For every Timothy who is ready to stand with you even at the expense of his own physical and mental well-being (I Timothy4:12-14, 5:20-23) there is a Demas who will forsake you because his present circumstances trumps faithful loyalty (2 Timothy 4:10). For every Epaphroditus who will fight with you as a fellow soldier who will minister to your needs…
Category: <span>Spiritual Meandering</span>
There are times in life, when the Scripture seems to jump from the white pages with such lucidity that we wonder how it could be we read that a hundred times before and never noticed those words. That is how I felt this past Monday reading Psalm 35. A simple title, “A Psalm of David” whereas the previous Psalm 34…
This is the final installment of the series of articles regarding the Christian and the celebration of Halloween.
With a proper understanding of the history of the modern Halloween celebration and a reminder to search the Scripture for Biblical principles regarding all types of practices allowing the Word to dictate what we do or don’t do, I want to conclude this series by examining Biblical principles and applying them to the celebration of Halloween. Obviously some of my applications may not resonate with everyone. Take what is Biblical and consider the rest.
The first question to ask is this, “Do passages of Scripture exist that reference the celebration of holidays in general?” Yes, Romans 14:5-6 probably immediately comes to mind. This text is, of course, within the greater context of Paul’s discussion of how brothers are to relate to one another when they disagree over questionable practices. Many call these questionable practices issues of Christian liberty. They are practices that are not commanded nor forbad in the Scripture but practices that Christians might come to various conclusions on. However, when something is a matter of liberty, it requires a new set of questions be asked concerning the practice. Just because something is a matter of Christian liberty doesn’t mean that it is inconsequential, rather it means that we need to closely examine Scripture so that we can honestly be “fully persuaded in our own minds.” That is what I hope we do regarding the matter of celebrating Halloween. I must add a caveat. I know that Christians who celebrate various aspects of Halloween are not devil worshipers. I also am not talking about those who use the holiday as a means of evangelization. Rather I am speaking of the Christian’s participation of the obvious cultural and questionable elements of modern Halloween.
The principle that guides other principles in relation to the celebration of Halloween, feast days, or any other liberty issue is found in Romans 14:5-6. Paul writes that whether one celebrates (observes) a special day (probably a feast day in context) or not he is doing so “unto the Lord.” This means that he is celebrating that day with his mindset, his practices, his choices as that which exalts the Lord and brings God ultimate glory. This is the biggest difficulty I have with Halloween. I find little redeemable value in the modern celebration of Halloween that could be done unto the Lord.
Both the pagan aspects of Halloween (celebration of the dead and the superstitions that accompany that) and the religious aspects (souling and praying to supposed saints) are void of glory to God. Most of our other holidays that we celebrate have pagan and religious aspects to them (Christmas, Easter, etc.) But in those holidays, one can find redeemable features that can and often do bring glory to God. One would have to completely reinvent Halloween to find ways to observe the holiday (in the true sense of observe) in order to find God-honoring practices. At least with Christmas, with all its superstitions and materialism, we can direct our focus onto the incarnation of our Savior. At least with Easter, we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we can ignore the over sized bunny that hides eggs. With Thanksgiving, prone to gluttony and worship of football, we can take time to thank God for his blessings. With Independence Day we can patriotically praise God who blessed us with this free country, in spite of the rampant partying and drunkenness. With New Years, we can remember the goodness of God, the trials of life and look forward to the coming of Christ and the growth we can expect in the New Year he gives us. But with Halloween, it is a struggle to find redeemable values that would draw our attention to Jesus Christ and the glory of God. Let us just examine the typical practice of a Halloween celebration.
We will finish part 3 of the “Christian and Halloween” but a parenthesis is necessary to express a truth. Many Christians state that they believe that the Bible alone is the source of all faith and practice. Yet the growing lack of true Biblical knowledge and a defense of personal practice based upon personal feelings reveal otherwise. It is alarming…
This is part 2 of the 3 part series on the Christian and Halloween. History of Halloween Medieval and Modern In Medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church enjoyed great influence not just religiously and politically, but also culturally. Pope Boniface IV declared November 1 as “All Saints Day” and subsequently October 31 became known as “All Hallows Eve.” Merging the…
This is Part 1 of a 3 part series written primarily for Christians who wonder about their participation in Halloween. Stay tuned! Every year around the end of September, Christian publications and blogs begin a monthly process debating whether a Christian should observe Halloween. With this happening every year, you would think that eventually Christians would at some point have…
I am becoming more and more convinced that two qualities of life that are absolutely necessary to preaching the gospel are humility and love. Of course these two qualities are necessary whether one is preaching the gospel publicly in a formal setting or preaching the gospel “across the fence.” However, my thoughts are more inclined toward the public proclamation of…
I was reading the introduction to a book written recently concerning marriage and the family. The author began with something that you will find in most Christian literature written today. He began with the premise that we are living in a post-modern era and therefore living in a culture that believes truth is relative. I used to believe this, but…
I recently saw this commercial Audi Green Police (okay so it has been out for a while, but I guess I don’t watch enough TV and when I do, I am notorious for channel surfing during the commercials); and I get that it is just a commercial and supposed to be funny, but since when did totalitarianism become a hip…
I have been studying the use of the words “anger, wrath, hatred, fury, indignation” in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Although, there are several words used in the original languages (Greek) that correspond to these translations, there are three common Greek words and their derivatives. Orge-noun and orgidzo-verb which are translated wrath, anger, indignation, fury-but most commonly “wrath”; miseo/misos which is translated as hate, hatred, etc.; and thumos which is translated passion, wrath, or anger (I only referenced the passages referring to “passion that stirs up anger”, not sensual passion).
Although these words are used at times interchangeably, they are not completely synonymous. I won’t go into the details of the comprehensive word searching and studying of each passage, but I did want to draw a few applications from my study.
Thirty one of the ninety-three instances (or thereabouts) refer specifically and uniquely to God’s wrath and anger in judgment. Most if not all of those references refer to ultimate or final judgment upon unbelief. Fifty-one instances reference mankind and anger, wrath, or hatred. I broke down these instances categorizing them as Command/Principle and Example/Illustration.