Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? Here's What You Need to Know

After reaching out to many of my Christian friends and acquiring the viewpoints from those on my social media platforms (from various seasons of life, faith backgrounds, and geographical residencies), I’ve come to learn my perspective of what I thought was a fun, carefree holiday is actually quite controversial and a heavy subject for followers of Christ.

Is it really wrong to “celebrate” Halloween and is there a difference between celebrating and participating? In doing so, are we honoring this holiday’s history and everything it traditionally represents? Are we teaching Christian children the origins of Halloween or are we simply looking past them in order to partake in a night of lighthearted amusement? Has Halloween traditionally lost its meaning due to commercialization, worldwide popularity, and other appeal, much like the holidays of Christmas and Easter?

These questions seemed to be the ones that conflict the hearts of Christians today. So let’s explore them, shall we?

Halloween: Where did it come from?

First, we need to start where it all began – the origin story of Halloween.

Halloween originated about 2,000 years ago with the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. Samhain, celebrated on October 31, marked the end of summer and harvest season and the start of their new year on November 1 and the long, dark and cold months of winter that followed. Because Celts considered harvest season to be a time of life-producing opportunities and winter as a time of death, they believed the worlds of the living and the dead blended together on the night of the last day of the year, October 31. On October 31, during the festival of Samhain, spirits were believed to roam earth freely and the Celts would celebrate by lighting bonfires, wearing costumes to ward off ghosts, and attempting to predict each other’s fortunes.

Hundreds of years later in the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all Christian saints and martyrs and nominated the day as, “All Saints Day.” Eventually, November 2 became designated as “All Souls Day” as a day to honor the souls of all who had died. As Christianity spread into the Celtic regions, All Saints Day gradually incorporated some of the ancient traditions of Samhain and became known as “All Hallows Eve” or “The Eve of All Saints Day”, which ultimately morphed into Halloween. By the time Halloween reached the United States in the late 1800s, it had transformed into a holiday that focused more on community and neighborly gatherings rather than on witchcraft, ghosts, and other things of the occult. By the 20^th century, Halloween had lost most of its superstitious and religious undertones and instead evolved into a day of fun activities like trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, dressing in costumes and more.

Okay, so now that we know a little about the background of Halloween, what are some things Christians should consider about this annual holiday?

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Consider the Difference between Celebrating and Participating

We need to outline the difference between celebrating and participating.

Celebrating is a way to publicly honor the holiday in its tradition and origination.

Participating in Halloween would be electing to choose certain aspects of the holiday to partake in.

A great example of the celebrating versus participating debate is seen in the commercialization and secularization of two other widely popular holidays, Christmas and Easter. As Christians, we know the importance of Christmas and Easter and honor both of these special days as a part of our faith background and foundation (Matthew 1:18-25, Galatians 4:4-5, John 1:14, John 3:6). However, what originally began as holidays that focused on the life and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is now more familiar to people worldwide as the holidays of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Unbelievers might participate in these holidays without batting an eye at its historical beginnings and religious affiliations.

The decision is yours to consider, but I would argue there is a difference between celebrating a holiday and participating in a holiday.

Explore Other Meaningful Ways to Spend the Holiday

Maybe you decided to totally eliminate Halloween from your vocabulary and thus your entire life. Or perhaps, you are still on the fence and unsure of what to do with this holiday that doesn’t seem to be losing popularity anytime soon.

Instead of walking the lines between do or don’t, consider doing something else! Hosting or attending a harvest festival with fall-themed activities like bobbing for apples, going on a hayride, pumpkin or gourd carving (there’s nothing inherently occult about carving these fragrant natural gems), a trip through the corn maze or other outdoor games. If you have other plans at home on Halloween night, you could consider posting a sign on your front door to let trick-or-treaters know you are not observing Halloween. Either way, a harvest festival is a great way to gather people together, honor the Lord and celebrate another day of life! (Exodus 23:16, Joel 2:23, Ecclesiates 9:7)

You could also use this day as a chance to go on a holiday of your own! It could be a staycation somewhere drive-able near where you live or a long weekend spent elsewhere. You could make the night a game night, movie night, or a night out bowling or engaging in other fun and fellowship.

Another common idea I heard from the Christians I heard from was using the holiday as an opportunity to give back. Fall is a season that is home to both Halloween and Thanksgiving, so why not use both holidays as days to spread love, joy and gratitude? Consider visiting your local fire station, nursing home, or other organization. If you have young children and visit a nursing home, I’m sure the elderly would thoroughly enjoy seeing them all happy and dressed up in costumes. If you’re not dressing up or do not want to acknowledge the holiday at all, this is still a great opportunity to spend time bringing joy to those who are often overlooked (Nehemiah 8:10, Philemon 1:7). Wherever you choose to give back, I’m sure bringing along cider and donuts wouldn’t hurt either.

