Halloween and Seventh-day
Adventists
Dr. Gerhard Pfandl,
Biblical Research Institute
Each
year on October 31, millions of people celebrate Halloween by dressing up as
witches, devils, and demons. Besides parties for adults, the day has become an
occasion for children to go from house to house, often in costumes, demanding
“trick or treat.”
The
name Halloween derives from the Roman Catholic holiday All Saints’ Day, The
Feast of All Saints, or All Hallows’ Day (hallow means “to make holy” or
“consider something sacred”), celebrated on November 1. All Saints’ Day
commemorates the saints who have not been assigned a special day in the
calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The day before All Saints’ Day was
called All Hallows’ Eve, from which Halloween is derived.
According
to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the origin of Halloween goes back to a festival
of the Druids, an order of pagan priests in ancient Gaul and Britain, in
pre-Christian times: “In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of
Samhain was observed on October 31, at the end of summer.
This
date was also the eve of the new year in both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon times and
was the occasion for one of the ancient fire festivals when huge bonfires were
set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. The date was connected with the
return of the herds from pasture, and laws and land tenures were renewed. The
souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the
autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches,
hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming
about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the
process of nature.
The
Celtic festival of Samhain, which signaled the commencement of winter,
consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (October 31 and November
1). It remained popular among the Celtic people even after the Christianization
of Great Britain in the fifth century. The Christian Church in Britain adapted
the feast of Samhain by adding the Christian celebration of All Saints’ Day to
the festival. Until the eighth century, the Feast of All Saints was celebrated
on May 13. It seems that because the British custom to celebrate All Saints’
Day on November 1 had spread to other countries, Pope Gregory IV (827-844)
transferred the feast of May 13 to November 1.
The
New Catholic Encyclopedia claims the reason was, “because provisions were
inadequate for the numerous pilgrims coming to Rome in May,”[1] but it
acknowledges that some believe “the November feast originated in Gaul and was
immediately adopted in Rome.”[2]
The
customs of Samhain survived in the Celtic areas of Great Britain: Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales. In time they lost much of their religious significance and
the eve of All Hallows’ Day became a secular festival, “although many
traditionally Celtic ideas continued to be associated with the evening.
Divination activities remained a popular practice. Adults, dressed in fantastic
disguises and masks, imitated supernatural beings and visited homes where
occupants would offer tributes of food and drink to them.”[3]
Irish
and Scottish immigrants introduced All Hallows’ Eve observances to America, and
after the massive immigration of the Irish to the United States during the
potato famine (1845-1852), Halloween became a national festival.
The
custom for children to go trick or treating from door to door also goes back to
the ancient Druid priests, who would go from house to house demanding food for
their own consumption as well as for offerings to their deities. If the people
in a home would not provide them with food, they would speak a demonic curse
over the home, and, history claims, someone in the family would die within the
year.
The
Druids would carry with them a large turnip, which they had hollowed out on the
inside and carved a face on the front, to represent the demonic spirit they
depended upon for their power and knowledge. The turnip lighted by a candle
from within was used as a lantern for the Druids as they went from house to
house at night. When this practice came to America in the 18th and 19th
centuries, turnips weren’t that prominent, and the pumpkin was soon substituted
for the turnips.
Although
the Seventh-day Adventist Church has not taken an official position
specifically against Halloween, the church’s opposition to the occult and the
demonic precludes any support for this type of festival.
Halloween
and its customs have no roots in Scripture or in the Christian Church. They are
firmly rooted in the occult and in pagan practices. These connections, however,
are to day forgotten or made light of. Nevertheless, any practice derived from
the occult is incompatible with the teachings of Scripture (Lev. 20:6).
Since
many people no longer believe in the existence of a personal devil and his
demons, they feel there is no harm in making fun of these “religious relics of
the past.” The children are taught that there are no such beings as witches and
evil spirits and that it is fun to dress up as ghosts or goblins. The modern
denial of the existence of Satan and demonic forces is clearly contrary to
Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible affirms the existence of Satan
and demonic spirit beings (Gen. 3:1; Job 1:6; Matt. 8:31; Rev. 12:9).
In
the education of children, it is important that we do not plant false ideas in
their minds. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and
when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6, NKJV). To teach them
that there is no harm in imitating evil spirits is contrary to God’s will.
God
in the Old Testament warned Israel not to dabble in the occult. “There shall
not be found among you . . . one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or
one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls upon the dead. For all who do these
things are an abomination to the Lord” (Deut. 18:10-12, NKJV). Since the occult
is today more active than ever, this counsel is still valid today.
Participation
in Halloween customs may seem innocent fun for children and adults, but it is
one more way Satan can use to deceive people into thinking there is no harm in
playing a little bit with the world of spirits and demons.
While
Ellen White never mentioned Halloween, she warned many times against dabbling
in spiritualism:
“There
are many who shrink with horror from the thought of consulting spirit mediums,
but who are attracted by more pleasing forms of spiritism.”[4]
Seventh-day
Adventists recognize that spiritualism has many faces. Some of them may seem
harmless and even fun. Nevertheless, they lead children and adults away from
God’s truth, and can become stepping stones to further entanglement with the
occult.
Publicado:
Perspective Digest 14, no. 4 (2009) 57-59.
Página: http://www.perspectivedigest.org/publication_file.php?pub_id=429&journal=1&type=pdf
[1]C. Smith, ed., “All Saints,
Solemnity of,” New Catholic Encyclopedia,
2nd edition (New York: Thomson-Gale, 2003), vol. 1, p. 289.
[2]Ibíd.
[3]Leonard N. Primiano,
“Halloween,” The Encyclopedia of Religion,
2nd edition (New York: Thomson-Gale, 2005), 6:3759.
[4]Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.: Review and
Herald Publ. Assn., 1970), p. 606.
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