Written by Pastor Graham Cooke, Kennet Valley Free Church

This blog is based on a sermon preached originally in September 2012. The recording can be found in the sermon archive on the KVFC website.

A number of years ago, Prince Harry appeared at Prince William’s fancy dress birthday party dressed as a Nazi Gestapo officer. Presumably, Harry thought it was just a bit of fun, but many thought that it was inappropriate as it seemed to trivialise something evil. What do you think?

At the end of this month people will be dressing up as ghosts, spirits, skeletons and witches as Hallowe’en comes round again. Each year it seems bigger and more commercialised. Most people would say it’s just a bit of fun; some would say it’s just a way of expressing our imagination; after all, many of our folk stories and much of our literature include supernatural themes. Others feel strongly that any embrace of these things is akin to making a pact with the devil, that it’s highly dangerous, and indeed that we should avoid all literature or films with supernatural elements. But what is a biblical response? First, let’s ask..

Where did Hallowe’en come from? 

It goes back to the Celtic feast of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) which celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark period of winter.  At this season, the boundary between this world and the world of the dead was thought to dissolve, with the dead returning to earth and creating havoc by playing tricks on people and damaging crops. Some think that people used to dress up in order to deceive the spirits.  Feasting around bonfires was designed to ward off the spirits, and fortune-telling was practised as it was thought that spirits were more easily reached during this season.  No doubt it became a fertile season for practical jokers to twit the gullible. However, sources for this period are very limited, so much is conjecture.

The Romans added two feasts of their own: Feralia, which commemorated the dead; and a feast in celebration of Pomana, the goddess of fruit and trees (hence perhaps the links with apples at Hallowe’en).

As Christianity took root, the Church introduced the Feast of All Saints, or All Hallows, on November 1, and All Souls on November 2^nd, in an attempt to move interest away from the pagan festivals and the celebration of the dead.  So October 31^st  became All Hallows Eve, later contracted to Hallowe’en.

There’s little certainty about what used to happen during Samhain. It seems wise to assume a whole spectrum of practices, and that the majority of people who celebrated Hallowe’en would not have practised the most extreme of them. It is also undoubtedly true that major Christian festivals such as Christmas and Easter have drawn heavily from, if not build directly on top of, pagan ideas and practices. The word ‘Easter’ itself comes from the name of a Norse goddess- Ostra. Many of us celebrate bonfire night without thinking for one moment that it encourages us to burn Catholics. So we should be wary of dismissing things completely because of past associations and origins. Most Hallowe’en parties have no sinister intent behind them at all- just a bit of fun. Few people in our culture see Hallowe’en as a genuine attempt to celebrate or connect with the spiritual world or the dead. However, it is important to note that some do; there are pagan groups, adopting wiccan practices- so-called white witchcraft – for whom Hallowee’n is most significant. Most white witches would probably say they don’t even believe in the devil; that what they’re doing is plugging into the powers of the earth. However, there are also active Satanist groups, for whom Hallowe’en in significant. It is very important to recognise the difference between those two groups, Wicca and Satanism.

Hallowe’en has grown in profile during my lifetime, largely due to American cultural influence and, alongside that, the huge driving force of commercialism. In an episode of The Simpsons, the department store Costington’s, concerned about mid-summer blip in sales, invents a new festival, Love Day. This is insightful and incisive social commentary because that’s essentially what has happened with Hallowe’en.

So what is a Biblical response? 

I’m not going to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. Where you draw lines is down to your own consciences and judgement before the Lord, However, I can identify some principles and leave you to follow these through for yourselves and your families.

Principle 1: The Bible leaves us in absolutely no doubt about the reality of the Spiritual World.

