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Except Halloween is just the eve before All Saints Day. It's part of your religious calendar and mine, known as the Triduum of Allhallowsmas.
-CryptoLutheran
It's the beginning of a 3-day observance, Allhallowtide, dedicated to remembering the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed (Christians).
Ironic.
I read that in many Christian cultures, Halloween is somewhat like Memorial Day in the US. People go to cemeteries to pay their respects to deceased family.
You should practice on honor your religion, regardless of what others do with it.Look, getting kids, adults to dress up in devil costumes, with blood everywhere and skeletons etc etc etc is not part of Christianity!
I personally do not care a whole lot for Halloween, although I don't think it is necessarily evil. People can have fun with the season, and that is fine.Given that its the month of Samhain and I am mid-ritual planning as we speak I figured I'd ask the forum given its pretty substantial change in demographics this year. As a Christian or non-Christian, what is your perception of Halloween?
Since they fall on the same day and Halloween is the better known of the two I figured it would be casting the widest net to ask about it. Do a big number of Christians still conflate Halloween with devil worship? Has there been a change of heart in either direction on the subject?
The thread isn't about me but my answer is its basically the highest religious day of my calendar but even for non-religious reasons I love it so.
Thanks.
Not the way it is celebrated these days!
My personal opinion on All Saints Day itself is that it started out as a pagan holiday, and was reappropriated to remember Christians who have died.
Thanks for the information. I've heard that from Pagans, so I assumed that that was the origin. My own pastor has made several comments about "thin places," and he seems to believe in the concept, although I'm not sure that he associates it with All Saints Day, although I think he has said he does think it is the thinnest on that day.This isn't actually true, though one can't be blamed for thinking it because of how often it's been repeated.
Christians had been honoring a feast dedicated to all the saints for quite a while, in the East this commemoration was on the first Sunday after Pentecost, and that's still the case on the Eastern liturgical calendar. In the West, there was no standardized celebration, in some areas it was celebrated in May, and in others (such as Ireland) it was in April. Then in the 8th century Pope Gregory III delivered an oratory in Rome dedicated to all the saints, he delivered that oratory on November 1st. In the years following churches in Western Europe, particularly around Rome, began to celebrate the Feast of All Saints on the anniversary of Gregory's oratory. Which then in the 11th century it was mandated that the Feast of All Saints become standardized and celebrated on November 1st. The earlier observances on May 13th and in other times of the year were done away with in favor of a standardized set date on the Western calendar.
It's good to remember that Ireland was pretty thoroughly Christianized in the 4th century, with the mission of St. Patrick and others, Ireland had become entirely Christian within a very short period of time, and so zealous for the new religion that they were the ones who took it upon themselves to preach the Gospel to other parts of the British Isles, such as among the Picts and Scots. While the Anglo-Saxons were largely converted by the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury at the request of the Pope; eventually Roman and Celtic liturgical practices clashed in the region of Northumbria until the Synod of Whitby in the 7th century decreed Roman liturgical practices would dominate in the British isles (not necessarily relevant to the discussion, but interesting history nonetheless). This means that by the time of Gregory III's oratory, the Celts had been practicing Christianity for centuries, and Pagan observances had largely been relegated to the place of distant memory and legend. Virtually all our knowledge of pre-Christian Celtic Paganism comes to us from much later Christian legends and writings.
As such we don't really know much at all about Samhain, basically all our information--again--comes to us from very late Christian writings and legends written centuries after Ireland had converted to Christianity. Best as we can tell it was a harvest festival, one of four major seasonal festivals, which was an occasion for drinking and celebration, and it was believed that the walls dividing our world from the Otherworld (where fairies and other supernatural beings dwelt) became thin enough that they could cross over. A lot of modern impositions have been conflated with Samhain, such as attributing costuming, trick-or-treating, and jack-o-lanterns; but none of that has any basis in history. Costuming and trick-or-treating are wholly modern with an American origin for the purpose of trying to keep youngsters out of trouble by giving them sweets and letting them dress up.
And while Samhain certainly did happen in autumn, I question that the ancient Celts of Ireland used the Julian Calendar and thus allowing us to say it happened on November 1st, in part because apparently Samhain was a period of festivity that lasted perhaps for as long as a week, it wasn't a day but a period of sacred time for the Celts.
-CryptoLutheran
Thanks for the information. I've heard that from Pagans, so I assumed that that was the origin. My own pastor has made several comments about "thin places," and he seems to believe in the concept, although I'm not sure that he associates it with All Saints Day, although I think he has said he does think it is the thinnest on that day.
The whole "thin places" concept sounds quite pagan to me, and I am not on board with the idea.
Supposedly, one of my own ancestors helped spread the gospel and Christianity to Scotland, although that is hard to verify, as that happened so long ago.
But, anyway, thanks so much for all of that information
The response from Fundamentalists was that clearly Halloween was an evil satanic holiday, why? Because apparently a troll appropriating a day made it so.
