2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: Revelation 2:2 (KJV)
Every now and then, my wife is good for finding a story to get ol’ Philip worked up. Doing a search on Christianity, she ran across an article called “7 Reasons why Christians celebrate Halloween”. You’ll see in the blockquote mode some quotations from that article
The article eventually got pulled quite recently, due to the fact that wise Christians quickly began responding to his article. He responded to their comments with, “Well, Christmas and Easter are pagan, so it’s okay to celebrate Halloween.” (I was able to find a Google Cache’d copy)
First, let me point out that I was unable to find a statement of faith on this “pastor’s” blog. The first, MAJOR issue you should recognize is – no statement of faith. Now, if Pastor R wants to come on here and set me straight, he can start with that. No statement of faith equals no Christian faith. It’s the hallmark of a false teacher to distort one to hide their beliefs. You’re an ACCOMPLISHED false teacher if you see no need for one all together!
Pastor R makes a big deal about “Christians” routinely adopted Pagan holidays, and then “Christianized” them. I don’t have enough time in the year to correct every wrong thing I’ve seen on “Pastor” R’s blog. The first post on his current blog “Reasons why Pope Francis is good for christianity” told me a LOT about this man. Pastor R is making his first, major mistake in assuming that Roman Catholicism is Christian, and that we all came from that. In this, both his doctrine, his church history and his knowledge of facts all are faulty. Indeed, elsewhere he makes a reference to Baptists as “protestants”, showing how completely faulty his knowledge of church history and facts are. WE never came OUT of Roman Catholicism, they separated from US. Those early churches were Baptist, not Catholic.
Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is an occult, pagan religion which disguises itself by adopting Jesus Christ, God and the Bible – and then turns it all inside out in a gory Pagan mix, complete with a pantheon of demi-gods we are to pray to, and a goddess, the queen of heaven.
Christianity did not adopt pagan holdiays and make Christian ones out of them – the Roman Catholic “church” did that. The very nomenclature of “All Saints Day” for November 1 should give you a hint… it’s not Christian. If by “St.” Francis, you mean a born again Christian in Dartmouth, Mass, okay, great. In that case, I’m Saint Philip. And you’re Saint so-and-so. But all saints day does not celebrate Christians – it celebrates a “few extra-holy Christians who performed miracles and were Beatified”. Can we find that in the Bible? Try looking in 3 Corinthians. Because it can’t be found anywhere else.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15:33 (KJV)
The point is, celbrating Halloween is a celebration of evil. I know “Pastor” R believes the devil cannot stand to be mocked. And he says by Christians doing Halloween, we are mocking Satan. I dunno, I think I could make a good case it would just tickle Lucifer no end to see Christians dressing up as devils. I mean, you can, with commercially available products, a week of work and Youtube, make a completely Satanic, evil representation of yourself (a Christian) to appear to be a devil. Not the red, cartoony devil, but a foul thing of Hell. I mean, wouldn’t take much. I probably could do it with $50. Maybe a little more if I had to get something over the top.
I could outfit my yard with things that – for another $50 – would terrify you at night.
How is this pleasing to God??? We should not be concerned with mocking the devil, but with pleasing God! So… what does God have to say on this???
7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. 2 Corinthians 13:7 (KJV)
Hm. That’s pretty much cut and dried to me. Now, I remember when I was in first grade, my mom got me a halloween costume of an astronaut suit, complete with a little light on the mask that lit up. It was cool, when you’re six years old. Well, actually, it was hot and sweaty, but that’s beside the point. Would that be okay, if I put that on right now? Celebration of the moon walk, etc…
What would that look like? An endorsement of an evil day, an evil repackaging by an evil “church” from an evil day practiced by pagans who burned people alive inside wicker baskets, cut open the chests of living people and pulled their hearts out so the blood of the living would freshen the ground and allow crops to grow, and invite “the dead” (devils, really) to possess the living in a celebration known as Sowwen (spelled Samhain, but pronounced sowwen – I did that on purpose to educate people, something Pastor R is not doing).
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)
“Gregory III (731–741) and Gregory IV (827–844) moved the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1 to replace the pagan rituals on October 31 and November 1. Gregory III instructed people to dress up as saints . Let the occult have Samhain, we are taking All Hallows Eve back.”