Our friends and neighbours often struggle to understand why Christians are so sensitive about Hallowe’en simply because they are immersed in the prevailing materialistic worldview- that the only things that are real are things we can see and touch. They don’t really believe demons and spirits exist, so it’s just a harmless bit of fun. The Bible tells us differently. If we believe in God, who is Spirit, then we have to take seriously what the Bible says about other spirits, evil spirits and powers, that oppose God’s kingdom. (see Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 Peter 5:8). These powers are real, and seek to deceive and enslave people, because that is the way they can most effectively undermine God’s rule. We see in the Bible the reality of magic practices, in Egypt for example (Exodus 7), and the Witch of Endor, (1 Samuel 28) who seemed to have some ability to contact the dead, though there was almost certainly deception involved there by the devil.

Principle 2: There is a Real Cosmic Spiritual Warfare.

These powers are not benign, or neutral. They want our downfall because they hate God and his work, and we are the pinnacle of his creation. We are the ones given the enormous task of ordering God’s world in his way, his park-keepers. So if these spiritual forces can get us in thrall to them rather than serving God, they de-rail us from that glorious purpose. So we see the Bible talking realistically about spiritual warfare. (Ephesians 6:11-18)

The devil loves to get people trying to plug into spiritual power in some way- by trying to contact the dead, or through astrology or other hidden insights  (that’s what the word occult means- ‘hidden’). Or by manipulating powers in the universe thought to reside in nature. However, the Bible is clear: any practice of witchcraft, sorcery, fortune telling, or trying to contact the dead is dangerous- don’t do it! (Deuteronomy 18:10,11; Acts 19:18,19; Galatians 5:19-21). Ultimately what people are after through these things is power without relationship with the person behind the power. The Christian faith is all about supernatural power; the power of God, the power behind the universe being at work in our lives. However, the context of that is crucially an accountable relationship with our Creator, through his son Jesus. Any form of witchcraft or occult practice is seeking to access the power without that accountable relationship. That’s why it appeals, because people want to manipulate the power without having to listen to God or follow his ways.  That is also why it is so dangerous, because it opens us up to the sinister deceptive power of someone, the devil, and his forces, who have no concern whatever for our welfare; they simply want to use us to undermine God’s rule.

So whilst Wiccan practices may not even acknowledge the devil, in investing natural objects with power whilst ignoring the true Creator, they give the devil a huge foothold. It’s a bit like what Paul says about idolatry (1 Corinthians 8:4-6)- in one sense an idol, an image of a false god, is nothing, it’s just a lump of stone or a carved bit of wood. You could say the same about a crystal or a constellation.  However, when we worship that idol, or give the crystal or constellation undue attention, looking to these things to supply what only God can supply, they become portals, footholds , for the devil to deceive us and ensnare us. (1 Corinthians 10:18-22)

One of the ways the devil successfully does this is through fear. Occult practices feed on fear, and often produce it.

So the Bible assures us that these spiritual forces are real and active.

Principle 3: The war has already been won!

(Colossians 2:15, 1 John 3:8; 4:4)

When Jesus died on the cross he drew the power of these forces onto himself. They thought they had him in all the vulnerability of his human nature, they did their worst, and he absorbed it all, took it down to the grave, and in so doing, broke their greatest weapon of all, death! This victory is announced to the world through Jesus’ glorious resurrection. The victory is secure. (Ephesians  1:20-22)

However, that don’t mean the warfare had stopped.  Just as in the second world war, once the allied troops had established a bridgehead in western Europe after D Day the war was only ever going to go one way, so as Christ has died and has been raised to new life, he’s established the bridgehead of a new humanity unspoiled by death and evil, so the devil has been defeated. However, despite knowing this, he fights on, just like the Germans did. The illustration is far from perfect; it is possible I suppose, that the Germans could have done something to change things. The devil can’t. Jesus has won the victory. So now the working out of that victory goes on. If you like, there’s still a battle for each individual soul. The devil still tries to do what he can to thwart Gods’ plans. However his only real weapon now is deception, particularly against Christians. His only hold on us whose trust is in Jesus is if he can get us believing things that aren’t true, and acting as if they were, acting out of fear or unbelief. That’s what we’re doing if we read our stars and imagine that our fate lies hidden therein. Or if he can persuade us to consult mediums and then sub-consciously order our lives around what we’ve been told. Or by encouraging us to embrace the comfort that apparent contact with a dead loved one can bring, and so find ourselves clinging to the past.  Or by getting us to watch spooky films and TV shows, and capturing us with fear, nightmares and the like, that undermine our confidence in Christ, and our relationship with him.

