I am between a rock and a hard place. on one hand I remember halloween when I was young and my family never put a satanic side to it. it was just great fun and free candy. on the other its origin worries me because I do not want to enhance satans hold on the world.

I was so glad to finally see an article that approaches Halloween from both sides. We live in a neighborhood that really gets in to trick or treating and it is really fun to see all of the kids dressed up in their costumes. I really like the idea from the other post of using the holiday as a means of outreach. I find it so interesting that so many christians abstain from a holiday that is religious in it's origin (All Saint's Day), yet readily celebrates Christmas and it's traditions which were originally pagan. The birth of Jesus was never part of the "winter holiday" that celebrated the winter solstice until hundreds of years after it was started. I might add that the traditions of giving gifts, feasting, and merry-making were all originally pagan. This can all be confirmed at the following link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas. If we're going to focus on the negative traditions of one holiday, we need to focus on the evil pagan customs of all of them.

One of the many teachings throughout the Old Testament was God differentiating between the children of Israel from other pagan nations. God's covenant between Him and Abraham was that all males would be circumcised, they would sacrifice animals (burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, etc.) in certain ways that were unlike the surrounding nations. This can be applied to us today. 2 Corinthians says "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Also, says that we are Christ's ambassadors. We are to be set apart from the world. The world sees Halloween as mostly fun and harmless whereas Christians should be careful not to endulge into areas that may damage our testimony to others. We are the light and salt of the world. By compromising our faith we are then like the world and do not see us any differently than the paganistic influence around them.

Hi all,
We have struggled with the concept of Halloween for years. We have friends, mature believers in Christ, that ride both sides of this issue. For our family, we desired to be in the world yet not of it. Last year, we SERVED. We set up a table in our driveway, served hot chocolate and coffee to trick or treaters and their parents, our children passed out candy (passed out a piece, ate a piece, you get the idea!)and my husband handed out gospel tracks. We are going to do it again this year. This time we are going to play Christian music and focus on serving these families, sharing Christ's love and being available if anyone has any questions on WHY we are doing what we are doing. In the world, yet not of it.

Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to post this message. I totally agree with the posts referring to abstaining with traditional holidays like halloween which is obvious the work of the evil one however you perceive it.If children are just dressing up for fun or to be somebody else, in truth it is a form of deception,pretending to be or wanting to be someone other than the person The Lord created you to be. As far as the fun part, we as parents and grandparents need to instill in our childrens and grandchildrens lives, that to follow Jesus is not fun, it's an honor and a priviledge. I urge all christians and professed christians to search deeply and truly follow the Lord's spirit on this topic and in everything. Pro:3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean NOT unto your own understanding, in ALL ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths."

I personally have to agree with the others that have written in. I raised my son ,who is now 19,not to participate in those things that are contrary to Glorifying God in his life. I can see no where in the bible where we are encouraged to participate in "worldy" traditions or rituals for the sake of "fun".But I do know the bible teaches that in "ALL" things do to the edifying and building up of our brothers and sisters in Christ and in all things bring Glory and honor unto that very NAME we profess as our "LEADER" The comment made that we should allow each individual to make his own choice is absurd to me.That is why you have the "WORLD" in the Church today!!!We are accountable to each other in the church and to keep it as pure as possible,not being legalistic but spiritual!!So I encourage my brothers and sisters in "CHRIST" to flee from that which is evil and kling to that which is good and to be led by THE HOLY SPIRIT which I know would feel very uncomfortable participating in such

If we are to be like Christ and follow his way ask yourself would Jesus dress up as a character to attend a helloween party. Or maybe dress up as Ceaser and enter the synagogue saying trick or treat. Now tell me if that ungodly representation of an evil celebration have any comparison to Christmas where we celebrate the birth of Christ. I can see a relation there but tell me where Christ is in anyway related to helloween. Stop your compromising and not be lukewarm for if you know the word of God and what he says about lukewarm you know where you stand. It' either the narrow path or the wide path that leads to _ _ _ _!

Having giving my life to Christ 4 years ago my spiritual eyes open to many of the past practises of ritual and "celebration" that i can do without . I felt lead to discourage all Christians not to participate in Halloween. We can alway talk to the kids about things of the spirit they would understand. However many Christian parents do not understand and in fact they can reason into their own participation. So to address this topic "How Should Christian Families Approach Halloween?." in itself is irresponsible.

Before I became a Christian, I was into the occult. Halloween is an important holiday in black magic circles. It glorifies the Devil. I don't think Christians should celebrate it. And I don't think churches should promote their Halloween parties as "outreach". If you truely want to celebrate autumn/harvest, have your candy party on another day besides 10/31. It is difficult in our culture not to celebrate Halloween (I have an 8 year old and a 5 year old), but I think it is important not to give into society's pressures.

I feel like the devil gets enough worship throughout the year, without having a special day assigned to him. If we could see the real picture and what really happens to some children in satanic occult practices on Halloween, I'm sure we would all feel some conviction on how we celebrate this day. While our children are celebrating and eating candy, another child is being tortured. Dark is dark and light is light. If we are children of the light why would we want to celebrate this day that is most clearly centered around darkness? Church events are wonderful, any opportunity we have as a community to lead people to the Lord, who deserves our praise and worship is great! I hope I have not offended anyone this is my personal conviction, and I believe everyone has to find that in the Lord for themselves. God bless,

Finally, a Christian leader who is sensible! I've been saying the same thing for years. Parents, if you find evil in everything, you are crying wolf. Then when it is really important that your children pay attention to what you are saying they won't, because they will think that you are being reactionary once again. It is far better to say yes when you can so that they will pay attention when you say no.

"Train up a child".....As parents, we teach our children right from wrong, good from bad, holy from unholy. Leave the spooks out of it and have fun. They are only little once! And we are quick to tell neighbors and others that we do not celebrate 'All Hollows Eve'. Taking them to a church party is good, clean, harmless fun!