Outlaw Christmas and Haloween?

Did you know that Christmas is a Pagan holiday? Its origins are a festival called Saturnalia. Beginning on December 15th, the Romans held this seven-day celebration in honor of Saturn, god of agriculture. The winter solstice often fell around December 25 on the Julian calendar—following these seven days of feasting, revelry, and merrymaking. To commemorate the lengthening of days marked by this solstice, many Romans also enacted rituals that glorified Mithra, the god of light from ancient Persia.


Maybe we should outlaw Christmas in our churches

The Roman Catholic Church had the habit of absorbing pagan traditions into Christendom, soon converting this holiday commemorating the birth of the sun god into Christ Mass, a ceremony honoring the birth of the Son of God, whose actual date of birth is uncertain.

Halloween or All Hallow Eve is a similar story. The Celtic festival of Samhain (sow en) was a festival marking the beginning of the winter or Dark half of the year. The day before Samhain is the last day of summer (or the old year) and the day after Samhain is the first day of winter (or of the new year). Being “between” seasons or years, Samhain was (and is) considered a very magical time, when the dead walk among the living and the veils between past, present and future may be lifted in prophecy and divination.

You can begin to see some of Halloween’s traditions.

The church again chose to absorb and transform the holiday rather than fight it outright. It began as a tradition of honoring those people who gave up their life for their faith – the martyrs. All Saints Day or All Hallows Day. The Night before All Hallows Day thus becomes All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are going to absorb Halloween by laughing at death and other things that cause us fear. At our Wednesday night dinner and party and again on Sunday with our recognition of the saints in our life that have died in this past year.