Pantheon of Rome: A Symbol of Unity Among Confusion
By COGwriter
Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?
Sounds like an easy question.
Yet, many people around the world celebrate Halloween, which came from paganism.
People, at least in the USA, are expecting to spend more than ever in 2025 to observe it:
September 18, 2025
Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $13.1 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The figure is up from $11.6 billion last year and exceeds the previous $12.2 billion record set in 2023. https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-consumer-survey-finds-halloween-spending-to-reach-record-13-1-billion
Some believe it is harmless fun.
Some believe Halloween is a Christian holiday.
But might not Halloween be a part of the pagan threat that has long pushed against true Christianity?
Could accepting it and other aspects of paganism push people away from the truth?
The last writing that the murdered Charlie Kirk did in a book that was published, was the forward of a 2025 book titled Pagan Threat. We did a video related to that. Here is a link to our video: Charlie Kirk and the Pagan Threat.
But what is the truth about Halloween?
Here is a link to a related sermon: Halloween: A Pagan Threat!
Is it truly Christian or is it a basically long-accepted pagan threat?
Notice the following from Quad City Times of Illinois and Iowa:
Built from a hodgepodge of diverse parts, Halloween ... has been continually reinvented since its ancient origins as a Celtic pagan ceremony. Yet beneath the superhero costumes and bags of candy still beats the heart of the original.
The Celts lived in what’s now Ireland as far back as 500 B.C. They celebrated New Year’s Day on Nov. 1, which they called Samhain. They believed that leading up to the transition to the new year, the door between the worlds of the living and the dead swung open. The souls of the recently dead, previously trapped on Earth, could now pass to the underworld. Since they thought spirits came out after dark, this supernatural activity reached its peak the night before, on Oct. 31.
The Celts invented rituals to protect themselves during this turbulent time. They put on costumes and disguises to fool the spirits. They lit bonfires and stuck candles inside carved turnips – the first jack-o’-lanterns – to scare away any spirits looking for mischief. If all else failed, they carried a pocketful of treats to pay off wayward spirits and send them back on their way to the underworld.
Sound familiar? ...
When Catholics arrived in Ireland around A.D. 300, they opened another door between worlds, unleashing considerable conflict. They sought to convert the Celts by changing their pagan rituals into Christian holidays. They rechristened Nov. 1 “All Saints Day,” which today remains a celebration of Catholic saints.
But the locals held on to their old beliefs. They believed the dead still wandered the Earth. So the living still dressed in costumes. This activity still took place the night before. It just had a new name to fit the Catholic calendar: “All Hallows Eve,” which is where we got the name Halloween. 01/18/24 https://qctimes.com/life-entertainment/article_278599bc-5530-5840-b944-3eafcf492d17.html?mode=nowapp
So, Halloween has pagan origins.
Let's now look at something from the BBC:
Samhain to Soulmass: The Pagan origins of familiar Halloween rituals
31 January 2024
With its goblins, goosebumps and rituals – from bobbing for apples to dressing up as vampires and ghosts – Halloween is one of the world's biggest holidays. It's celebrated across the world, from Poland to the Philippines, and nowhere as extravagantly as in the US, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20241030-samhain-to-soulmass-the-pagan-origins-of-familiar-halloween-rituals
Notice that the USA is singled out for its extravagant celebrations of this pagan holiday. This was not something that people like Charlie Kirk were concerned about.
Continuing with the BBC article:
... it's no surprise Halloween is often viewed as a modern US invention. In fact, it dates back more than 2,000 years, to Ireland and an ancient Celtic fire festival called Samhain. The exact origins of Samhain predate written records but according to the Horniman Museum: "There are Neolithic tombs in Ireland that are aligned with the Sun on the mornings of Samhain and Imbolc [in February], suggesting these dates have been important for thousands of years".
Celebrated usually from 31 October to 1 November, the religious rituals of Samhain (pronounced "sow-win", meaning summer's end), focused on fire, as winter approached. Anthropologist and pagan Lyn Baylis tells the BBC: "Fire rituals to bring light into the darkness were vital to Samhain, which was the second most important fire festival in the Pagan Celtic world, the first being Beltane, on 1 May." Samhain and Beltane are part of the Wheel of the Year, an annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed in Paganism (a "polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion", says the Pagan Federation).
Samhain was the pivotal point of the Celtic Pagan new year, a time of rebirth – and death. "Pagans had three harvests: Lammas, harvest of the corn, on 1 August; the one of fruit and vegetables at autumn equinox, 21 September; and Halloween, the third," says Baylis. At this time animals that couldn't survive winter were culled, to ensure the other animals' survival. "So there was a lot of death around that time, and people knew there would be deaths in their villages during the harsh winter months." Other countries, notably Mexico, celebrate The Day of the Dead around this time to honour the deceased.
At Samhain, Celtic Pagans in Ireland would put out their home fires and light one giant bonfire in the village, which they would dance around and act out stories of death, regeneration and survival. As the whole village joined in to dance, animals and crops were burned as sacrifices to Celtic deities, to thank them for the previous year's harvest and encourage their goodwill for the next.
It was believed that at this time the veil between this world and the spirit world was at its thinnest – allowing the spirits of the dead to pass through and mingle with the living. The sacred energy of the rituals, it was believed, allowed the living and the dead to communicate, and gave Druid priests and Celtic shamans heightened perception.
And this is where the dress-up factor came in – costumes and ugly masks were worn to scare away malevolent spirits believed to have been set free from the realm of the dead. This was also known as "mumming" or "guising".
Those early Samhain dressing-up rituals began to change when Pope Gregory 1 (590-604) arrived in Britain from Rome to convert Pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. The Gregorian mission decreed that Samhain festivities must incorporate Christian saints "to ward off the sprites and evil creatures of the night", says Baylis. All Souls Day, 1 November, was created by the Church, "so people could still call on their dead to aid them"; also known as All Hallows, 31 October later became All Hallows' Eve, later known as Halloween.
