Recent Teaching Page
Edition: 14k04
This "Jack-o-lantern", carved by our grandson,
represents a "Minecraft Creeper"
(whatever that is).
“HALLOWE’EN – IS IT FOR BELIEVERS”
Every year it seems, there is a question that comes up about Hallowe’en: “Should we as believers (People of Faith), whether Christian, Jewish, Messianic, or for that matter, and I presume here, even Moslem, be dabbling in such an ancient and pagan based activity as Hallowe’en?” The true question implied here is this: “If we hold to our beliefs, how can we even contemplate allowing something ‘not of the faith’ to come into our activities and, if we do, how would our involvement appear to the general public – other believers or non-believers alike. What does it do to our witness in the community?”
There is no question that Hallowe’en is one of the most pervasive and intrusive celebrations of the year. It is the one… (let’s call it…) “festival” which crosses over the boundaries of faith groups and even is participated in by those who claim no faith affiliation. In other words it seems to be universal in its appeal. Over the years, we have lived in small towns, and large cities, and we presently live in a small village in central Ontario, Canada. Everywhere, every year – houses are flamboyantly over-decorated for Hallowe’en. Gravestones, cemetery scenes, ghouls rising out of the ground, ghosts hanging from trees, spiders, black cats, cobwebs, and of course the obligatory ‘Jack-o-lanterns’ are common place on a huge variety of properties, no matter what socio-economic, cultural or racial connections might be involved. On the 31st of the tenth month, year after year, one can go into the local bank, the local grocery store, many of the small businesses, and especially the schools, to find both employees and customers, students and teachers in costume.
Meanwhile, every year, that probing question arises: “Should we be involved?”. And the responses are both multi-faceted and often at least “warmly” debated. It is a controversial topic, no question! Some are adamant that we should avoid any participation at all – “no dressing up, no shelling out, no debate” on the one hand. At the other extreme, we hear: “Absolutely, the church has no problem so why should we?, there’s no such thing as witches, warlocks, vampires and ghouls so why worry?” Then, somewhere in the middle, we are told that “I don’t want my kids to feel left out, it’s all just innocent fun, it’s fun to dress up and act out, or “we can participate as long as we don’t ‘celebrate’ it”.
So what would we be participating in, if we did go along with Hallowe’en? What are the roots? How did it come to us in today’s world?
Those who have delved into the history of Hallowe’en indicate that it goes back to ancient times in Ireland, Scotland and perhaps parts of England. They also point out that it pre-dates the Christianization of the what we call the British Isles. Earliest Irish writings tell of a celebration observed by the Celts and Gaels called Samhain, (pronounced “Sah-win” or “Sow-in” ). It marked the end of summer, the end of the harvest time and the beginning of the “darker half of the year”: Winter. It was also held that it created “a bridge to the world of the dead through the transition of seasons”, according to The Reverend Ross Lockhart’s writings. The event begins annually on the evening before the actual day of the festival: Nov 1st.
Many of the activities of the evening might seem familiar to observers of Hallowe’en. There were giant bonfires set ablaze, food and drink were put out to appease the souls of the dead, who were beckoned to come and join the huge feast set out for all participants. The people dressed up in costumes, either imitating those who had earlier died, or perhaps disguising one’s self so that the risen ‘souls’ would not recognize one and thus haunt them, or torment them, for the ensuing year. It was a time of going from door to door in these costumes, reciting verses in exchange for food (small cakes) and drink, and it was a time when divination rituals were popular. The one belief about Samhain was that the “liminal” quality of this night, being situated half way between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, afforded the opportunity for the souls of the dead to be released from the grave and rise up to roam the earth. [NOTE: (I had to look it up, but)… ‘liminal’ comes from the root limen, meaning “border” or “threshold”, and indicates that a minimal amount of stimulation is required in order to produce a response – thus: this would be the night when it was easiest to “raise the souls of the dead” from the underworld].