I'd also add the popularity of slasher/horror movies in the 80s didn't help either. I believe it was the Halloween movie franchise that made up a story of Samhain being the Celtic god of the dead. I also remember an episode of the animated show The Real Ghostbusters titled, "When Halloween Was Forever" about a non-existent evil spirit named Samhain.
ThanksThere would be no basis for "thin places" in Christian thought here. The celebration of the lives of all the saints isn't that there is a "thinning", but a remembrance that we dwell in the Communion of the Saints; that the Church Militant and Church Triumphant are together one Church, the one Body of Christ; we who are alive in this life and those who have reposed in the Lord are never truly separate because, as we recall, "He is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Mark 12:27). The blessed memory of all the saints is what the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes as the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) they are those who are on the sidelines cheering us on as we run the race to persevere, looking onward to Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith. We can be reminded of our Lord's statement, "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will live, even though he die; whoever lives and believes in Me will never die." Not only do we look forward to the great and glorious day when the dead shall be raised up, but in Christ we have victory over death even now--that even in death there is not death, but life; for all who are in Christ live because He lives. All Saints is not about a remembrance of the dead, but a remembrance of the living; for all who sleep in Christ though they are dead in body, are nevertheless alive in Christ. In that sense, death is always "thin"; for whenever we come and gather together around Christ's Word and Sacraments we are together with all the saints, and all the angels, in celebration and worship of our Living God.
-CryptoLutheran
As a Lutheran October 31st has a somewhat unique role in our calendar, as it is known as Reformation Day. Though generally we celebrate Reformation Sunday, which is the Sunday closest to Reformation Day. Though it's not exclusionary; Reformation Day coincides with the Eve of All Saints and that's just how it is.
This year is particularly important since it will be the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (October 31st, 1517); and so it's kind of a big deal for Lutheranism around the world. One of the most brilliant things that has been happening is the way Lutherans and Catholics have been working together in different ways, to celebrate that five hundred years on, there is much that unites us rather than divides us--and that we should continue to move forward in hope of communion together some day.
Can Catholics celebrate the Reformation?
https://www.ncronline.org/news/theo...-bishops-mark-500th-anniversary-reformation-0
https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/7876
Perhaps there is something worth saying that Reformation Day coincides with the Eve of All Saints; as we ready ourselves to remember all who have reposed in Christ, recalling the lives of our fathers and mothers, and remember and honor the Communion of Saints which both Catholics and Lutherans equally confess in the Apostles' Creed:
"I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:1-2
-CryptoLutheran
Halloween means nothing to me. It is not practiced in my country. There are half-hearted attempts by stores to sell seasonal merchandise on occasion, but this is usually one small shelf or so, and sometimes fails spectacularly with the goods remaining unsold and their prices plummeting week on week. Some university students may hold costume parties, but that is about it.
The Christian observances are also unknown generally here. I would think though, that if pressed on it, most of my fellow South Africans would not agree with its observation.
I don't really put much thought into it. My daughter loves it as she gets to go trick or treating but beyond that for me it's just another day.
I personally do not care a whole lot for Halloween, although I don't think it is necessarily evil. People can have fun with the season, and that is fine.
What I don't like about it, though, is when people get into too much scary or demonic stuff, or if they use the day for engaging in some practices that I think are unbiblical.
My personal opinion on All Saints Day itself is that it started out as a pagan holiday, and was reappropriated to remember Christians who have died. There are some nice aspects, which I will explain below.
My pastor really, really likes All Saints Day, so he makes a big deal about that. For me, it's just a day. It's nice to remember people who died over the past year, and kind of have a one last recognition of them. It's also nice to think about the fact that the church is made up of believers since its founding, and that Christians have worshiped with God for hundreds of years, etc.
Interesting, correct me if I'm wrong but you've identified as pagan in the past. What holidays did you celebrate then and how do they contrast to now?
I made a personal decision a number of years ago that I would avoid horror movies. I don't enjoy them, and there is really nothing uplifting about them. (That could be said of other things as well.) However, horror movies are all one sided -- God is completely absent from them. The main purpose of them seems to be to evoke fear. I just don't see anything good in them.Thanks for sharing. Personally the "scary" stuff doesn't bother me much compared to what's really going on in the world but I can see how it would be pretty off-putting from a Christian perspective where one is encouraged to avoid certain things. Is there a specific reason your pastor likes All Saints Day in particular? Forgive me but I see your marked as Methodist. I wasn't aware there was a certain connotation for the day in Methodism. I'm guessing its just personal preference?
I was raised in a Catholic church/school community in the U.S. Midwest. We had a school Halloween festival each year, which included a haunted house and all the normal spooky Halloween imagery.Do a big number of Christians still conflate Halloween with devil worship? Has there been a change of heart in either direction on the subject?
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