{"id":1428,"date":"2014-10-31T13:24:11","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T18:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=1428"},"modified":"2021-08-02T10:24:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T15:24:41","slug":"halloween-and-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/halloween-and-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Christians and Halloween?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is such a tricky time of year. Some people get pretty excited about Halloween. Others get offended. Just this last weekend I was asked a question. \u201cWhy do some Christians celebrate Halloween and some don\u2019t?\u201d That question has another (more pointed) version. \u201cIs it okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween?\u201d<\/p>\n

For me, the short answer is\u00a0pick a side and be gracious to people who disagree. Here are five possible options, amongst the many, for how people view Halloween.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The opposition: Current popular texts often suggest a sinister or pagan origin for Halloween. Those holding to this view often oppose any traditional Halloween celebrations.<\/li>\n
  2. The scholar: Some scholars argue that such stories are recent inventions. They often embrace the festivities, but want to study the origins, so they miss the good parties.<\/li>\n
  3. The critic: Others believe Halloween is so influenced by consumerism that its origins are irrelevant. They may join the opposition or the celebration depending on their tolerance for consumerism.<\/li>\n
  4. The saint: Some hold to a view that Halloween is a development from \u201cAll Saints Day.\u201d People in this camp generally either embrace or tolerate the day, and try to at least acknowledge the faithful who have gone before us. There seems to be a lot of research to support this view.<\/li>\n
  5. The neighbor: Others may or may not know about the various theories, but they focus on the chance to get to know their neighbors and share some candy. This is the group I want to spend the holiday with. They have the most fun.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Regardless of which group fits you, try to consider the amount of thought behind all five. Whether you agree or disagree with someone\u2019s view, try to be gracious. Faithful Christians may believe it\u2019s important to celebrate a variation of All Saint\u2019s Day, or they may be uncomfortable with a holiday of uncertain origin. Either way, they\u2019re trying to be faithful.<\/p>\n

    Whether your neighbors celebrate Halloween or not, find out why. At the very least, you\u2019ll get to know your neighbors better. If you\u2019re lucky, you may even get some chocolate out of it.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Rev. Derek Davenport \u201905\/’17 <\/em>is a PTS alumnus of the Master of Divinity (MDiv) Program and Master of Sacred Theology (ThM), between which he served at a church in Orlando, Fla., for five years. Derek also participated the Seminary’s Miller Summer Youth Institute<\/a>. He serves as a preacher in Western Pennsylvania, researches church symbolism<\/a>\u00a0on his\u00a0<\/em>website,<\/em>\u00a0and tweets at\u00a0<\/em>@DerekRDavenport<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is such a tricky time of year. Some people get pretty excited about Halloween. Others get offended. Just this last weekend I was asked a question. \u201cWhy do some Christians celebrate Halloween and some don\u2019t?\u201d That question has another (more pointed) version. \u201cIs it okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween?\u201d For me, the short…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry","category-theological-reflection"],"yoast_head":"\r\nChristians and Halloween? - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it okay for Christians to celebrate Halloween? 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