"There is a long tradition of costuming of sorts that goes back to Hallow Mass when people prayed for the dead," explains Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University in Canada. "But they also prayed for fertile marriages." Centuries later boy choristers in the churches dressed up as virgins, he says. "So there was a certain degree of cross-dressing in the ceremony of All Hallow's Eve."
Cross-dressing is condemned as an abomination in the Bible:
5 A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)
The Bible clearly condemns cross-dressing. Allow me to add that dressing as some type of seductress is probably the most common type of Halloween costume for young women. Notice how women are supposed to dress:
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. (1 Timothy 2:9)
The term "propriety" refers to rules of polite, not provocative, public behavior.
Woman are to be dressed in modest apparel. They are not supposed to dress like seductresses. Three times the Book of Proverbs declares that a seductress is an "immoral woman" (Proverbs 2:16, 5:20, 7:5, NKJV).
Paul also wrote that "young women: are "to be discreet, chaste ... that the word of God may not be blasphemed" (Titus 2:4-5)--hence not displaying immodesty, like many do with Halloween.
Now, let's look at something about from the Book of Proverbs:
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; ... (Proverbs 2:6)
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; (Proverbs 2:16-18)
The wisdom God gives is to help both men and women! No Christian woman would want God to label her as an immoral woman and no man (or woman) should cross-dress. Do not forget your covenant with God! Christians are to dress and act properly.
Now, back to more from the BBC article:
Echoes of Samhain also live on today in fire practices. Carving lanterns from root vegetables was one tradition, although turnips, not pumpkins, were first used. The practice is said to have grown from a Celtic myth, about a man named Jack who made a pact with the devil, but who was so deceitful that he was banned from heaven and hell – and condemned to roam the darkness, with only a burning coal in a carved-out turnip to light the way.
In Ireland, people made lanterns, placing turnips with carved faces in their window to ward off an apparition called "Jack of the Lantern" or Jack-o'-Lantern. In the 19th Century, Irish immigrants took the custom with them to the US. ...
Leaving food and sweetly spiced "soul cakes" or "soulmass" cakes on the doorstep was said to ward off bad spirits. Households deemed less generous with their offerings would receive a "trick" played on them by bad spirits. This has translated into modern-day trick or treating.
So, there are pagan origins associated with modern Halloween practices.
As far as pushing paganism, notice the following from a Roman Catholic writer:
Nov. 1st was the day of the Celtic Summer’s End feast of Samhain, the day when the dead returned to the earth. We have retained some of these pagan elements to Halloween, as is true of Christmas and Easter.
Why would a pope put the Catholic celebration of the dead on top of the pagans’ celebrations of the dead? Because the Catholic feasts are in continuity and fulfill the meaning of the pagan ones… (Killian Brian. Halloween, as autumn celebration, reminder God’s name is hallowed. Catholic Online International News. 10/31/06. http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=21818).
Many practices that people associate with the Christianity that the world professes came from pagan holidays. (For more on Mummers, please see Canadian & Philadelphian Mummers Parades: Another tie to Saturnalia.)
But this started before Halloween was adopted. Notice an explanation for why there was the adoption of paganism given by the late Roman Catholic Cardinal Newman:
Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship to evangelical use, … the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or to sanctify the existing rites and customs of the population, as well as the philosophy of the educated class.
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus supplies the first instance of this economy. … The bodies of the Martyrs were distributed in different places, and the people assembled and made merry, as the year came round, holding festival in their honour. This indeed was a proof of his great wisdom … for, perceiving that the childish and untrained populace were retained in their idolatrous error by creature comforts, in order that what was of first importance should at any rate be secured to them, viz. that they should look to God in place of their vain rites, he allowed them to be merry, jovial, and gay at the monuments of the holy Martyrs, as if their behaviour would in time undergo a spontaneous change into greater seriousness and strictness, since faith would lead them to it; which has actually been the happy issue in that population, all carnal gratification having turned into a spiritual form of rejoicing.”
There is no reason to suppose that the licence here spoken of passed the limits of harmless though rude festivity; for it is observable that the same reason, the need of holydays for the multitude, is assigned by Origen, St. Gregory’s master, to explain the establishment of the Lord’s Day also, and the Paschal and the Pentecostal festivals, which have never been viewed as unlawful compliances; and, moreover, the people were in fact eventually reclaimed from their gross habits by his indulgent policy, a successful issue which could not have followed an accommodation to what was sinful. (Newman JH, Cardinal. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. J. Toovey, 1845, p. 358).
Cardinal Newman explained pagan items were considered to be an evangelical tool (ibid, p. 358). Please understand that the appeal to “the philosophy of the educated class” means that pagan philosophy (as taught by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and expanded by people like Clement and Origen) was to be accepted.
Furthermore, we see that Gregory Thaumaturgus (as known as "Gregory the Wonder Worker") decided that it would be a good evangelizing tool to be a friend of the world allow pagan and other demonic worship practices. Gregory was a major compromiser whose actions later provided support for others to compromise and change even more from the original catholic faith.
Just because it was right in his eyes or YOUR eyes, does NOT mean it is right. The word of God warns:
8 You shall not at all do as we are doing here today — every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. (Deuteronomy 12:8)
The Bible repeatedly warns to repent from unclean pagan practices (e.g. 2 Corinthians 6:17), not to compromise with them.
Here is something from a Protestant source:
But what of the fact that December 25 was the date of a pagan festival? Does this not prove that Christmas is pagan? No, it does not. Instead, it proves that Christmas was established as a rival celebration to the pagan festival. That is, what Christians did was to say, “Rather than celebrate in immorality the birth of Mithra, a false god who was never really born and who cannot save you, let us celebrate in joyful righteousness the birth of Jesus, the true God incarnate who is the Savior of the world.” ( Should Christians celebrate Christmas? Author: CRI Statement • Article ID: DC275 • Updated: Apr 13, 2023 • Published: Apr 9, 2009 https://www.equip.org/articles/should-christians-celebrate-christmas/)
Well, the Bible never endorses the idea of inventing holidays to rival those of the pagans. Furthermore, the Greco-Romans did not only chose the date of a pagan celebration, they also included many of the pagan practices. Christmas is clearly pagan. Plus, Protestants, as a rule, also refuse to observe God's Holy Days which are in the Bible and were also observed by early Christians--as pretty much all scholars who have examined that issue realize.
