Halloween Is Horrible

Halloween is horrible. The more I understand God’s perspective from studying the Bible, the more I see how horrible Halloween is.

Most folks who celebrate Halloween are nice people, but that doesn’t make Halloween nice. Halloween is still horrible. I just hope I will influence some of those nice people to quit celebrating Halloween.

Halloween is growing in popularity as the popularity of the Bible continues to decline. One goal of United Church of God is to help people understand the Bible, love the Bible and live by the Bible's message. And when the Bible is respected, Halloween will be rejected.

God created us, so He is our Owner, our Authority, our Teacher, our Boss. God did not leave us in the dark. He gave us His instruction book and holds us accountable to live by those instructions—to “live by every word of God” (Luke 4:4; see also 2 Timothy 3:13-17). The Bible represents light, purity and beauty. Halloween represents darkness, filth and ugliness. Halloween is not harmless.

Hallowed versus Halloween

God wants each of us to be hallowed and sanctified—to become holy. The apostle Peter wrote: “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:13-16).

Becoming holy means to develop a very close relationship with God in the way defined by the Bible. It definitely does not mean to become ascetic, ecstatic, sanctimonious or syrupy.

God wants us to have fun, and there are countless ways to have fun that are wholesome and godly. We do not need Halloween to have fun.

Part of becoming holy is imitating God, Jesus Christ and holy people (1 Corinthians 11:1; Hebrews 6:12). The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good” (3 John 1:11). In your observance of Halloween, you might not be imitating demons, witches and ghouls, but you are expressing your approval of a holiday that imitates them.

Halloween activities are not all bad. But why engage in customs that are partly bad? Why not choose entertainment, recreation and social activities that are totally wholesome and innocent, that have no connection with ancient evil paganism, and that God fully approves of?

Ever since Adam and Eve, the whole world has been “eating” of the forbidden “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). A mixture of good and evil is evil.

Christians are supposed to be followers of Christ (Luke 9:23-26). WWJD? What would Jesus do? You surely know that Jesus would not celebrate Halloween.

Satan the devil and demons are real!

Satan and the demons are not fictional cartoon characters! God has given us warning after warning about their filthy and dangerous influences throughout the Bible.

Satan is “the ruler of this world” until Christ returns (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11). “The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). The devil “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus said “the devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning” and “he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Satan hides the fact that he despises you, he is your enemy, and he is obsessed with killing you! “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14, English Standard Version).

Peter warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Why do we encourage our children to masquerade as devils, demons, witches, sorcerers, ghosts, ghouls, goblins or criminals? Why do we put a stamp of approval on a kind of extortion racket of begging for junk food with an implied threat of a “trick” if the homeowner doesn’t fork over some treat?

Well, the devil is delighted when people celebrate his holiday!

Love what God loves; hate what God hates

In Deuteronomy 12:29-32, Moses warned the Israelites who were moving into lands that had been inhabited by pagans. He said: “Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them . . . and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

Moses was saying, “Don’t imitate the pagans!” The Bible has many specific warnings against imitating pagan practices. Halloween imitates pagan practices!

Note that we must not add any religious or spiritual practices to what God has commanded in His Word. Halloween is an add-on, and God forbids it.

In Psalms 97:10, the psalmist wrote, “You who love the LORD, hate evil!” See also Proverbs 8:13 and Amos 5:15. We should hate what God hates. God hates Halloween because of all the evils it represents. We should hate it too.

Paul wrote: “Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9).

John wrote: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God” (3 John 1:11).

Much, much more has been written about all that is wrong with celebrating the holiday of Halloween. Many enlightening articles and sermons are posted on this website. Start with one I wrote a while back.

I hope and pray that all you nice people who are still hallowing Halloween will reconsider. I hope you too will come to see that Halloween is horrible.