Yesterday I got my first call from a customer looking for something on Halloween. It's that time of year again and inevitably we get people looking for one or two things: books exposing the occultic origins of Halloween and/or Halloween tracts. I've noticed a significant decrease in the number of books published on the topic but the tracts are still plenty available.
It seems the church has divided into two camps (there's always some in between but for my purposes we'll just look at the two basic positions). The first position says that Christians should have nothing to do with Halloween since it is, at its core, evil and satanic. The second position says as Christians we should not turn away from Halloween but rather redeem the day for the glory of God. There is a host of rumors and inaccurate information surrounding the issue which doesn't help. The Internet abounds with such information but rarely do you find much that is documented. My intent here is not to change opinions but to provide a couple of links from various viewpoints. My citation of them does not mean I support their position. For the record I lean toward a redemptive view.
For the redemptive view:
Matters of Opinion: Hallowing Halloween by Anderson Rearick III, (Christianity Today article from 2000).
CT Classic: Is Halloween a Witches' Brew? by Harold L. Myra (Christianity Today article from 2000).
Christians and Halloween by Travis Allen, 2006 on Grace to You (John MacArthur's website.)
For the avoidance view:
Christianity and the Dark Side--What about Halloween? by Albert Mohler, 2007 (Some will disagree with my placement of Mohler here but the article here advocates very little, if any, participation.)
Why We Don't Celebrate Halloween (from Women by Grace)
Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween (Russ Young)
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