Consider that Emperor Constantine became a highly devout follower of the sun-god after he said he saw an apparition of the sun god Sol in a grove of Apollo in Gaul in 310 (discussed in Rodgers, Barbara S. “Constantine's Pagan Vision,”Byzantion, vol. 50, 1980, pp. 259–78). He also observed the sun-god Mithras' birthday on December 25th. He also seems to be have instrumental in getting the Greco-Romans to celebrate December 25th as Jesus' birthday:
The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336AD, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December. (Why is Christmas Day on the 25th December? http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/25th.shtml accessed 12/07/15)
Let me add that when Emperor Constantine claimed to see a cross in the sky, that was NOT a universally accepted symbol of Christianity. Mithraism had a cross and initiates were marked with a cross. Emperor Constantine was instrumental in getting a cross to be accepted by the compromising churches he worked with.
In medieval Europe (especially between the 9th and 15th centuries), the cross became part of folk rituals to ward off evil:
People would etch or carve crosses on:
Doors and windows to protect the home
Fields to protect crops
Tools or weapons for divine blessing
The ancient Druids used costumes and fires to try to ward of evil on Samhain, which is not that different than Roman Catholics uses crosses to attempt to do so.
Here is more related to Emperor Constantine:
When Emperor Constantine I declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, it is said that the church purposefully co-opted the date of December 25 to incentivize pagans to convert. After all, it was better to ease them into the new faith by replacing their traditions rather than by changing them.
Thus, Jesus, who is supposed to bring new light into the spiritual state of the world, replaced the Roman god of literal light. His birth was seen by the early adopters of Christmas as a logical symbol for the birth of a new era whose positive change was reflected in the natural world. Some of the most iconic symbols of Christmas, like the decorated tree, the presents, and the date, are the result of syncretism between Christianity and pagan Roman rituals.
Some Christians believe allowing these two to mesh is a mistake. Otoniel Morraz, who stopped celebrating Christmas five years ago, says: “As a Christian, if the lord warns me, ‘don’t do as the pagans did and say that you do it for me’ then I don’t do it.” (Why Some Christians Are Forsaking Christmas To them, Jesus is not the reason for the season. by Mariana Zapata December 21, 2016 https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-some-christians-are-forsaking-christmas)
Notice the following from The Catholic Encyclopedia:
Constantine the Great… Constantine can rightfully claim the title of Great, for he turned the history of the world into a new course and made Christianity...the religion of the State… it is easy to understand that many of the emperors yielded to the delusion that they could unite all their subjects in the adoration of the one sun-god who combined in himself the Father-God of the Christians and the much-worshipped Mithras; thus the empire could be founded anew on unity of religion. Even Constantine…cherished this mistaken belief… Could not Sol Deus Invictus, to whom even Constantine dedicated his coins for a long time, or Sol Mithras Deus Invictus, venerated by Diocletian and Galerius, become the supreme god of the empire? Constantine may have pondered over this. Nor had he absolutely rejected the thought even after a miraculous event had strongly influenced him in favour of the God of the Christians... It is true that the believers in Mithras also observed Sunday as well as Christmas. Consequently Constantine speaks not of the day of the Lord, but of the everlasting day of the sun. (Herbermann C., Georg Gp. Constantine the Great. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908).
Mithraism A pagan religion consisting mainly of the cult of the ancient Indo-Iranian Sun-god Mithra. It entered Europe from Asia Minor after Alexander's conquest, spread rapidly over the whole Roman Empire at the beginning of our era, reached its zenith during the third century, and vanished under the repressive regulations of Theodosius at the end of the fourth century...Helios Mithras is one god...Sunday was kept holy in honour of Mithra, and the sixteenth of each month was sacred to him as mediator. The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun, unconquered by the rigours of the season (Arendzen J. Mithraism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911).
The birthday of the sun god Mithras was what Constantine observed and he wanted his followers to observe. And it ended up getting officially adopted by the Greco-Roman bishops.
Notice also the following from Roman Catholic priest Dwight Longenecker:
Catholicism and Paganism ...
Do similarities between pagan religions and Christianity disprove the Christian claims?
To understand the relationship between pagan religions and Christianity it’s important to understand the Catholic idea of the ‘development of doctrine.’ This was first set out by fifth-century theologian Vincent of Lerins. In this excerpt from his writings he explains how truth develops within the Church. ...
Vincent of Lerins writes:
Is there to be no development of religion in the Church of Christ? Certainly, there is to be development and on the largest scale ... But it must truly be development of the faith, not alteration of the faith. Development means that each thing expands to be itself, while alteration means that a thing is changed from one thing into another.
The understanding, knowledge and wisdom of one and all, of individuals as well as of the whole Church, ought then to make great and vigorous progress with the passing of the ages and the centuries, but only along its own line of development, that is, with the same doctrine, the same meaning and the same import. The religion of souls should follow the law of development of bodies. Though bodies develop and unfold their component parts with the passing of the years, they always remain what they were. There is a great difference between the flower of childhood and the maturity of age, but those who become old are the very same people who were once young. Though the condition and appearance of one and the same individual may change, it is one and the same nature, one and the same person… the doctrine of the Christian religion should properly follow these laws of development, that is, by becoming firmer over the years, more ample in the course of time, more exalted as it advances in age. ...
The most primitive form of religion is animism—in which people sense the divine presence within the forces of nature, and they consider the divine presence to be manifested in the natural objects. So they worship the spirits of trees or rivers, or they worship the sun god or the moon goddess. This is not completely wrong. It is instead an understandable first step. It is the infant stage of religious consciousness. ...