3 Ways to Live Out Your Faith on Halloween

Yes, Halloween is traditionally a pagan holiday, but that doesn’t mean Christians should look the other way and allow lost souls to remain lost. Halloween is an excellent opportunity to practice what we believe and live out our faith (1 Peter 4:8-9).

1. Open up Your Home

A very popular trend many Christians and churches are considering is opening up their hearts along with their homes (or churches) and using the holiday to witness to the public. The opportunities are endless for this, but some ideas are trunk-or-treat events at churches, hosting potluck dinners before trick-or-treating begins, or using your home as a “resting place” within your neighborhood for those who need a restroom break, refreshment, or simply a place to warm up (in Michigan, most of my Halloween experiences involved rain, sleet or snow).

2. Send out God’s Word

If you decide to open your home to trick-or-treaters, consider attaching or tying short, encouraging bible verses to whatever candy you are handing out. Candy is what trick-or-treaters are after but adding the additional piece of scripture allows the giver of the candy to pass along an uplifting message. Likewise, if you choose to decorate your yard for Halloween, you could write scripture on make-believe tombstones and create a graveyard guests can walk through. This may trigger reflection on mortality and eternity and perhaps will spark some conversation. It’s like an open tomb rather than an open door, so to speak, that has the ability to fill someone’s soul with life-giving Truth.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NIV)

3. Get out into the Neighborhood

Halloween can offer a wonderful chance to connect with your community and engage your neighbors. Speaking for myself, Halloween night has been one of the few times I’ve actually seen or spoken with some of the people within my neighborhood. This is crazy to me because we live in such close proximity to each other, but for whatever reason we don’t tend to do life together. I’ve also participated in trunk-or-treat events at churches where I’ve seen friends (who are unbelievers) attend with their children. Sometimes an invitation to church can be overwhelming or intimidating to an unbeliever, but if an event is open to the public and just so happens to be at a church then maybe that is the nudge a person needs to step inside God’s house and experience glimpses of His love.

Loving your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31) is the second-most important commandment after loving God with all of your heart (Mark:12:30). But if you’re being honest with yourself, how often do you actually show love to your neighbor? What if we used a holiday that is traditionally full of darkness as an opportunity to light up the night? (Matthew 4:16, Matthew 5:16, John 1:5)

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Whatever You Do, Halloween Is Still a Day the Lord Has Made

For many of the Christian individuals I spoke with about their feelings on Halloween, there was a clear cause and effect on how they were raised and how they raised their own children: those who grew up not recognizing or participating in any aspect of Halloween said they felt they had missed out on a big piece of their childhood. They must recognize a unique opportunity the holiday offers for children to make special memories.

Kids in an age of technology overload are growing up too fast, so is it possible that participating in Halloween could give kids a chance to be kids? Halloween offers children the ability to partake in childlike, carefree fun such as receiving candy, spending a night outdoors and with friends, and creative play by dressing up in costumes.

However, as a mother of four children, I am well aware that the minds and hearts of young ones are like sponges and they will soak up everything they are being fed. I desire my children to develop a biblical worldview and therefore want them to be stewards of the faith in which they are raised. In terms of Halloween, I think it is vital for those participating to acknowledge the origin of the holiday before deciding whether they will celebrate, participate, or forgo the holiday. Like most things in this life, we don’t want to tip-toe the line of what is from the world and what is from the Word, but rather, we should follow the footsteps of the One who goes before us. When in doubt, ask yourself, what would Jesus do?

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What Opportunities Would Jesus See on Halloween?

For me, I think Jesus would be the one doling out hugs, walking into homes or lending an ear on the sidewalk to engage in conversation with a stranger. I don’t think He would judge those who celebrate or participate in the holiday based on the assumptions we are quick to make about others, but would rather come alongside them and use the night as an opportunity to demonstrate what it means to truly love a neighbor, and care for people’s hearts instead. I believe He would encourage His followers to stick to their convictions (Ephesians 5:11, 2 Timothy 3:16), be alert (1 Peter 5:8), guard their hearts (Proverbs 4:23), and not conform to the ways of the world (Romans 12:2).

In a world that sometimes seems more broken today than it was yesterday, Halloween is just another day where we can choose to exist in the world or make an impact in the world. We can do life or we can give life. I don’t know about you, but I want to live my life and live it to the fullest (John 10:10).

Halloween or not, anyone who is pursuing a life that follows Jesus and honors God should do their research and make informed decisions. At the end of the day, Halloween is a day just like any other day – a day to be celebrated because of the Lord!

“This day belongs to the Lord! Let’s celebrate and be glad today.” (Psalm 118:24 CEV)

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