Reader’s question: “Can Christians participate in Halloween celebrations?”…

This is the first applied article in the “Can Christians…?” series. If you haven’t read the overview, I encourage you to read it first: “Can Christians…?” Series: Overview

Every late October, I see articles from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad discussing whether Christians can/should celebrate Halloween. Most of the pieces I’ve seen are opposed to it1, and those who think it’s harmless rarely write to defend their stance. The aim of this article is to explore how one might think through this topic and to encourage believers not merely to be told “yes” or “no.” Of course, this is simply my personal view; everyone should arrive at their own convictions.

Below are my reflections on some common reasons given for “Christians should not” participate in Halloween-related activities:

The origin of Halloween is pagan?

Many say Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic Samhain, a pagan festival venerating death, and that celebrating Halloween is participating in paganism. This is the most common narrative online. However, this claim has been challenged in recent years by other research2. Simply put, Halloween (or All Saints’ Day) was instituted by the medieval church to commemorate various saints in Roman Catholicism. This is evident from the English name: Halloween is a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve.” Just as Christmas Eve precedes Christmas, Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Anglicans even observe All Souls’ Day the next day, remembering the faithful departed and praying for them. Historically speaking, then, Halloween’s origin is not pagan but arises from the medieval Christian church—though many Protestant churches after the Reformation ceased to observe these days.

A consideration I’d like to raise: Must any festival Christians attend originate in Christianity or in Judaism (the Old Testament)? If so, should Chinese Christians refrain from observing the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, or even Lunar New Year? After all, Mid-Autumn’s origins are tied to ancient Chinese harvest moon rites, together with the legend of Chang’e flying to the moon. Might eating mooncakes with family inadvertently become moon-worship? The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, but its origins may relate to warding off evil. Would eating zongzi that day or participating in dragon boat racing inadvertently venerate the dead? I have certainly not heard proposals that Chinese Christians should refrain from observing Mid-Autumn or the Dragon Boat Festival on this account. Furthermore, some have argued that modern Christmas and Easter have pagan roots. Whether or not such claims are accurate, the year has only 365 days, and the world has seen innumerable cultures—on any given day somewhere a “pagan” observance may once have existed. Must Christians investigate the ultimate origin of every date? Suppose Christmas and Easter did have purely Christian origins—would non-Christians who attend parties on those days thereby “unknowingly worship” a God they don’t believe in? If not, should Christians be so anxious about “pagan elements”?

In fact, everyday vocabulary often has pagan roots. For example, the English weekday names:

1) Sunday — from “Sun’s day” (Latin dies Solis), tied to solar veneration in antiquity.

2) Monday — from “Moon’s day” (dies Lunae), similarly tied to lunar veneration.

3) Tuesday — from the Norse war-god Tyr/Tiw; Latin dies Martis (Mars’ day).

4) Wednesday — from Odin/Woden; Latin dies Mercurii (Mercury’s day).

5) Thursday — from Thor; Latin dies Iovis (Jupiter’s day).

6) Friday — from Frigg/Freya, goddess of love and fertility; Latin dies Veneris (Venus’ day).

7) Saturday — the only weekday in English retaining a Roman origin explicitly, from Saturn; Latin dies Saturni.

The point is that when we use these words today, we do not believe in, much less worship, those deities—indeed we typically don’t even know their etymological backgrounds.

Acts 28:11–15 (ESV):

11 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the Twin Gods as a figurehead.

12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

The “Twin Gods” in Acts 28:11 refers to the Dioscuri—Castor and Pollux—famous twin brothers from Greco-Roman mythology. Luke (the author of Acts) and Paul had no scruple about noting or boarding a ship with pagan “Twin Gods” as a figurehead. They did not censor it or avoid the ship because they knew they did not worship Greek gods but Jesus.

Old Testament authors even appropriated contemporary pagan imagery to declare God’s power:

Genesis 1:21 (ESV):

So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Isaiah 27:1 (ESV):

In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

The “sea creature” here (Leviathan), many modern OT scholars note, reflects Ancient Near Eastern mythic chaos imagery. Yet the OT testifies that even this fearsome figure is God’s creature and is restrained by Him.

Isaiah 19:1 (ESV):

An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

In Canaanite myth, Baal is described as a cloud-rider. Here, however, YHWH is the true cloud-riding King.

Therefore, even if certain terms or festivals may have some connection to pagan motifs in origin, if that meaning is no longer present, origin alone does not amount to worshiping pagan deities.

Is dressing up “like ghosts or monsters” worship of the devil or Satan?

Another common objection says that the scary makeup and costumes in Halloween amount to honoring demons/Satan. I cannot know each person’s motive, but to my knowledge, most who dress up, whether Christian or not, do so for amusement—for themselves and others—not to worship the devil. Of course, Christians should dress with modesty (this varies culturally and temporally), but if people merely make themselves look silly, give friends a playful fright, and enjoy time together, that hardly amounts to devil-worship (and nowadays many dress as anime characters—more like a costume party). By the same logic, if you dress as an angel for a Christmas pageant, would that mean you are worshiping angels?

A key point: Motive matters greatly. Two people might do similar outward actions, but with very different inward intentions. Putting on makeup to have wholesome fun with friends is worlds apart from taking on a “spirit form” to venerate demons. Likewise, someone dressing as Jesus for a Christmas event is not thereby worshiping Jesus (and might even produce the opposite effect). So dressing as a “monster” does not intrinsically mean worshiping demons.

On the other hand, a core of the Christian faith is that Christ’s atonement frees us from the bondage of sin so that we might truly be free:

John 8:31–36 (ESV):

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

The gospel proclaims that by Christ’s deliverance we can, by trusting Him, freely refrain from sin. But if Christians turn many non-sinful matters into taboos, non-believers may conclude the gospel brings not freedom but more restrictions. Scripture also warns:

Colossians 2:20–23 (ESV):

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—

21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”

22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

I believe we should fear God and shun evil. But being overly sensitive—placing many sincere, well-intended actions on a “forbidden” list—may overcorrect in the wrong direction.

Christians and the world

1 Corinthians 9:19–22 (ESV):

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.

21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

Jesus entered communities, ate and lived with tax collectors and sinners, and was criticized by religious leaders for it. Paul says that to reach more, he became “as” those to whom he ministered. If Christians divide too many things into sacred versus secular, how can we enter among people and love them well? If a nonbeliever said, “I don’t believe in Jesus, so I won’t attend your Christmas party,” how would you respond? Similarly, if a nonbelieving friend invites you to a general Halloween event without sexualized themes or occultic rites, would “I’m a Christian, so I won’t go to any Halloween event” necessarily communicate the love of Jesus and the freedom we have in Christ? What would Jesus do? Why did He attend meals with sinners and with Pharisees? If He went, would He do everything others did? If believers themselves hosted a Halloween-season event, might it build better bridges to nonbelievers and avoid becoming overly secular?

Conclusion

While I do not object to believers who, for reasons of conscience, choose not to participate in any Halloween activities, I hope the above offers considerations beyond the “against” voices. I believe that if nonbelievers do not “accidentally worship God” by attending a Christmas party, believers need not be overly anxious that attending a Halloween party means worshiping demons (assuming no worship rites are involved).

Reflection questions

  • Does your understanding of the gospel lead to freedom or to restriction?
  • Do you accept that some believers may hold different convictions than yours? Or do you look down on them for it?
  • Do motives matter? Even for seemingly “spiritual” acts like prayer, almsgiving, or attending services?

References

Related

  1. For example:“10 Reasons I Kissed Halloween Goodbye” ↩
  2. e.g. Halloween: Its Creation and Recreation by Steven Wedgeworth ↩