It is true that the Divine Presence is evident in the works of creation. In a sense it is also true that the Divine Presence is present within the works of creation. However, in recognizing the immanence of God in creation the animist sometimes misses the transcendence of God.
Animism develops into polytheism, in which the many manifestations of the Divine Presence become individual gods themselves. ... In the ancient Middle East, in Arabian tribes and in the neo-Babylonian empire polytheism began to develop. The idea grew that there was one God above, and greater than, all the other gods. ...
The monotheism of the Hebrews is a startling development, and a fascinating next step. ...
The Catholic therefore sees and recognizes the connections between the ancient pagan religions and Christianity, but understands them not as disproving the Christian claims, but on the contrary, as validating them.
The pagan religions were the testing ground. They were the early stages of what came naturally from them. The continuity therefore with earlier religious forms shows first Judaism, and then Christianity as being growth in maturity, and finally a full flowering of the religious consciousness and understanding.
So, did Christianity develop from paganism? Yes and no. It developed from paganism as a flower grows from a seed. The growth and development process from animism through paganism to Christianity can be traced logically. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/catholicism-and-paganism
So, Vincent of Lerins considers his church is using wisdom to adopt pagan practices. That would be wisdom of the world, not God's wisdom. But adopting paganism is not Christian. It IS an alteration of the faith once for all delivered to the saints (e.g. Jude 3-4).
The Roman Catholic EWTN has the following at its website::
It must be borne in mind that some Christian festival observances spring from former pagan feasts, for which the primitive Church found a counterpart to draw the people from other allegiances to its own. Pagan feasts in honor of the earth, the coming of spring, the reaping of the harvest, were given a Christian connotation; the ancient fire and water worship of pagan times became the blessing of water and the lighting of fires in Christian worship. Even the old names have often remained in certain languages: in English the word Easter is from the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Oestre, and Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "Lencten," meaning spring. Once the goddess Flora was honored in May; today for Christians this is the month of the Blessed Virgin. Easter eggs and Christmas trees go far back into antiquity--the tree perhaps to Druid days, the colored eggs to ancient Persia and Egypt.
The barbaric and cruel practices that marked many of the pagan observances have gone, but some superstitious elements remain, and in many countries have been added to by folklore and customs of peasant and local origin. (Feast Day Cookbook. David McKay Company, Inc., New York, Copyright, 1951 by Katherine Burton and Helmut Ripperger. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/feast-day-cookbook-10445 accessed 09/27/25)
Consider the following words of Nehemiah:
29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30 Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. (Nehemiah 13:29-30)
Nehemiah was a leader that God appointed and he rightly stood against foreign pagan contamination that affected what was supposed to be the religion of God’s people. Today, as the New Testament also supports (e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:21), true Christian ministers are to stand against pagan contamination.
Here is a report related to a former Satanist, who became a Protestant minister:
October 5, 2022
As the annual debate nears about whether Christians should celebrate Halloween, one man who spent 25 years immersed in Satanism issues a strong warning. John Ramirez, a born-again minister who strives to “make Jesus Christ proud,” tells CBN News he once “sold my soul to the devil.” He got married on Halloween in a “demonic wedding” and baptized his 11-year-old daughter “to the dark side.”
Satanism was his entire life, Ramirez tells Charlene Aaron. He “breathed, ate, and slept witchcraft,” trying to “capture” people for the devil by astral-projecting and placing curses.
When asked why he does not advise Christians to celebrate Halloween, even through Trunk or Treat events or biblical costumes, Ramirez says, “I don’t see how you can cheat on God…on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Satanists don’t come hang out with Christians on Good Friday, he notes, so “why would you put your kids, your family…your whole eternity on a demonic altar? … Why would you bring that kind of curse into your house and curse your family for three to four generations?”
Don’t be fooled by fun aspects of the secular holiday, Ramirez warns parents. “People from different walks of life pray over these candies,” including witches. Then kids put that stuff into their bodies.
Pointing to the Fall in Genesis 3, Ramirez says Adam and Eve lost everything through one mistake. Though they were made in God’s image, Satan tricked them with sin and changed their identity. So even if you dress kids up as Bible figures, observing Halloween involves “changing your kids’ identity.” That, he adds, “is the trick of the devil.”
Ramirez quotes Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, as saying, “I want to thank every Christian parent for allowing their child to celebrate Halloween—the devil’s holiday—one time a year.” (The church denies LaVey said that.) https://www.kingdomlifestyleministries.org/halloween-is-a-trick-of-the-devil-warns-satanist-turned-christian/ accessed 10/02/24
As far as Anton LaVey goes, in 1969 wrote The Satanic Bible. On page 96 (in the 1976 version) it mentions Halloween:
After one’s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht and Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve). (Lavey A, Gilmore P. The Satanic Bible. Avon, September 1, 1976, p. 96–note it is on page 53 of an online version I found also).
It is interesting that Halloween is considered one of the three most important holidays to these Satanist worshipers (birthdays are actually number one according to Anton Lavey’s book–Walpurgisnacht is observed sort of like another Halloween).
The Bible never encourages the celebration of Halloween, birthdays, or other pagan worship practices. Instead, it tends to speak in a negative manner concerning them (cf. Matthew 14:6-11; Jeremiah 10; 20:14-18).
The Bible teaches the following:
2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: (Jeremiah 10:2-3, KJV)
Or as the NET Bible puts it:
2 The Lord says,
“Do not start following pagan religious practices.
Do not be in awe of signs that occur in the sky
even though the nations hold them in awe.
3 For the religion of these people is worthless. (Jeremiah 10:2-3, NET)
It is vain and worthless to observe pagan holidays or to incorporate versions of pagan practices in the worship of the true God..
Yet, the Church of Rome made modifications to put them in.
