the [i:bb353cc8e1]Critique[/i:bb353cc8e1] article, Halloween: A Distinctly Christian Holiday[/b:bb353cc8e1]
Hello everyone,
It seems that every year people talk about Halloween/All Saints Day, and if christians should or shouldnt participate in it. It seems everyone has an opinion, but the only standard that does not waver is the bible; specifically what Jesus and the disciples said and did. Pretty simple, but people still try to make the traditions of men a thing of God, when in fact they are not.
One thing that really jumped out at me in this article was this…
“What is the means by which the demonic realm is vanquished? In a word: mockery.”
Strange, I would have thot the word would be “Jesus”.
This article again confirms for me that Halloween is a tradition of men and not biblical at all (I have had a number of people say “it is biblical”). Unfortunately Halloween/All Saints Day was not widely known in christian churches in 373 AD, but similar pagan feasts (for the dead) were numerous before and during that time. There is no biblical record but there are lots of pagan references. Ummm… Do you think its possible that people wandered from the true teachings of Christ and the bible over a span of 300+ years? I think so and Halloween/ASD is proof of that.
“But ASD came from the early church, so it has to be right” Is that so?…
ASD was not annually observed until Gregory III shifted it to 1 Nov in 741 AD. Ummm… add another 400 years in missing the biblical boat. Heck ASD was not “universally observed” till Gregory IV ordered it in 835 AD. Thats a lot of time to drift away from the true teachings of God.
Now I dont really care if others “do” Halloween and I dont look down on people that do, but when people start saying its “biblical” I really have to address why its not.
Anybody can say Halloween/ASD is biblical but when you look at the bible, there are no scriptures whatsoever to support it. There is not one example either in the OT or NT for this. The basic problem with ASD is that it takes our focus off of Jesus Christ, who was the one who conquered Satan, death, etc. The best example we can follow is Christ Himself, so here are a few questions…
Do we ever see Jesus mocking satan or the demons he drove out? Did He every advocate or command that people (His disciples or us) should mock or ridicule satan? Or celebrate such a notion?
The answer is NO.
Another question, do we ever see any of the Jesus or the disciples advocating such a holiday or that we should mock satan and make fun of the devil?
Again the answer is NO.
Things that make you say Ummm…
Another thing that bothers me from the article is this…
great sin (and our great sin) is pride. [i:bb353cc8e1]Thus, to drive Satan from us, [u:bb353cc8e1]we ridicule him[/u:bb353cc8e1][/i:bb353cc8e1].
So the question arises, did Christ ever ridicule satan to drive him out? Did His disiples ever do this? If you search the bible you will see that again the answer is NO. Now we do see when we take our eyes off Christ/God and do things under our own power, it fails. So Jesus is our ultimate example. So are we to really follow Him or is there wiggle room for different things like celebrating Halloween/ASD? Lets look at what Paul said…
1 Corinthians 11:1
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
So there is no wiggle room, Christ is our perfect example. Halloween is a tradition of men that takes the focus off of Christ and puts us in the drivers seat; we are not to celebrate our victory, but Christ’s. If we dont do this, we then lose focus and that is where we wander off the path of truth that Christ set before us. Last time I checked the one who has all authority didnt mock or ridicule satan or his demons, so neither should we.
Something else to consider, what holy days did Christ celebrate? The only ones were the Jewish festivals, and those all focused on God and His works. Of course the most important feast was the last supper. Seems to me that Halloween/ASD was added because the truth was not exciting like the pagan feasts and holidays. Of course its easier to “do” holidays and gather around holy activities than submit to Christ and follow Him where He makes us holy from the inside out.
Another comment in the article that I thot was lacking
The tradition of mocking Satan and defeating him through joy and laughter plays a large role in Ray Bradbury?s classic novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is a Halloween novel.
I find it interesting that the works of Ray Bradbury is supporting evidence on what christians should or shouldnt do. Now that is really sad
IMO.
I also think it is severly lacking that the author picks one scripture out of the entire bible to base this “Halloween is a christian holiday” bit. The verse I am speaking about is…
Psalms 2:4
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
Many people have gotten into very unbiblical teachings and practices by basing entire beliefs on one bible verse. Unfortunately if you read the first part of Psalms 2 you would see that God is laughing at the kings and rulers of the earth (people) that try to conspire and plot against Him. God is not laughing, mocking or ridiculing satan! That makes the authors one bit of biblical support worthless.
I am very disheartened that people, like the author, who try to use the bible for man’s agenda. The bible is about God’s agenda only – for mankind to repent, submit and find freedom from sin thru Jesus Christ our Lord.
Anyway, thats how I see it.
TC&GB,
Xtian
p.s. heck even angels didnt mock or ridicule the devil…[quote]Jude 1:8-10
“… But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”…
So we see that its God’s area of expertise and not for us to bringing slanderous accusations against the devil; I submit that mocking and ridiculing anyone (satan included) is also included in this.
p.p.s. BTW here are some verses that are some good guides on how and what we think and participate in.
