certainly not a Christian holiday, nor should we have anything to do with such a practice.

16. How serious is Halloween to Occultists • Witch - Doreen Valiente: "Halloween is one of the four Great Sabbats of the witches that everyone has heard about. To witches, Halloween is a serious occasion, however merrily celebrated. It is the old Celtic Eve of Samhain. With the coming of Christianity, the Church tried to Christianize the old festival by making 1st November All Saints Day, or All Hallows as the old term was. Thus Samhain Eve became All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. But attempts to discourage the pagan celebrations were so unavailing that the festival was eventually banned from the Church calendar. It was not until 1928 that the Church of England formally restored All Hallows to its calendar, on the assumption that the old pagan associations of Halloween were at last really dead and forgotten; a supposition that was certainly premature.” • Witch - Sharon Graham: "Salem (Massachusetts) is a mecca, especially around Samhain. It is our holiday, our new year, and a lot of witches come here from all over the world"

17. How serious is Halloween to Occultists • Satanist - Anton SzandorLaVey (now deceased): "Two major holidays, HALLOWEEN and Walpurgisnacht [the day he began the Church of Satan (1966)] are celebrated by the Church of Satan.” • Halloween is a very important day for vampires as well as for many Goths who assemble at graveyards on Halloween for their bizarre celebrations. • Mexicans celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) on October 31. Family members who have died are believed to return to their grave sites. • Fuller, a devotee of Aleister Crowley, indicated that Samhain (Halloween) was an important ritual day to Crowley and his followers and it still is today.

18. Should a Christian celebrate Halloween?? • The Word of God tells us, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:21 • Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” • Leviticus 20:6 “I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.”

19. Should A Christian Celebrate Halloween? • "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being priests for Me; because you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children." Hosea 4:6 • The issue we have in the Church today is exactly this, they lack knowledge of the spiritual forces of evil operating in the world today and therefore they fall prey to their evil practices.

20. Joe Schimmel on Halloween • The passage in the bible that most directly addresses the customs of Halloween is Deuteronomy 18:9-14, where we read: • When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so. • We see here about the most inclusive list of the activities upon which Halloween was established that can be found anywhere in the bible, and the practitioners thereof are labeled “detestable.” Those habits are, in fact, the very reason the Pagan nations were driven out of the Promised Land.

21. Resist the devil • There will be Christians who will say that this is a harmless day and a fun activity to be part of. • Satan loves it when we underestimate the power of the influence of the spiritual realm. When we partake in demonic festivals we willingly open ourselves, and our children, up to the deception. • Halloween and influences like it are a way of opening humans up to the occult. There are many testimonies of witches who were converted to the study of witchcraft on Halloween.

22. Alternative Celebrations • Pastor Joe Schimmel and his church Blessed Hope Chapel celebrates a Harvest Festival on 31st October. • There is also the celebration of the Reformation which began on 31st October in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses upon the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany with hammer strokes which echoed throughout all of Europe.

23. Conclusion • As Christians God has set us apart from the world, He definitely has called us to be lights in darkness, He did not call us to join into the festivals of darkness. • The spiritual implications to celebrating Halloween can not be underestimated and as Christians it is wise to resist its sinful attraction. • Our celebrations should always be centered upon glorifying our God and His Son Jesus Christ.