Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Does the Bible Say Anything About Halloween?

Aug 18, 2009 Brian Tubbs

Many believe Halloween is evil, which is why many Christians don't celebrate Halloween. How should Christians treat Halloween? What does the Bible say about Halloween?

The question of whether Christians should celebrate Halloween is a very controversial subject. In fact, the debate over Halloween in Christian circles mirrors that over the Harry Potter books and movies. The real question is whether Christians should have anything at all to do with something that pertains to (or is derived from) witchcraft, paganism, or the occult.

A Brief History of Halloween

The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The festival of Samhain marked the end of both the harvest and summer seasons, and was also tied to celebrations of the dead.

The Samhain festival (in all its variations) was extremely popular in pre-Christian Europe. Over the years, various cultures adapted and added to this celebration, which was then influenced by Catholic tradition. In medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church began celebrating "All Saints' Day" and "All Souls' Day" at the beginning of November, and these festivals mixed culturally with Samhain.

It didn't take long before Halloween (derived from "All Hallow's Eve") emerged from this cultural mixture of superstition, tradition, and community celebration.

Today, the celebration of Halloween is highly commercialized, with most people enjoying the comical thrill of haunted houses, scary movies, costume parties, or trick-or-treating, but giving it little thought beyond the "fun" factor. Only a small minority of Halloween's celebrants give witchcraft, paganism, or the occult any serious attention or consideration.

Nevertheless, those aspects of Halloween are present and they are very much a part of its character and identity.

What Does the Bible Say About Halloween?

Halloween itself is, of course, not in the Bible. But the Bible does talk about witchcraft and paganism, and thus provides guidance on whether Christians should celebrate Halloween.

The Mosaic Code forbade the Israelites from seeking out "mediums" or "spiritists" (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6) and instructed that sorceresses be put to death (Exodus 22:18). In the New Testament, sorcery and witchcraft are still represented as anathema to God's work (Acts 13:6-11) and those spiritists who converted to Christ renounced any and all such practices (Acts 19:19).

The Bible clearly teaches that followers of God are to have nothing to do with sorcery, divination, witchcraft, or the like. However, the apostle Paul does provide one possible "out."

In the Graeco-Roman world, the early church grew in the midst of paganism. Thus, pagan culture, traditions, and customs were everywhere present in the communities in which early Christians lived. Controversies and questions arose, including whether Christians could eat meat that had been offered to pagan idols.

Paul noted that God's law does not necessarily forbid Christians from eating meat offered to idols, so long as the eating of such meat was for nourishment or culinary enjoyment (I Corinthians 8). According to Paul, the key was to make sure that one doesn't eat such meat as a way of worshiping false gods; that would be sinful.

What's more, Paul cautioned that this "liberty" was not to be abused, and that those exercising such choices should be careful not to cause another brother or sister in Christ to "stumble" (I Corinthians 8:9).

It's this principle of cautious liberty to which many Christians point, when they explain their decision to celebrate the "harmless" aspects of Halloween (candy, trick-or-treating, etc.). As Travis Allen of Grace To You Ministries writes: "There's nothing inherently evil about candy, costumes, or trick-or-treating in the neighborhood" (Allen, Travis. "Christians and Halloween." Grace To You Ministries, online article, 2006).