All posts tagged: halloween

The Christian and pagan roots of Halloween

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Halloween has its roots in both the ancient Roman Catholic tradition of All Saints’ Day and Celtic paganism. Traditionally, All Saints’ Eve or All Hallows Eve from which we get the term Halloween has been celebrated on Oct. 31 by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. All Saints Day was first commemorated by Pope Gregory III (731-741) on Nov 1, to honor the construction of an oratory for Saint Peter. The day was set aside to commemorate all who had died, particularly the saints and martyrs. All Saints’ Eve was celebrated the night before on Oct 31. Since the Roman Catholic Church believes in praying for the souls of the dead, this quickly became the main feature of the All Saints’ Day/Eve celebration. Roman Catholic theology believes in purgatory, which is a place where people can go to pay penance for their sins, before continuing on to heaven. The prayers for the dead are intended to shorten a soul’s stay in this intermediary state. The practice dilutes Jesus perfect sacrifice for the sins of the …

In celebration of the church’s 3 main holidays, Christmas, Easter/Passover and Oct 31?

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Christians all over the world would probably agree that the celebration of Christ’s birth and His death and Resurrection are the two most important days in the church’s calendar. But allow me to now add a third day, Oct. 31. No, I am not referring to Halloween or even All Saints’ Day. Halloween, birthed in pagan fears, has to be the worst thing for believers to celebrate. Overindulging in sugar and wearing silly outfits often glorifying evil is strange because evil does exist. Years ago when I did security for a large corporate hotel, Halloween was the worst day of the year for the drunks, fights and all-around mayhem. Yet, we, the church, already have this date, Oct. 31, to celebrate. It is the most significant date in church history since the Book of Revelation was written. The problem is that we collectively have all but forgotten what we have and where we came from. Most Christian historians and theologians agree that the Protestant Reformation started on Oct. 31 in 1517. On that auspicious day, …