If you are a fan of the CBC drama “Outlander”, you will recall in the pilot episode, the main character, along with her husband, secretly attends a Samhain event while on vacation in 1945 Scotland. When she returns to the ‘Stonehenge-like’ setting later that night, she touches one of the large stone monoliths, and is drawn into and through it to travel through time to the year 1745. It’s an interesting premise, simply reversing the belief that the dead can be transported into our time and setting in the same way.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III had established a special chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to the memory of the Christian martyrs, and ordered that they be honoured annually. By the ninth century, and the coming of Roman Catholicism to the area, the missionaries tried to educate the locals Celts and Gaels (and Druids), hoping to dissuade them from such pagan rituals as Samhain, but in the end it was to no avail. Eventually, in yet another act of assimilation by the Roman church so commonly seen in the early church, instead of influencing the world toward change, the church succumbs to the worldly influence upon it, and decides to “Christianize” the observance of Samhain Later Gregory’s successor Pope Boniface IV simply combines it with the observance of “All Saint’s (or All Hallow’s) Day” declaring the annual remembrance of All Saints to be November 1st.
This type of adoption of pagan rituals and celebrations ran rampant in the early church. Christmas is a case in point. The festival is meant to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but because no one knows the date of the actual event, for a number of decades it ‘wandered’ aimlessly about the calendar. Dates in early December through January (the 6th, for instance, aka “Little Christmas”, “Orthodox Christmas” and later “Epiphany”) were chosen and used at various times, creating all sorts of confusion. Finally the date of December 25th was ‘elected’ as “Christ’s Mass”. In actual fact, the date was chosen to sanctify a pagan feast day, held on or about the Winter Solstice. Other examples include the naming of the holiest day of The Christian year – the day marking the resurrection of the Messiah from death after a pagan goddess “Eostre” [Note: there seem to be various spellings of this name]. I found this information on a website “Christian Answers.net”. “Most reference books say that the name “Easter” derived from the Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of Spring. Although this relationship exists, in reality, the origin of the name and the goddess are far more ancient—going all the way back to the Tower of Babel. The origin begins not long after the biblical Flood…”
The dating and origins of Other Christian Holy Days can be traced back to the practices of many other religions, sometimes pagan religions, all of which have influenced the church in different ways. The reason that the church has been opened to these worldly influences is that we strayed from the pattern God gave us in Scriptures as to what Holy Days we should be observing. The reason that we strayed in the first place, was the Anti-Semitic prejudices of the early church leaders. In a series of moves to rid itself of “anything Jewish”, the early church leaders began to alter a wide array of things, from the day of worship (Shabbat) declared by God in Scripture as holy and actually celebrated faithfully by Y’shua, his talmidim and the earliest of the believing communities up to as late as the fifth century in some remote areas; to the Festivals celebrated by Y’shua during his lifetime. Until the church wakes up to these errors in judgement and practice, the church will remain influenced by the world, and thus – unable to fulfill its mandate to influence the world as God declared we should be doing. In Romans 12:2, Sha’ul wrote: “Do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of this world, ….” This is the theme of what Y’shua taught when He told His disciples “If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own, but…You do NOT belong to the world…I have picked you OUT of the world.” (Jn 15:19f, emphasis mine) and later Y’shua prayed to His Father: “They do not belong to the world… set them apart for holiness by means of the truth…” (Jn 17:16f)
Perhaps it is too late for the church to begin to bring about transformation of the world to the standards established by our loving God. Perhaps we have been tolerating, adapting and acquiescing for so long that the call upon us is fruitless. I hope not, but there are times when completing the Great Commission seems impossible to achieve in today’s world. As true believers, we should be struggling every day to recapture the Basic Essentials of who we are, what the church is, and what the world is called to become. As can be seen in the first two parshiot of the Torah – from Adam to Noach there passed 10 generations which progressively succumbed to the world’s evil. After things started over, From Noach to Avram another 10 generations passed and again, evil had its way with humankind. By the time Y’shua came to call the people to repentance and to offer salvation, the world had enjoyed such influence that, true to our human failings, the “messenger was killed” rather than allowing that change and transformation should come about. “Oh woe is me, woe is me! Can there be no hope for us?”