Notice the following:
29 When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations before you, where you go to possess them, and you take their place and dwell in their land, 30 Take heed to yourself that you do not become ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not ask about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods that I may also do likewise?' 31 You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD, which He hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods. 32 Whatsoever thing that I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it." (Deuteronomy 12:29-32, AFV)
God does NOT want pagan worship practices added to worship of Him.
Yet, by pushing relic "veneration" of dead people, that is another way the Church of Rome has done that.
Ancient pagan Greeks sometimes venerated relics. As basically have the Buddhists--they build large mounds called dagobas which are their shrines and temples, and they normally have a relic in them (though not always a body part--could be clothing, jewels, etc).
In his book, Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop has the following:
In Greece, the superstitious regard to relics, and especially to the bones of the deified heroes, was a conspicuous part of the popular idolatry. The work of Pausanias, the learned Grecian antiquary, is full of reference to this superstition. Thus, of the shoulder-blade of Pelops, we read that, after passing through divers adventures, being appointed by the oracle of Delphi, as a divine means of delivering the Eleans from a pestilence under which they suffered, it "was committed," as a sacred relic, "to the custody" of the man who had fished it out of the sea, and of his posterity after him. The bones of the Trojan Hector were preserved as a precious deposit at Thebes. "They" [the Thebans], says Pausanias, "say that his [Hector's] bones were brought hither from Troy, in consequence of the following oracle: 'Thebans, who inhabit the city of Cadmus, if you wish to reside in your country, blest with the possession of blameless wealth, bring the bones of Hector, the son of Priam, into your dominions from Asia, and reverence the hero agreeably to the mandate of Jupiter.'" Many other similar instances from the same author might be adduced. The bones thus carefully kept and reverenced were all believed to be miracle-working bones.
From the earliest periods, the system of Buddhism has been propped up by relics, that have wrought miracles at least as well vouched as those wrought by the relics of St. Stephen, or by the "Twenty Martyrs." In the "Mahawanso," one of the great standards of the Buddhist faith, reference is thus made to the enshrining of the relics of Buddha: "The vanquisher of foes having perfected the works to be executed within the relic receptacle, convening an assembly of the priesthood, thus addressed them: 'The works that were to be executed by me, in the relic receptacle, are completed. Tomorrow, I shall enshrine the relics. Lords, bear in mind the relics.'" Who has not heard of the Holy Coat of Treves, and its exhibition to the people? From the following, the reader will see that there was an exactly similar exhibition of the Holy Coat of Buddha: "Thereupon (the nephew of the Naga Rajah) by his supernatural gift, springing up into the air to the height of seven palmyra trees, and stretching out his arm brought to the spot where he was poised, the Dupathupo (or shrine) in which the DRESS laid aside by Buddho, as Prince Siddhatto, on his entering the priesthood, was enshrined...and EXHIBITED IT TO THE PEOPLE." This "Holy Coat" of Buddha was no doubt as genuine, and as well entitled to worship, as the "Holy Coat" of Treves. ...
Now, in the Asiatic Researches, a statement is made in regard to these relics of Buddha, which marvellously reveals to us the real origin of this Buddhist relic worship. The statement is this: "The bones or limbs of Buddha were scattered all over the world, like those of Osiris and Jupiter Zagreus. To collect them was the first duty of his descendants and followers, and then to entomb them. Out of filial piety, the remembrance of this mournful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one, with all possible marks of grief and sorrow till a priest announced that the sacred relics were at last found. This is practised to this day by several Tartarian tribes of the religion of Buddha; and the expression of the bones of the Son of the Spirit of heaven is peculiar to the Chinese and some tribes in Tartary."
Here, then, it is evident that the worship of relics is just a part of those ceremonies instituted to commemorate the tragic death of Osiris or Nimrod, who, as the reader may remember, was divided into fourteen pieces, which were sent into so many different regions infected by his apostacy and false worship, to operate in terrorem upon all who might seek to follow his example. When the apostates regained their power, the very first thing they did was to seek for these dismembered relics of the great ringleader in idolatry, and to entomb them with every mark of devotion. Thus does Plutarch describe the search: "Being acquainted with this even [viz., the dismemberment of Osiris], Isis set out once more in search of the scattered members of her husband's body, using a boat made of the papyrus rush in order more easily to pass through the lower and fenny parts of the country...And one reason assigned for the different sepulchres of Osiris shown in Egypt is, that wherever any one of his scattered limbs was discovered she buried it on the spot; though others suppose that it was owing to an artifice of the queen, who presented each of those cities with an image of her husband, in order that, if Typho should overcome Horus in the approaching contest, he might be unable to find the real sepulchre. Isis succeeded in recovering all the different members, with the exception of one, which had been devoured by the Lepidotus, the Phagrus, and the Oxyrhynchus, for which reason these fish are held in abhorrence by the Egyptians. To make amends, she consecrated the Phallus, and instituted a solemn festival to its memory." Not only does this show the real origin of relic worship it shows also that the multiplication of relics can pretend to the most venerable antiquity.
If, therefore, Rome can boast that she has sixteen or twenty holy coats, seven or eight arms of St. Matthew, two or three heads of St. Peter, this is nothing more than Egypt could do in regard to the relics of Osiris. Egypt was covered with sepulchres of its martyred god; and many a leg and arm and skull, all vouched to be genuine, were exhibited in the rival burying-places for the adoration of the Egyptian faithful. ... Rome, however to carry out the Babylonian system, has supplied the deficiency by means of the relics of the saints; and now the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul, of St. Thomas A' Beckett and St. Lawrence O'Toole, occupy the very same place in the worship of the Papacy as the relics of Osiris in Egypt, or of Zoroaster in Babylon.
