The question of whether or not to celebrate Halloween is a matter of personal conviction rather than a clear biblical command. Many Christians believe it is okay to celebrate Halloween. And many Christians believe it is not okay to celebrate Halloween. Both arguments make valid points and base their decisions on the Bible. When thinking about whether it is right for your family to celebrate this holiday, it is important to look at both sides of the debate. It is also important to remember that celebrating or not celebrating Halloween is not a gospel matter and should not be a cause of division in the family of God.
In the following paragraphs, we will first look at the arguments for celebrating Halloween. Then, we will look at the arguments against celebrating Halloween. Finally, we will conclude with a note about October 31st that all Christians should rally around and celebrate together.
Arguments For Christians Celebrating Halloween
Halloween is a fun day that brings communities together and allows kids to dress up and have fun in a healthy way. It often uses the universal appeal of candy to draw people together, and it provides an opportunity for individual Christians and churches to share the gospel with the unbelievers around them. There are certainly aspects of Halloween that are anti-Christian and should be avoided. Christians must not fall into the Wiccan practices of witchcraft and Satanism. And they must not open themselves up to the occult. But dressing up in non-scary and non-evil costumes and collecting candy is not sinful.
Modern Halloween practices are not explicitly Christian or biblical, but they also aren’t explicitly pagan. For the average family, no one is dressing up or carving pumpkins to scare away evil spirits. They do it because it is clean fun. Most people do not even know the history behind Halloween, so they are not participating in the sinful pagan festivals of the past.
The reality is that God is good and redeems and brings good out of evil. That is the essence of the gospel, that He came to redeem sinners (Romans 5:8). Christians should, therefore, be aware of the fact that their costume choices matter. They should take careful measures not to participate in occult practices or witchcraft. And they should make their decision with the glory of God at the forefront of their minds. But they should also rest in the fact that God through Jesus has set His people free (Galatians 5:1).
Halloween is one of the nights that highlights the great need for the spread of the gospel. It is undeniably a night in which sin and darkness are tangible. Christians should clearly celebrate Halloween in a way that is different than the world. But they are called to be the light of Christ. They aren’t called to hide their light but to shine it brightly for all to see. And what greater time for Christians is there to share the good news of Jesus?
Arguments Against Christians Celebrating Halloween
Halloween originated in pagan culture with explicitly pagan purposes. It is directly tied to the occult, and it is dangerous for Christians because it acts as a doorway to invite evil into their lives. Carving pumpkins, gathering candy from neighbors, and decorating with black cats and spiders might seem harmless. But the purposes behind these activities are ungodly and spiritually dangerous.
Modern-day Halloween practices are a merger between the ancient Celtic harvest festival, which fell on October 31st, and the official Catholic day of honoring saints, which fell on November 1st. The Celtic festival was a day to celebrate fall and the coming harvest. These pagan participants lit fires and dressed up in costumes to scare away ghosts. Catholics began to use some of these practices in their own celebration of All Saints Day. They began their festivities on the night before, which came to be known as All Hallows Eve. Over time, All Hallows Eve became Halloween.
Thus, from the very beginning, Halloween has always included elements that are anti-gospel. The legends behind popular Halloween traditions are also concerning. The citizens of Ireland initially started the practice of carving turnips (pumpkins in the modern era) with scary faces for the purpose of scaring away evil spirits. The popularity of ghosts encourages the anti-biblical idea of the living fraternizing with the dead. And the practice of trick-or-treating likely surged due to appeasing the spirits with food offerings or trading food in exchange for prayers for the dead.
Black cats often symbolized the devil himself and were frequently connected with witches and witchcraft. Candles and bonfires were associated with providing dead souls guidance on their journey in the afterlife, and bobbing for apples was a fortune-telling activity about future spouses. Even the colors black and orange point back to the pagan Celtic festival. Every element of Halloween connects people to a long history of devil worship. It celebrates evil, darkness, and death, and it is not pleasing to God in any way (Leviticus 20:5-7, Deuteronomy 18:10-14, Ephesians 5:7-15).
Uniting Together on October 31st 
But Halloween is not the only significant event that takes place on October 31st. This day in the year 1517 was the day Martin Luther hung his 95 theses on the door of the local church to draw attention to the need for reform. In his day, the church leaders had made the church into a business. They were making a profit by telling people that they could buy the salvation of their dead relatives. And they held the exclusive right to read and interpret Scripture.
As Christians, we should come together to celebrate the heart of Reformation Day whether we are reformed in our theology or not. We should all recognize the value of the Reformation, for it called leaders to accountability and made Scripture available to everyone. It made faithfulness to God’s Word a priority, and it rejected teaching that blatantly contradicted God’s revelation in the Bible. So, regardless of whether you choose to participate in Halloween, you can make October 31st a day of celebration!