Perhaps it’s a huge chunk to cut off and chew, but I read something the other day which, in terms of our present theme, that of Hallowe’en and our role in it, might bring a glimpse of light into the darkness. It was an article penned by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman of Chabad.org, in response to a question almost identical to the one which began our present reflection – “Do Jews Celebrate Hallowe’en”. Perhaps we can learn from his response.
The basic message of his answer runs thus: The practice of participating in Hallowe’en has an alternative… a Biblical alternative. This special festival has everything good going for it – the things which make Hallowe’en fun – and then adds more, but at the same time it rises above everything negative. There’s dressing up in costumes, there’s dropping by homes in our neighbourhood, there’s opportunity to have, and also to spread, joy and laughter in the company of others, there’s food and drink. Added to all this, there’s the opportunity to do a lot of good in our community, and if so inclined, there’s even a chance to perform in a fun dramatic play. Another added bonus is that for the uninitiated, there’s even a chance to learn a Bible story. This alternative is the festival of “Purim”, based on the story of Hadassah / Esther, a story found in the Older Covenant or the Tenakh.
During the celebration of Purim, children, (and adults too, sometimes) dress up as kings and princesses, and beauty pageant contestants, or nobles and public officials, maybe a business man or two, and even the occasional clown. As the evening continues, children go from one house to another, bringing to the resident special gifts of food – little cakes, or other delicacies, which have been prepared beforehand. Oft-times, the children will go to senior’s residences and nursing homes to bring gifts to the residents and people who often don’t have visitors. Those who are visited often will host parties and invite the visitors to come in a “sup” with them. Always, the idea is to generously give gifts to others, and particularly those who have fallen on hard times. It’s a great festival – a time of joy and laughter and cheer. The only problem is that it occurs in late March or early April, 5 or 6 months “opposite” the eve of Hallowe’en – but is that insurmountable? I don’t think so. In just about every way, Purim is the polar opposite of Hallowe’en.
We have princesses and kings and nobles and heroes up against ghouls and goblins and ghosts. We have generous sharing of food and drink with others compared to begging for candy and junk food. We have the spreading of Blessing and righteousness as opposed to trying to be scary and fill others with fear and foreboding. We have beauty pageants, plays, singing and parades up against… well there’s nothing about Hallowe’en that compares with that. Most important of all – we get to learn about how God can turn even the most serious pending tragedy into something good, and bring justice and mercy to bear as He sees fit.
As for being different from the other kids – isn’t that what we are supposed to be? Aren’t we supposed to be “in the world, but not conformed to the way of the world”? Aren’t we supposed to be “a light, shining in the darkness”, “a light to the nations,” opening blind eyes to God’s truth. Does not the light of God shine through the lives (and words) of those who believe in Him, who live for Him? We, our kids and us as well, can be vanguards, advance soldiers, heralds of what is to come, as we go forward. Isn’t it time we moved away from the Pagan connections, and worked to bring Glory to God?
B Parker
Beth Roay Tov Ministries
= = = ================================================= = = =
Acknowledgements:
In putting this teaching together, I found great resources in the following:
Stern, David; The Complete Jewish Bible Jewish New Testament Publications, Clarksville Maryland / distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Int’l 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Editor; The Hebrew – Greek Key Word Study Bible (NASB) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1990
Ausubel, Nathan, “The Book of Jewish Knowledge” Crown Publishers, New York NY1970
Wikipedia, Article on “Samhain”, author unknown
Pagan Pathways, Article: “The History of Samhain and Hallowe’en”, Author unknown
Ward, The Rev’d Max, “Should Christians Celebrate Hallowe’en” an article in The Minden Times Wed October 29, 2014 which quotes extensively from an article of the same name penned by the Rev’d Ross Lockhart, in the United Church Observer.