Notice also something from the 21st century:
By incorporating familiar Pagan images, such as Celtic gods, the Green Man, and bicephalic heads within churches and cathedrals, church officials encouraged the populace to intermingle the two spiritual traditions in their mind supposedly easing their acceptance of the new religion and smoothing the transition from the old ways to the new. (Pesznecker S. Gargoyles: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry. Career Press, 2006, p. 85)
Book I, Chapter 30 of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, he quotes a letter that Pope Gregory I sent in 601 AD to Abbot Mellitus, who was part of the mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons. In that letter, Gregory advises that:
“The temples of the idols among that people should in no way be destroyed. But the idols which are in them must be destroyed. Let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said temples, let altars be built, and relics placed there. For if these temples are well built, it is necessary that they be converted from the worship of demons to the service of the true God.”
The Bible does not endorse the use of relics, which is an ancient pagan practice. It advocates their destruction (Numbers 30:51-52; Acts 19:19).
2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. (Deuteronomy 12:2-4)
Pagan places of worship were to be destroyed. In the New Testament pagan items of value were destroyed as well (Acts 19:19).
Interestingly, the powerful Roman Catholic archdiocese in Mexico City condemned Halloween observance as pagan in 2007, though it is still being observed by practicing Catholics there:
Mexico’s Roman Catholic church slammed Halloween as “damaging and against the faith” on Monday, as conservatives sought to stem celebration of the ghouls-and-goblins holiday and return to the country’s traditional Day of the Dead.
The U.S.-style holiday has made broad inroads in Mexico, with monster costumes almost as widely sold as the marigold flowers traditionally used to decorate relatives’ graves during Nov. 1-2 Day of the Dead ceremonies, when families build altars and leave food, drink and flowers for the dearly departed.
“Those who celebrate Halloween are worshipping a culture of death that is the product of a mix of pagan customs,” the Archdiocese of Mexico published in an article on its Web site Monday. “The worst thing is that this celebration has been identified with neo-pagans, Satanism and occult worship.”
The archdiocese urged parents not to let their children wear Halloween costumes or go trick-or-treating — instead suggesting Sunday school classes to “teach them the negative things about Halloween,” costume parties where children can dress up as Biblical characters, and candy bags complete with instructions to give friends a piece while telling them “God loves you.”…
Pre-Hispanic cultures celebrated a similar holiday in August, but after the Spanish conquest, historians say the date was changed to Nov. 1 to coincide with the Catholic holiday…
In another article, Onesimo Herrera-Flores complained that “Halloween, for a variety of reasons, has imposed itself on other nations, displacing native customs.”
Celebrating Halloween, he said, citing a church authority, is “like inviting Satan into your home.” (Mexico’s Catholic church slams Halloween; conservatives call for return to Day of Dead. Associated Press – Oct 29, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/29/america/LA-GEN-Mexico-Church-Halloween.php
In 2009, the Vatican itself took steps to condemn Halloween:
Vatican condemns Hallowe’en as anti-ChristianThe Vatican has condemned Hallowe’en as anti-Christian, saying it is based on a sinister and dangerous “undercurrent of occultism”.
Also notice:
… in recent years the Catholic church has been criticising, for instance, Halloween: it views Halloween as a symbol of subtle and dangerous secular values opposed to Christian ones; and it fears competition from its growing popularity. (Franco M. Is this the Vatican’s twilight? Guardian, August 5, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/aug/05/vatican-ambassadors-holy-see)
In the Philippines, Roman Catholic schools have discouraged Halloween:
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) has called on its member schools to shun Halloween parties…“Iwasan natin ang mga ganyang Halloween party kasi hindi naman Christian holidays… (Let’s avoid holding Halloween parties because Halloween is not a Christian holiday…),” CEAP president Fr. Gregg Bañaga reportedly said in a CBCP News article. The report also noted that the Catholic Church has been against the idea of glorifying evil during Halloween rites. (No more Halloween parties, Catholic schools told. GMA News, October 27, 2012. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/279915/news/nation/no-more-halloween-parties-catholic-schools-told).
It is good when religious leaders discourage those who profess Christ from observing pagan holidays with pagan practices.
Halloween is pagan and leaders in many professing Christian churches, including Roman Catholic ones, know this.
The Pantheon was originally a pagan shrine for multiple gods for the ancient Romans. Later, it was turned into a Roman Catholic shrine for multiple “saints.”
Pantheon of Rome: A Symbol of Unity Among Confusion
And, yes, it has connections to Halloween.
Halloween is the "all hallowed evening" before what is called All Saints' Day.
How All Saints’ Day actually became a universal holiday shows another type of pagan connection:
All Saints’ Day…It was first celebrated on May 13, A.D. 610, as the Feast of All Holy Martyrs, when the Emperor Phocas gave the ancient Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV as a church (All Saints’ Day. World Book, vol 1. Chicago, 1966: 354).
The Romans built the Pantheon as a temple in honor of all their gods. The name means of all the gods…Agrippa first built the famous Pantheon in Rome in 27 B.C. (Pantheon. World Book, vol 15. Chicago, 1966: 111).
Druid ... priests worshiped some gods similar to those of the Greeks and Romans, but under different names (Druid. World Book, vol 5. Chicago, 1966: 289).
Of course, some feel that although the Druids worshiped the pagan deities under different names that is wrong, yet they accept the change of the names of the “gods” in the Pantheon to the “Catholic saints” is perfectly acceptable.
Yet the Bible says of the heathen religions:
52 ,,, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places (Numbers 33:52)
Here are some comments from the Catholic Dictionary:
In the West, the feast was introduced by Pope Boniface the Fourth after he had dedicated, as the Church of the Blessed Virgin and the Martyrs, the Pantheon, which had been made over to him by the Emperor Phocas. The feast of the dedication was kept on the thirteenth of May. About 731 Gregory III. consecrated a chapel in St. Peter's Church in honour of all the saints, from which time All Saints' Day has been kept in Rome, as now, on the first of November. From about the middle of the ninth century, the feast came into general observance throughout the West. (Addis W, Arnold T. Catholic Dictionary, 6th ed. The Catholic Publication Society Co, 1887. Nihil Obstat. EDUARDUS S. KEOGH, CONG. ORAT., Censor Deputatu Imprimatur. HENRICUS EDUARDUS, CARD. ARCHIEP. WESTMONAST. Die 18 Dec., 1883. Imprimatur. John Card. McCloskey, Archbishop of New York. Feb. 14, 1884. Copyright, Lawrence Kehoe, 1884/1887. p20).
