Christians and Halloween

I find Halloween to be an interesting discussion topic with other Christians. Some adults are horrified and the seemingly evil aspects of the holiday. Others simply don't like watching their kids collect and then eat tons of junk food. Still others like the holiday and enjoy the chance to decorate the house and hand out stuff to the neighborhood kids.

Almost no one, however, seems to know much about the origins of Halloween. This was originally a Christian holiday intended to replace some of the pagan rituals surrounding the onset of winter. Instead of the fear of the oncoming days of darkness and cold, Christians were encouraged to celebrate and remember the saints who had gone before and to recall that Jesus is greater than "elemental spirits" that we tend to worry about. Hallowed Eve was the night before All Saints Day.

We might have problems with some of the theology surrounding views of the afterlife that necessitated prayers on behalf of the dead, as New Testament scholar Ben Witherington eloquently states in his blog post on this subject. But the holiday we celebrate as Halloween was almost certainly initiated by Christians. Like other religious holidays (Christmas & Easter), it has practically become a secular holiday, one that many Christians even shun.

Perhaps we might do well to reclaim a day like Halloween by instilling Christian elements back into it. What if, instead of simply dressing up like space aliens, we took time to reflect on the faith of grandpa or grandma or others who have gone before? Would it be possible to somehow celebrate the legacy of our faith on that day? It's a thought.