Freeman, Rabbi Tzvi, Article: "Do Jews Celebrate Hallowe'en", Chabad.Org ("Ask the Rabbi")
= = = ======================================================== = = =
Every year it seems, there is a question that comes up about Hallowe’en: “Should we as believers (People of Faith), whether Christian, Jewish, Messianic, or for that matter, and I presume here, even Moslem, be dabbling in such an ancient and pagan based activity as Hallowe’en?” The true question implied here is this: “If we hold to our beliefs, how can we even contemplate allowing something ‘not of the faith’ to come into our activities and, if we do, how would our involvement appear to the general public – other believers or non-believers alike. What does it do to our witness in the community?”
There is no question that Hallowe’en is one of the most pervasive and intrusive celebrations of the year. It is the one… (let’s call it…) “festival” which crosses over the boundaries of faith groups and even is participated in by those who claim no faith affiliation. In other words it seems to be universal in its appeal. Over the years, we have lived in small towns, and large cities, and we presently live in a small village in central Ontario, Canada. Everywhere, every year – houses are flamboyantly over-decorated for Hallowe’en. Gravestones, cemetery scenes, ghouls rising out of the ground, ghosts hanging from trees, spiders, black cats, cobwebs, and of course the obligatory ‘Jack-o-lanterns’ are common place on a huge variety of properties, no matter what socio-economic, cultural or racial connections might be involved. On the 31st of the tenth month, year after year, one can go into the local bank, the local grocery store, many of the small businesses, and especially the schools, to find both employees and customers, students and teachers in costume.
Meanwhile, every year, that probing question arises: “Should we be involved?”. And the responses are both multi-faceted and often at least “warmly” debated. It is a controversial topic, no question! Some are adamant that we should avoid any participation at all – “no dressing up, no shelling out, no debate” on the one hand. At the other extreme, we hear: “Absolutely, the church has no problem so why should we?, there’s no such thing as witches, warlocks, vampires and ghouls so why worry?” Then, somewhere in the middle, we are told that “I don’t want my kids to feel left out, it’s all just innocent fun, it’s fun to dress up and act out, or “we can participate as long as we don’t ‘celebrate’ it”.
So what would we be participating in, if we did go along with Hallowe’en? What are the roots? How did it come to us in today’s world?
Those who have delved into the history of Hallowe’en indicate that it goes back to ancient times in Ireland, Scotland and perhaps parts of England. They also point out that it pre-dates the Christianization of the what we call the British Isles. Earliest Irish writings tell of a celebration observed by the Celts and Gaels called Samhain, (pronounced “Sah-win” or “Sow-in” ). It marked the end of summer, the end of the harvest time and the beginning of the “darker half of the year”: Winter. It was also held that it created “a bridge to the world of the dead through the transition of seasons”, according to The Reverend Ross Lockhart’s writings. The event begins annually on the evening before the actual day of the festival: Nov 1st.
Many of the activities of the evening might seem familiar to observers of Hallowe’en. There were giant bonfires set ablaze, food and drink were put out to appease the souls of the dead, who were beckoned to come and join the huge feast set out for all participants. The people dressed up in costumes, either imitating those who had earlier died, or perhaps disguising one’s self so that the risen ‘souls’ would not recognize one and thus haunt them, or torment them, for the ensuing year. It was a time of going from door to door in these costumes, reciting verses in exchange for food (small cakes) and drink, and it was a time when divination rituals were popular. The one belief about Samhain was that the “liminal” quality of this night, being situated half way between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, afforded the opportunity for the souls of the dead to be released from the grave and rise up to roam the earth. [NOTE: (I had to look it up, but)… ‘liminal’ comes from the root limen, meaning “border” or “threshold”, and indicates that a minimal amount of stimulation is required in order to produce a response – thus: this would be the night when it was easiest to “raise the souls of the dead” from the underworld].
