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One of the things that one inevitably sees are videos that ask, “Can a Christian celebrate Halloween?” and open that with “What does the Bible say?” Let’s be honest here, the Bible says absolutely zero about Halloween - accept that. Don’t cherry pick verses taken completely out of cultural and historical context and try to make them fit. Further, as mentioned, the verses used typically refer not to the historical facts concerning the origins of the holiday, but rather the legend, lore, assumptions, myths, misinformation, outright lies and religious paranoia that surround it. To take a few of these quickly, Ephesians 5:11 is construed as prohibiting celebrating Halloween due to its perceived pagan origins and association with darkness, this interpretation is does not take into account the context of the verse, which is primarily focused on actively participating in evil deeds, not simply engaging in activities with a preconceived historical connection to paganism (which is not at all correct) that are now widely considered harmless fun by many Christians. Deuteronomy is a prohibition about cultural and religious assimilation as the Hebrew people enter Canaan. What we find after close examination and scrutiny is that the accepted origin of most Halloween traditions/beliefs comes from historical fiction, rather than historical fact. Completely contrary to what many would have one believe, Halloween is _not_ a holiday that has close ties to the ancient past, nor does it have some ‘pagan’ antecedent, nor is it a continuation of several ancient pre-Christian customs. To say Halloween’s connections to ancient Samhain, or anything “ancient” for that matter, are, at best, extremely tenuous, would be grossly overstating the facts. Virtually all of the customs associated with the modern secular celebration of Halloween developed only in the past 500 years and have no connections to ancient pagan religious practices. In short, Halloween just does not have the “pagan precedent” so many people seem to desperately want it to. When we celebrate Halloween, we are definitely participating in a tradition with deep historical roots. But those roots are firmly situated in the medieval Christian past, not an ancient pagan one.

My youngest child is 41 years old, so take this for what it's worth. I was never comfortable with the idea of my kids going door-to-door begging for candy. It just didn't feel right to me. We lived out in the country, so on Halloween, we had a bonfire where we cooked hotdogs and roasted marshmallows. The kids had fun and it just seemed better to me. We never did the costume thing.

I totally agree. So glad you did this study. I do think we are entertaining evil spirits if we engage in Halloween. As Christians we are to be set apart. If we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