So those are three principles. How should we then respond?

1. Be extremely wary about developing an unhealthy curiously with the occult, and with evil spiritual power

Not because they don’t exist but because they do. They are real and they want to actively spoil your life. So don’t give them a foothold by getting curious about them.

1. Let’s not do anything to glorify these evil forces.

This for me is the biggest problem with Hallowe’en- that it celebrates and glorifies that which is evil and opposed to God, and in so doing so it actually trivialises the reality of these things.  A bit like Prince Harry dressing up as a Nazi. At the very least it is in extremely bad taste to celebrate these things.  At worst it engenders a dangerous curiosity in these things. Why invest time and money concentrating on evil, when we have so much good to celebrate in Jesus Christ?

Of course Hallowe’en is a great time for exercising our imagination, which is God’s good gift to us. There’s a whole other argument as to whether Christians should read books or watch films that have to do with the spiritual world. What about Harry Potter? And why do Christians who dismiss Harry Potter still seem happy to embrace Lord of the Rings and the Narnia books? I think our response should be nuanced and not merely dismissive. For what it’s worth, I am prepared for my children to read the Harry Potter books but it is important as they do so that I talk about it to them, in particular re-iterating that what Hogwarts School seeks to do, albeit in JK Rowling’s imagination, is expressly forbidden in scripture, which is to practice magic. To me there is that subtle but key difference between Rowling’s world and the worlds of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis- in Narnia and Middle-Earth although spiritual powers are exercised, the goodies are not in any way encouraged to manipulate those powers for their own ends, whether good or bad.

So I don’t want to celebrate or glorify these realities.

However, it’s good not just to be negative but to be positive. That’s why the Light party on October 31^st is a good idea.

As for Trick or Treating- well, any other day of the year it would be called demanding with menaces. I don’t want my children to think it is appropriate behaviour to trawl the neighbourhood for treats off strangers; but we can respond positively to those who come to our door- give them a treat along with a Christian leaflet maybe. Of instead of trick or treating we could knock on peoples’ doors and offer them a treat instead of demanding one. If your family feels they’re missing out on the fun make it a special family night- movie and popcorn, or play games together- give them something positive- and of course it’s important that we explain to our children why we have reservations about Hallowe’en.

So be wary- but…

1. Don’t panic! 

For instance, if Hallowe’en features in your children’s schoolwork, by all means speak to the school about it, but remember, the victory has been won- talk to your children, pray for them and with them and trust in Jesus who has won the victory, so that fear and deceit need not win the day for your child.

1. Choose which side you are on.

Spiritual warfare is real, and there is a winning and a losing side. There are many grey areas in life but not here. You’re either for God and his Son Jesus Christ, or you are against him; this issue at least highlights the starkness. You might feel Christians are over-sensitive on this issue, you may be wary of disproportionate language about Hallowe’en. You may have a point- but you have to understand that Christianity and witchcraft are mutually exclusive.  Christianity and occult practices, Christianity and clairvoyance. If you meet someone who says they are a Christian witch, then they’ve either misunderstood Christianity or misunderstood witchcraft. These things cannot stand together.

So-  whose side are you on? If you are not actively trusting and following Jesus Christ as your Lord, then you are turning your back on his great victory, which means you are saying you prefer the rule of the enemy, and are still actually in his embrace – he who only wants to use you to undermine God’s good and just and loving rule. Is that what you want? Or do you look at Jesus’ victory over death and decay and evil and say “Yes! I’m with him. I put my trust in him rather than flirt with death and darkness. I want to embrace life!” If so, don’t waste your energies celebrating and glorifying in the darkness, invest them in him and his wonderful light.