THINGS WE DON'T often TALK ABOUT... Trick or Treat?

After reading a positive note about Christmas, you may wonder “What about Halloween?”  Some families (I mean, Adventist members) send their kids out dressed up in costumes to get candies, some adults are going to a special costume party.  What do we say about October 31^st?  Many Christians advocate that there is nothing wrong with having fun on Halloween.

I would begin to answer with this: it depends what you think about devil.  Many so called Christians do not think devil exists too.

Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."  (Gyles Brandreth, "The Devil is gaining ground" The Sunday Telegraph (London), March 11, 2000.)

The word Halloween first attested in the 16th century also has “Christian” roots, and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows (Saints) Day, which falls on November 1.  In the Roman Catholic Church Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection, and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland.

Let me ask you, do you derive the meaning of Christianity from the Roman Catholicism, or Anglican version of Protestantism? Or, perhaps, you begin to see that such practices are contrary to many other beliefs we hold from the Bible.

Ask yourself whom am I joining “having fun” on this day, known as the day of the dead?  It prompts the next question, what do you believe about the dead?  If the dead are resting until the resurrection it is one thing, but if the dead are abiding as either souls or spirits (uncertain by most Christians and other faiths), then this day invites to experience their treat.  Again the Biblical teaching on this is also clear – there are no spirits of the dead, such are demonic tricks.

Apostle Paul in his letter to Corinthians states that other religions are demonic: 1 Corinthians 10:20-21: "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God..” Hence, things that have origin in such religions have clear association.

That is why this particular day and events associated with it open the door to the occult and can introduce forces into people's lives that they do not understand and often cannot combat. 

Study the issue, before you make a rush decision, or justify it by “other Christians” opinions.  Examine your own worldview, your faith, and know that Seventh-day Adventists are peculiar people, because we differ from the majority opinion as we seek the truth as it is in Jesus.