PART 1 - A bit of overkill here, but in taking the whole Halloween "issue" into account.... Many people tend to associate modern Halloween with three things: The old Gaelic celebration of Samhain [that's _SAH-wen,_ BTW] (asserting that most of Halloween’s customs originate with ancient Samhain celebrations); Satanism (asserting that Halloween’s origins are Satanic, as evidenced by the many Satanists who use this day to promote their beliefs); and All Saints Day (asserting that the early church established the holiday to “Christianize” Samhain). Let’s delve into the world of historical fact… It seems no matter where you look, from various educational websites to entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias, and even in (some) scholarly articles, Halloween is always connected to the ancient Gaelic celebration of Samhain. And, of course, that comes with the full gambit of all the myths, legends and lore that have surrounded the holiday for well over 1.000 years. I’m sure you’ve heard some of these before….. “Halloween is the worship of the devil! Halloween comes from heathen roots! Trick or Treat comes from an ancient pagan custom: Satanic worshiping Druids would go from house to house seeking a virgin to sacrifice! If you complied, they left a jack-o-lantern outside your door with a candle inside … made from human fat! If you did not comply, a terrible ‘trick’ would be played on you! The Catholic Church perpetuated the pagan legends with its Feast of All Saints. If you let your kids celebrate Halloween, you expose them to the possibility of demonic possession!”, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum. But don’t these facts about Halloween’s origins prove that it is an abomination? The question that arises is, is this connection between Halloween and Samhain legitimate, and are all these “facts” about it actually true? For a serious researcher, perhaps the most difficult aspect of researching these various origins, traditions, and assumed ‘truths’ about Halloween, is sifting through all the data and separating what is historical _fact_ from the myth, legend, and, frankly, religious paranoia of what is historical _fiction._ It’s not an easy task. Indeed, what makes this even more difficult, is that so many of these ‘’facts”, suppositions, and assumptions are so ill-researched and have been repeated for so long, that they have essentially become accepted as truth. As I previously noted, one can find these asserted ‘facts’ in everything ranging from various educational websites to entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias, and even in (some) scholarly articles. What we find after close examination and scrutiny, however, is that the accepted origin of most Halloween traditions/beliefs comes from the latter (historical fiction), rather than the former (historical fact). Completely contrary to what many would have one believe, Halloween is _not_ a holiday that has close ties to the ancient past, nor does it have some ‘pagan’ antecedent, nor is it a continuation of several ancient pre-Christian customs. To say Halloween’s connections to ancient Samhain, or anything “ancient” for that matter, are, at best, extremely tenuous, would be grossly overstating the facts. Virtually all of the customs associated with the modern secular celebration of Halloween developed only in the past 500 years and have no connections to ancient pagan religious practices. In short, Halloween just does not have the “pagan precedent” so many people seem to desperately want it to. Even the concept of ‘Trick or Treat’ is a relatively new phenomenon, originating from right here in the USA from about the 1920’s or so, and represents a mix of cultures, capitalism, and accommodation. To be completely fair, a few customs associated with Halloween do have a very old past; most notably, the carving of root vegetables and bobbing for apples. Without going into all the lengthy details, the carving of root vegetables (pumpkins in America) dates to around the 1700’s - it’s just not historically attested any earlier than that. Bobbing for apples is a fall activity not specifically connected to Halloween, and comes from a British woman’s courting custom historically attested to about the 1300’s. Neither custom is associated with, nor can they be historically attested back to, Samhain, or anything ‘pagan’ or ‘demonic’ for that matter. Further, there is zero evidence the Celts ever donned costumes of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits. Costuming for trick-or-treat comes from about 1930's America. The concept of trick-or-treat dates to about then as well. It has no ties to mumming, guising or souling. Historical similarity does not equate to historical sameness. Simply put, there is no continued ancient tradition. But misconceptions abound regarding the nature and origin of Samhain, to the point where virtually everything that people today believe about it is a complete fabrication. What is definitively known about Samhain would fit on about a page and a half of paper. What gets passed around the Internet as “history” and “fact” is mostly speculation and utter nonsense. The primary source of what is known comes from the books of the Ulster Cycle. By most historical accounts, Samhain proper was preceded by three days, and followed by three days. In some accounts it’s only a three-day celebration (not a seven day). Samhain seems to have been a time to prepare for winter, to welcome in the dark half of the year, cull the herds and celebrate the final harvest of the year. One particular activity that these old Gaelic texts seem to suggest was very popular at Samhain was…. horse racing. That sounds a lot like many European holidays today from October-January. The texts also speak of it as a time to pay tithings, gather taxes, and the holding of a judicial assembly (much like the Manx ‘Tynwald Day’). There is zero evidence that it was a religious observance, that it entailed any ritual, that it was a celebration of the dead, or that it opened the Celtic year. Anything else asserted to be associated with Samhain is either pure wishful thinking or absolute nonsense. Masks, costumes, trick or treating, Halloween games etc. all either have known traditional Christian origins or simply cannot be linked to anything definitely pre-Christian. Let’s take a closer look at the assertion that Christian All Saints Day/All Souls Day replaced Gaelic Samhain. To state it briefly, the date of 1. November for All Saint's Day was practiced in continental Europe _long_ before the date was formerly fixed by the Church to November 1st, and _long_ before said change got to what is now the UK & Ireland; which was _centuries_ after the time of Druids and Samhain proper. In addition, most people are not aware that Samhain itself is a _movable_ feast day; the exact date varies from year to year depending on when the autumnal equinox and winter solstice fall. In 2020, Samhain proper fell on 6/7 Nov. Samhain seems to have been associated with the ‘Seven Sisters’, the Pleiades - it is said to have occurred at the culmination of the Pleiades (when they reach the highest point in the sky). In modern times that equates to about 21.November, but in more ancient times, due to changes in the calendar, to 1.November (currently 6/7 November). To assert that the establishment of All Saint’s Day (and All Souls Day on 2.NOV) was the early church’s attempt to “Christianize Samhain” just does not stand to reason. Think about this logically for a moment, why would the church change a major feast day affecting _all_ of Western Christendom just to accommodate a small group of Christians who lived on, what would be considered at that time, some remote group of islands in the middle of nowhere, centuries after Druids and the observance of Samhain? One scholar has even suggested that November 1st may have been chosen simply so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome to commemorate the saints “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring (when it was originally celebrated).” That certainly does not seem out of the realm of possibility. Though this may not have been the predominant reason, I’d be willing to bet it was taken into consideration and was a contributing factor in the change. All three holidays, Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and Samhain share a common date and perhaps a “feeling”, but that’s really about it. Indeed, so much of Halloween “feels” Pagan that attempts to connect those things to ancient Samhain simply “feels right”.

Spurgeon is by far one of my favorites to read. His flowery descriptions are so inspiring. He makes me fall in love with Jesus all over again, all the time. All that just to say, I LOVE your wall! I definitely want to find some wall of mine and copy it.

I totally disagree with you regarding the Old Testament.. if you are trying to state it was written "FOR".. us and not "TO".. us... /// as I believe it ..was written "TO" us... as well../.. AND.. the Old Testament was more specifically written about JESUS... in fact the whole Old Testament.. is a testimonial to Jesus.. Jesus was with God from the very beginning.. Ge was a part of the creation.. He was integral.. in communique with all of the Old Testament saints.. Yes ....God was there also.. but we cannot discount that we today.. can learn a great deal about Jesus from the Old Testament.. as far as being to us... every part of the Old Testament tells us today how to live... here is one small example... Malachi 2:16 "For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously." this verse shares with us how God feels about divorce... and WE really need verses like that in the world we (all of us).. live in today...

How do we know we have the correct library of books, canon of scripture? How do we know which scriptures are to be applied to interpreting other passages of scripture? How do we determine between a Holy Spirit moved interpretation and a man made interpretation?