No, “all Saints Day” is not Christian. It is not holy. It is JUST as evil as Halloween. It is pagan, to believe that men may become demi-gods. There’s really no other way to justify giving men the abilities that the Bible specifically says belongs rightfully to Jesus Christ, the ONLY mediator between man and God. The only “saints” are you and I and every other born again believer. Many of the peoples that the Roman Catholic “church” worships as “Saints” were indeed not even born again. Good luck getting them to pray for you, when their own cries for mercy are unheeded!
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. Deuteronomy 18:10-14 (KJV)
3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (KJV)
The establishment of Christmas and Easter in Europe had pagan connections but we do not abandon these holidays. Neither should we abandon All Hallows Eve.
This is a completely disproven theory. Christians celebrate the ressurection of Jesus Christ, and not the day. Yes, we refer to it as Easter, and should not. I prefer to call it Ressurection Sunday. The Bible uses the word Easter once, and it is a smearing of the name of a pagan goddess, just like saying Esther, which is not how it was pronounced. Esther and Mordecai smeared the pronouncing of the name Ishtar, and everybody probably thought it was the Israeli accent. As for Christmas, it’s like the Baptists who hear the origin of the name Christmas, and flip out, and renounce any celebration of Dec. 25th.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:19-20 (KJV)
Experts are now beginning to believe that much of what we hear about Saturnalia is actually incorrect – it was actually celebrated the day after the solstice, which would be Dec. 22. If we were going to be more specific about when we celebrate Ressurection Sunday and Christmas, Ressurection Sunday should technically be the sunday after Passover. Why do we follow the traditional dating for it? Because it provides a witness to the rest of the world, He is Risen!
Why do we celebrate the birth of Christ on Dec. 25th? The original celebration was Jan. 6, but it was moved back to the 25th, which a lot of people claim was because of Saturnalia. If it was a re-working of Saturnalia, it would be on… the same day. So, why Dec. 25th? Pastor Marc Monte did some simple math using what he learned following 2 Chronicles, Matthew and Luke, and is able to state with some certaintly that… Christ’s birth was pretty much conclusively between Dec. 23rd & 26th.
Hm. What day is in the middle there?
Understanding that early Christians contextualized early pagan holidays into Christian holidays helps us to see that we do not have to compromise our beliefs with pagan ones.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13 (KJV)
Well, the Bible sure sums that argument up. He’s saying that Pope Francis is good for Christianity, but we do not have to compromise our Christian beliefs with pagan ones? Again, Roman Catholicism is not Christianity.
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1 Peter 3:11 (KJV)
“Evil” themes in our current secular Halloween observances were not always present. Thus, we can recapture the spiritual with the innocent.
So, by putting on a (slightly biggerversion of) my astronaut costume, nobody will think I’m lending creedence to Halloween by going door to door and saying, “trick or treat!!!” or worse, “God bless you!!!!”
I really think by putting on a hobo or pirate costume like the author suggests, I will be giving legitimacy to Halloween, and I will NOT be abstaining from the appearance of evil. By the way, have you all ever researched what pirates were like? I cannot understand the current fascination with pirates as if they’re heroes – they were cruel, evil and I will not repeat many of their deeds on this blog. Dressing little children like them is inappropriate.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12 (KJV)
Christians should focus and teach the concept of celebrating All Saint’s Day, November 1st in churches.
No, we should NOT. There is nothing Christian about “All Saints Day”. It cannot be found in the Bible. What am I to teach about “All Saint’s Day” other than… it’s pagan? It’s unBiblical???
Think on this… this is not the only article this “pastor” has written on halloween. I can’t find much celebrating Jesus Christ on his blog. But… almost every year since 2010 he’s written something about why we should celebrate Halloween. And… I found a simlar article by someone else in Charisma magazine.
Have we lost our minds??? Why are we defending these things by logic, and not the word of God??? I’ll tell you why… Because you can’t defend this stance by the word of God.
So…. who’s the real hero of this article??? the thirty or so Christians who went on there and gave Scripture and defended Christianity against this kind of drivel and false teaching. Comment after comment by believers who quoted the WORD OF GOD at this “pastor”, who responded to their quotations of the Bible with… logic.
Well, we know who his god is. I have never been so proud of Christians, standing up for the truth by the use of THE BIBLE. Wow. good on ya!
11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. 3 John 1:11 (KJV)