Here are some comments from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
All Saints' Day
In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). ( "All Saints' Day." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 11 Aug. 2013 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm>)
As far a careful reading of John Chrysostom's 74th homily (which supposedly is where he declared this observation according to The Catholic Encyclopedia) shows that he discussed the deaths of prophets, but it is not clear to me that John Chrysostom declared the “Christian” observation of something that resembles “All Saints’ Day.”
But even if he were to endorse it, John Chrysostom was not a true Christian, plus it obviously was not an original Christian practice.
Notice more from the above article in The Catholic Encyclopedia:
Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. ( "All Saints' Day." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.)
So, November 1st did not become the widespread practice until the 9th century--this is after the Church of Rome began dealing with many of the Druid faith which did observe the night of October 31st.
Here is a bit more on how and why the Pantheon became acceptable to the Roman Catholics:
In 607 A.D. the Roman Emperor Phocus defeated the Barbarians who were in control of Rome. The Pantheon in Rome, a pagan edifice which had been wrested from the barbarians, was given to pope Boniface IV. Originally, Emperor Hadrian built the Pantheon — around 100 A.D. He dedicated it to the pagan goddess Cybele and to the other Roman deities. This temple became the central place in Rome where the pagans honored and commemorated their gods. With this splendid edifice now falling into the hands of professing Christians, the question was, What should be done with it?
The pagans had dedicated it to Cybele and all their gods. But the Roman bishop now CONSECRATED IT TO THE VIRGIN MARY AND ALL THE SAINTS of both sexes (see “The Mysteries of All Nations”, Grant, p. 120). Thus this pagan building became “holy.” No more did the pagan Romans use this edifice to pray for their dead. It was now the professing Christians who employed the Pantheon in praying for their dead.
This re-dedication of the pagan temple to Mary and others occurred in 610 A.D. Now converted into a Christian shrine, an annual festival was instituted to commemorate the event. The day chosen was May 13.
This May 13 commemoration of the dead saints was known by the name of “All Saints Day.” It continued to be held in May for over two centuries — until 834 A.D. In that year the NAME and the DATE WERE CHANGED.
Notice! “The time of celebration was altered to the FIRST OF NOVEMBER, and it was then called ALL HALLOW” — from where we get the name Hallowe’en, ALL HALLOW merely meaning ALL HOLY, and the “een” is a contraction of evening (“Folklore”, James Napier, p. 177).
Thus in 834 A.D. the Church in the Middle Ages began to celebrate Hallowe’en on the FIRST OF NOVEMBER for the first time. This was the very same day the Druids in Britain, the Norsemen in Scandinavia, and the pagan Germans among others were keeping their festival of ALL SOULS EVE, in commemoration of Saman, lord of death, and his demons (Marx, Gerhard O. The Origin of Halloween. Plain Truth Magazine, October 1967).
Now why was November 1 ultimately chosen? Notice the following:
“It was a Druidical belief that on the eve of this festival Saman, lord of death, called together the wicked spirits that within the past 12 months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals” (“Enc. Brit.”, 11th ed., v. 12, pp. 857-8). Read what this November celebration was like! It was a pagan belief that on one night of the year the souls of the dead return to their original homes, there to be entertained with food. If food and shelter were not provided, these spirits, it was believed, would cast spells and cause havoc towards those failing to fulfill their requests. “It was the night for the universal walking about of all sorts of spirits, fairies, and ghosts, all of whom had liberty on that night” (“Highland Superstitions”, Alexander Macgregor, p. 44). Literal sacrifices were offered on this night to the spirits of the dead, when, so the belief went, they visited their earthly haunts and their friends.
There was a reason why November was chosen for that particular event. The Celts and other Northern people considered the beginning of November as their New Year. This was the time when the leaves were falling and a general seasonal decay was taking place everywhere. Thus it was a fitting time, so they reasoned, for the commemoration of the dead. Since the Northern nations at that time began their day in the evening, the eve leading up to November 1st was the beginning of the festival. According to the Roman calendar it was the evening October 31 — hence, Hallowe’en — the evening of All Hallows.
To exorcise these ghosts, that is, to free yourself from their supposed evil sway, you would have to set out food and provide shelter for them during the night. If they were satisfied with your offerings, it was believed they would leave you in peace. If not, they were believed to cast an evil spell on you. “In Wales it was firmly believed that on All Hallows Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnight on every crossroad and every stile” (“Folklore and Folk-Stories of Wales”, Marie Trevelyan, p. 254).
In Cambodia people used to chant: “O all you our ancestors, who are departed, deign to come and eat what we have prepared for you, and to bless your posterity and to make it happy” (“Notice sur le Cambodge”, Paris 1875, E. Aymonièr, p. 59).
This sort of Hallowe’en festival was strenuously observed throughout the non-Christian world. Pagans would pray to their false gods to prevent “DEMONS” and “witches” from molesting them. Notice! “The Miatecs of Mexico believed that the souls of the dead came back in the twelfth month of the year, WHICH CORRESPONDED TO OUR NOVEMBER. On this day of All Souls the houses were decked out to welcome the spirits. Jars of food and drink were set on a table in the principal room, and the family went out with the torches to meet the ghosts and invite them to enter. Then, returning to the house they knelt around the table, and with their eyes bent on the ground, prayed the souls to accept the offerings” (“Adonis”, Frazer, p. 244).