If you are a fan of the CBC drama “Outlander”, you will recall in the pilot episode, the main character, along with her husband, secretly attends a Samhain event while on vacation in 1945 Scotland. When she returns to the ‘Stonehenge-like’ setting later that night, she touches one of the large stone monoliths, and is drawn into and through it to travel through time to the year 1745. It’s an interesting premise, simply reversing the belief that the dead can be transported into our time and setting in the same way.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III had established a special chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to the memory of the Christian martyrs, and ordered that they be honoured annually. By the ninth century, and the coming of Roman Catholicism to the area, the missionaries tried to educate the locals Celts and Gaels (and Druids), hoping to dissuade them from such pagan rituals as Samhain, but in the end it was to no avail. Eventually, in yet another act of assimilation by the Roman church so commonly seen in the early church, instead of influencing the world toward change, the church succumbs to the worldly influence upon it, and decides to “Christianize” the observance of Samhain Later Gregory’s successor Pope Boniface IV simply combines it with the observance of “All Saint’s (or All Hallow’s) Day” declaring the annual remembrance of All Saints to be November 1st.
This type of adoption of pagan rituals and celebrations ran rampant in the early church. Christmas is a case in point. The festival is meant to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but because no one knows the date of the actual event, for a number of decades it ‘wandered’ aimlessly about the calendar. Dates in early December through January (the 6th, for instance, aka “Little Christmas”, “Orthodox Christmas” and later “Epiphany”) were chosen and used at various times, creating all sorts of confusion. Finally the date of December 25th was ‘elected’ as “Christ’s Mass”. In actual fact, the date was chosen to sanctify a pagan feast day, held on or about the Winter Solstice. Other examples include the naming of the holiest day of The Christian year – the day marking the resurrection of the Messiah from death after a pagan goddess “Eostre” [Note: there seem to be various spellings of this name]. I found this information on a website “Christian Answers.net”. “Most reference books say that the name “Easter” derived from the Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of Spring. Although this relationship exists, in reality, the origin of the name and the goddess are far more ancient—going all the way back to the Tower of Babel. The origin begins not long after the biblical Flood…”
The dating and origins of Other Christian Holy Days can be traced back to the practices of many other religions, sometimes pagan religions, all of which have influenced the church in different ways. The reason that the church has been opened to these worldly influences is that we strayed from the pattern God gave us in Scriptures as to what Holy Days we should be observing. The reason that we strayed in the first place, was the Anti-Semitic prejudices of the early church leaders. In a series of moves to rid itself of “anything Jewish”, the early church leaders began to alter a wide array of things, from the day of worship (Shabbat) declared by God in Scripture as holy and actually celebrated faithfully by Y’shua, his talmidim and the earliest of the believing communities up to as late as the fifth century in some remote areas; to the Festivals celebrated by Y’shua during his lifetime. Until the church wakes up to these errors in judgement and practice, the church will remain influenced by the world, and thus – unable to fulfill its mandate to influence the world as God declared we should be doing. In Romans 12:2, Sha’ul wrote: “Do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of this world, ….” This is the theme of what Y’shua taught when He told His disciples “If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own, but…You do NOT belong to the world…I have picked you OUT of the world.” (Jn 15:19f, emphasis mine) and later Y’shua prayed to His Father: “They do not belong to the world… set them apart for holiness by means of the truth…” (Jn 17:16f)
Perhaps it is too late for the church to begin to bring about transformation of the world to the standards established by our loving God. Perhaps we have been tolerating, adapting and acquiescing for so long that the call upon us is fruitless. I hope not, but there are times when completing the Great Commission seems impossible to achieve in today’s world. As true believers, we should be struggling every day to recapture the Basic Essentials of who we are, what the church is, and what the world is called to become. As can be seen in the first two parshiot of the Torah – from Adam to Noach there passed 10 generations which progressively succumbed to the world’s evil. After things started over, From Noach to Avram another 10 generations passed and again, evil had its way with humankind. By the time Y’shua came to call the people to repentance and to offer salvation, the world had enjoyed such influence that, true to our human failings, the “messenger was killed” rather than allowing that change and transformation should come about. “Oh woe is me, woe is me! Can there be no hope for us?”
