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14)
or Roman ones ? This, as she had
learned in past times, was not possible.
There remained only one other way.
Let the recently converted pagans
keep certain of their heathen festivals,
such as Halloween or All Souls' Day -
but label it "Christian." Of course the
Germans were asked not to pray to their
ancient pagan gods on this day. They
must now use this day to commemorate
the death of "saints."
If a pagan practice or festival could
not be forbidden, it was reasoned, "let
it be tamed." Thus many were per–
suaded to
transfer
devotion from their
former gods to the Christian God. So it
was with the festival of
Al/ Soulr Eve.
Notice:
"Thus, at the first promulgation of
Christianity to the Gentile nations ...
they cottld
1101
be persuaded to 1·elin–
quish
many of their superstitions, which,
rather than forego altogether, they chose
to
blend
and
incorporate
with the new
faith"
(Popular Antiqttities of Great
Britain,
John Brand, p. xi).
And- In Our Day!
Now come clown to the twentieth
century. You'll be surprised to what
extent we have inherited pagan rites
and ceremonies from our forefathers, so
obvious in the celebration of Halloween.
What about you and your children?
What comes to your mind when think–
ing about Halloween? Weird and
frightening masks
-
persons portrayed
as witches and demom.
Pumpkins and
turnips hollowed out in the shape of
eerie-looking
faces! Lighted candles are
placed inside to help bring out the more
frightful side of these carvings. Dough
is baked into small figurines
resembling
witches, and spider's web cakes
are
baked by the dozen for this occasion.
Children, dressed up in revoltiog cos–
tumes, are let loose on the neighbors.
The
Good Howekeeping Book of
Entertainment,
on page
168,
has a sec–
tion on what to do on Halloween.
Notice the astonishing advice given!
"Halloween decorations are quite as
important as the food. When planning
Wide WoriJ Photo
A Central Park "spook-in" held in 1966 for over 20,000 participating
children. The "festivities" turned into a Donnybrook when free gifts were
offered.
them, remember that if the room is to
be dimly lit (preferably by candle and
firelight)
the decorations must be bold
to be effective.
"Orange, black and red,
the devii's
colors,
are the colors associated with
Halloween and
this scheme shotdd be
carried ottt
as far as possible . . . Have
paper streamers and lanterns hanging
from the ceiling, or, if you would like
to have something Jess usual, you could
make a giant
spide1~s
web
with black
and orange strings, or in narrow strips
of crepe papee coming from the four
corners of the room, complete with a
large spider
-
one of the
devii's
favorite followers ."
Notice where the stress líes!
Read further of the black magic asso–
ciated with this festival. "To decorate
the walls, make large silhouettes of
cats,
bats, owls and witches
011
broom–
sticks
. . .
For the supper table small
witches with broomsticks
can be made
by using lollipops on 4-inch sticks...
Weird lanterns, witch balls, and
witches' cauldrons are sorne other
objects, the book suggests, which must
fit into the evening somehow.
How pagan can you get?
Halloween and other common festi–
vals which people observe in the Chris–
tian-professing world have
no Biblicai
basis.
They originated in paganism.
The testimony of history stamps Hal–
loween as a
heathen
festival. It's built
on a
pagan fotmdation .
lt's time we question the
origin
of
the practices we follow.
The Origin of Our Ideas
Of course, right here many people
might say, "Well, what
difference
does
it make? We don't worship any
demons. lt's all harmless fun for the
kiddies."
Yet, it is a "religious" holiday. And
religion is the obedieuce, service, adora–
tion rendered to the object of one's wor–
ship.
It
presupposes profession, practice
or observance of whatever belief and
practice - in this case Halloween - as
required by some
SUPERIOR AUTHORITY.
Since this holiday is called "Christian"
one assumes that the authority cited
would be the Superior Authority of the
Christian
faith - Jesus Christ. The
shocking point, however, is that
NO–
WHERE
can you find He commands,
sanctioos or alludes to this holiday in
the Bible.
It
is
time we discover the
SOURCE
of
our religious beliefs and find out
WHETHER
we ought to observe them.
To understand where our religious,
political, social ideas have come from
- and whether we ought to follow
them - you need our
FREE
article,
"Why God ls Not Real To Most
People."
This article explains why we need to
be careful what we
careiessly take
for
granted and offhandedly practice.
O