Leviticus 20:26
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
James 4:16
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.[/url]
Xtian
Oct 15 2005
06:37 pm
the [i:bb353cc8e1]Critique[/i:bb353cc8e1] article, Halloween: A Distinctly Christian Holiday[/b:bb353cc8e1]
Hello everyone,
It seems that every year people talk about Halloween/All Saints Day, and if christians should or shouldnt participate in it. It seems everyone has an opinion, but the only standard that does not waver is the bible; specifically what Jesus and the disciples said and did. Pretty simple, but people still try to make the traditions of men a thing of God, when in fact they are not.
One thing that really jumped out at me in this article was this…
Strange, I would have thot the word would be “Jesus”.
This article again confirms for me that Halloween is a tradition of men and not biblical at all (I have had a number of people say “it is biblical”). Unfortunately Halloween/All Saints Day was not widely known in christian churches in 373 AD, but similar pagan feasts (for the dead) were numerous before and during that time. There is no biblical record but there are lots of pagan references. Ummm… Do you think its possible that people wandered from the true teachings of Christ and the bible over a span of 300+ years? I think so and Halloween/ASD is proof of that.
“But ASD came from the early church, so it has to be right” Is that so?…
ASD was not annually observed until Gregory III shifted it to 1 Nov in 741 AD. Ummm… add another 400 years in missing the biblical boat. Heck ASD was not “universally observed” till Gregory IV ordered it in 835 AD. Thats a lot of time to drift away from the true teachings of God.
Now I dont really care if others “do” Halloween and I dont look down on people that do, but when people start saying its “biblical” I really have to address why its not.
Anybody can say Halloween/ASD is biblical but when you look at the bible, there are no scriptures whatsoever to support it. There is not one example either in the OT or NT for this. The basic problem with ASD is that it takes our focus off of Jesus Christ, who was the one who conquered Satan, death, etc. The best example we can follow is Christ Himself, so here are a few questions…
Do we ever see Jesus mocking satan or the demons he drove out? Did He every advocate or command that people (His disciples or us) should mock or ridicule satan? Or celebrate such a notion?
The answer is NO.
Another question, do we ever see any of the Jesus or the disciples advocating such a holiday or that we should mock satan and make fun of the devil?
Again the answer is NO.
Things that make you say Ummm…
Another thing that bothers me from the article is this…
great sin (and our great sin) is pride. [i:bb353cc8e1]Thus, to drive Satan from us, [u:bb353cc8e1]we ridicule him[/u:bb353cc8e1][/i:bb353cc8e1].So the question arises, did Christ ever ridicule satan to drive him out? Did His disiples ever do this? If you search the bible you will see that again the answer is NO. Now we do see when we take our eyes off Christ/God and do things under our own power, it fails. So Jesus is our ultimate example. So are we to really follow Him or is there wiggle room for different things like celebrating Halloween/ASD? Lets look at what Paul said…
So there is no wiggle room, Christ is our perfect example. Halloween is a tradition of men that takes the focus off of Christ and puts us in the drivers seat; we are not to celebrate our victory, but Christ’s. If we dont do this, we then lose focus and that is where we wander off the path of truth that Christ set before us. Last time I checked the one who has all authority didnt mock or ridicule satan or his demons, so neither should we.
Something else to consider, what holy days did Christ celebrate? The only ones were the Jewish festivals, and those all focused on God and His works. Of course the most important feast was the last supper. Seems to me that Halloween/ASD was added because the truth was not exciting like the pagan feasts and holidays. Of course its easier to “do” holidays and gather around holy activities than submit to Christ and follow Him where He makes us holy from the inside out.
Another comment in the article that I thot was lacking
I find it interesting that the works of Ray Bradbury is supporting evidence on what christians should or shouldnt do. Now that is really sad IMO.I also think it is severly lacking that the author picks one scripture out of the entire bible to base this “Halloween is a christian holiday” bit. The verse I am speaking about is…
Many people have gotten into very unbiblical teachings and practices by basing entire beliefs on one bible verse. Unfortunately if you read the first part of Psalms 2 you would see that God is laughing at the kings and rulers of the earth (people) that try to conspire and plot against Him. God is not laughing, mocking or ridiculing satan! That makes the authors one bit of biblical support worthless.I am very disheartened that people, like the author, who try to use the bible for man’s agenda. The bible is about God’s agenda only – for mankind to repent, submit and find freedom from sin thru Jesus Christ our Lord.
Anyway, thats how I see it.
TC&GB,
Xtian
p.s. heck even angels didnt mock or ridicule the devil…[quote]Jude 1:8-10
“… But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”…
So we see that its God’s area of expertise and not for us to bringing slanderous accusations against the devil; I submit that mocking and ridiculing anyone (satan included) is also included in this.
p.p.s. BTW here are some verses that are some good guides on how and what we think and participate in.
Leviticus 20:26
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
James 4:16
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.[/url]