Perhaps it’s a huge chunk to cut off and chew, but I read something the other day which, in terms of our present theme, that of Hallowe’en and our role in it, might bring a glimpse of light into the darkness. It was an article penned by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman of Chabad.org, in response to a question almost identical to the one which began our present reflection – “Do Jews Celebrate Hallowe’en”. Perhaps we can learn from his response.
The basic message of his answer runs thus: The practice of participating in Hallowe’en has an alternative… a Biblical alternative. This special festival has everything good going for it – the things which make Hallowe’en fun – and then adds more, but at the same time it rises above everything negative. There’s dressing up in costumes, there’s dropping by homes in our neighbourhood, there’s opportunity to have, and also to spread, joy and laughter in the company of others, there’s food and drink. Added to all this, there’s the opportunity to do a lot of good in our community, and if so inclined, there’s even a chance to perform in a fun dramatic play. Another added bonus is that for the uninitiated, there’s even a chance to learn a Bible story. This alternative is the festival of “Purim”, based on the story of Hadassah / Esther, a story found in the Older Covenant or the Tenakh.
During the celebration of Purim, children, (and adults too, sometimes) dress up as kings and princesses, and beauty pageant contestants, or nobles and public officials, maybe a business man or two, and even the occasional clown. As the evening continues, children go from one house to another, bringing to the resident special gifts of food – little cakes, or other delicacies, which have been prepared beforehand. Oft-times, the children will go to senior’s residences and nursing homes to bring gifts to the residents and people who often don’t have visitors. Those who are visited often will host parties and invite the visitors to come in a “sup” with them. Always, the idea is to generously give gifts to others, and particularly those who have fallen on hard times. It’s a great festival – a time of joy and laughter and cheer. The only problem is that it occurs in late March or early April, 5 or 6 months “opposite” the eve of Hallowe’en – but is that insurmountable? I don’t think so. In just about every way, Purim is the polar opposite of Hallowe’en.
We have princesses and kings and nobles and heroes up against ghouls and goblins and ghosts. We have generous sharing of food and drink with others compared to begging for candy and junk food. We have the spreading of Blessing and righteousness as opposed to trying to be scary and fill others with fear and foreboding. We have beauty pageants, plays, singing and parades up against… well there’s nothing about Hallowe’en that compares with that. Most important of all – we get to learn about how God can turn even the most serious pending tragedy into something good, and bring justice and mercy to bear as He sees fit.
As for being different from the other kids – isn’t that what we are supposed to be? Aren’t we supposed to be “in the world, but not conformed to the way of the world”? Aren’t we supposed to be “a light, shining in the darkness”, “a light to the nations,” opening blind eyes to God’s truth. Does not the light of God shine through the lives (and words) of those who believe in Him, who live for Him? We, our kids and us as well, can be vanguards, advance soldiers, heralds of what is to come, as we go forward. Isn’t it time we moved away from the Pagan connections, and worked to bring Glory to God?
B Parker
Beth Roay Tov Ministries
= = = ================================================= = = =
Acknowledgements:
In putting this teaching together, I found great resources in the following:
Stern, David; The Complete Jewish Bible Jewish New Testament Publications, Clarksville Maryland / distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Int’l 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Editor; The Hebrew – Greek Key Word Study Bible (NASB) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1990
Ausubel, Nathan, “The Book of Jewish Knowledge” Crown Publishers, New York NY1970
Wikipedia, Article on “Samhain”, author unknown
Pagan Pathways, Article: “The History of Samhain and Hallowe’en”, Author unknown
Ward, The Rev’d Max, “Should Christians Celebrate Hallowe’en” an article in The Minden Times Wed October 29, 2014 which quotes extensively from an article of the same name penned by the Rev’d Ross Lockhart, in the United Church Observer.
Freeman, Rabbi Tzvi, Article: "Do Jews Celebrate Hallowe'en", Chabad.Org ("Ask the Rabbi")
= = = ======================================================== = = =