This, then, is the way the heathen world celebrated their Hallowe’en, their “All Souls Day”. Although some aspects of the Hallowe’en festival varied with each country, the overall pattern and purpose remained the same…
When the German Frankish king Charlemagne invaded and conquered parts of Eastern Germany, he compelled the conquered German king, Wittekind, to be baptized and to accept Christianity. Having no choice and seeing his life was at stake, this heathen ruler who knew little or nothing about Christ — was forced into this “conversion.” And with him his entire people. This policy brought complex problems. These pagans, who were usually baptized EN MASSE, were still pagans at heart. Even though they became nominal Christians, they still yearned for many of their heathen practices, which they were expected to discard…
Wittekind’s Germans, now professing Christians, and other conquered pagans, had a profound influence on the ecclesiastical affairs of the church in the early 800’s A. D. These barbaric and uncultured people brought with them many outright pagan practices and celebrations, Hallowe’en merely being one of many. They were fervent in clinging to their past ceremonies and observed them openly — yet supposedly converted to Christianity. What was the church to do? Excommunicate them and thus reduce her membership? This she would not do. Was she to force them into discarding their heathen practices and adopt Italian 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 Hallowe’en 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 the saints. To make it easy for them, the Roman Church even CHANGED HER DATE of All Saints Day from May 13 to November 1st to satisfy the growing numbers of Germanic adherents. The Church understood the yearnings the Germans and others had for their old ways (Marx, Gerhard O. The Origin of Halloween. Plain Truth Magazine, October 1967).
Since the date was not original, and was even changed, All Saints’ Day obviously never was an original apostolic practice.
And what are Roman Catholics supposed to do on All Saints' Day?
Well, many believe that they are to pray to dead saints to intervene for the with God.
Yet, praying to deceased Christians for intercession is not enjoined in scripture.
Notice what even a Roman Catholic approved translation of the Bible, the Douay-Rheims, teaches:
5 For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: (1 Timothy 2:5, DRB)
34 Who is he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus that died, yea that is risen also again; who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34, DRB)
The only mediator in the Christian religion is supposed to be Jesus the Christ.
What does the Bible teach about the state of the dead?
Notice how the New Jerusalem Bible (a Roman Catholic translation) translates the following:
5 The living are at least aware that they are going to die, but the dead know nothing whatever. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, NJB)
If the dead do not know anything, why should there be holidays indicating one can communicate with them or vice versa?
Notice some other scriptures:
5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks? (Psalm 6:5, NKJV)
6 For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell? (Psalm 6:6, Douay-Rheims)
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish. (Psalms 146:3-4, NKJV)2 ... Put not your trust in princes:
3 in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish. (Psalms 145:2-4, Douay-Rheims)
The dead are not thinking or doing things. It is not a Christian thing to pray to them.
In Mexico, they keep a time called the Day of the Dead, which normally lasts two days. This holiday is also of pagan origin. The Burke Museum of Natural History notes:
"The Mexican Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival combines ancient Mesoamerican and Christian beliefs. The Aztecs believed that the souls of the dead traveled to Mictlan, where they found rest. Several Aztec festivals merged with the Christian All Saints' and All Souls' Days to become the Day of the Dead. (Andrade M. The Day of the Dead. http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/RR/DOFD/dofd2.htm. Note the above is no longer at that website, but was in 2012)
El Día de los Muertos begins on October 31, All Hallows' Eve. Meant to be a time to remember the dead as well as to honor the continuity of life, the community celebrations are social and festive. Families clean and decorate their relatives' graves and eat picnic meals in the graveyard. They sing songs and reminisce about the deceased. Los Angelitos ("little angels") return on this day. On November 1, All Saints' Day, adult spirits return, drawn by the ofrendas (altars with offerings), which serve as thresholds between this world and the next...A chair near the altar allows family members to visit with the dead before they depart on November 2nd, when the altar is taken down. The fragile paper decorations, like the transience of flowers, incense, and food, are reminders of the fleeting nature of life. Altars are reminders that the dead are welcomed by the living and continue to have a relationship with us as a natural part of life itself. (Andrade M. The Day of the Dead. http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/RR/DOFD/dofd2.htm. viewed 08/06/13)
Regarding the Day of the Dead, Wikipedia reports:
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.
Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world: In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.
So, the 'Day of the Dead' is clearly pagan.
Speaking of the dead, notice also the following:
History of Day of the Dead ~ Día de los Muertos
Day of the Dead is an interesting holiday celebrated in central and southern Mexico during the chilly days of November 1 & 2. Even though this coincides with the Catholic holiday called All Soul's & All Saint’s Day, the indigenous people have combined this with their own ancient beliefs of honoring their deceased loved ones.
They believe that the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them. http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/support/dodhistory.html accessed 10/29/16
Of course none of those beliefs about deceased children reuniting for 24 hours are true. But the Church of Rome allows them.
Here is another report about the Day of the Dead/Dia de Los Muertos:
"Dia de Los Muertos has its roots in Aztec tradition and is celebrated like a holiday in Mexico. NoMar is celebrating the event early, the actual holiday is November 1st and 2nd. According to legend, the spirits of the dead meet with the living as heaven’s gates open on October 31." http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-rew-what-is-the-day-of-the-dead-dia-de-los-muertos-20111028,0,988587.story
The Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, and Halloween distort God's plan. As far as death goes:
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:50-57)
Victory over death comes through Jesus at the first resurrection. The Day of the Dead is a false distortion.
Author Frederick Filby noted:
“Thus the old world perished and a year later a new era commenced in the same month. Both of these facts are indelibly enshrined in the memory of the human race. To many people right round the world November brings the Day of the Dead. In a number of ancient and primitive calendars November also brings a New Year at a time which has neither solstice nor equinox nor astronomical event to justify it” (The Flood Reconsidered, pp. 106–107).
Some seem feel that combining pagan practices are fine, as the following also shows:
The Filipino graveside tradition resembles the Mexican "El Dia de los Muertos," or Day of the Dead, which also coincides with All Saints Day. While the Mexican tradition has migrated to America mainly in the form of home and community altars, one local cemetery last year resurrected the graveyard tradition as it has been celebrated in Mexico for centuries.
Last year, Calvary Catholic Cemetery in East San Jose and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley invited families to decorate the graves of loved ones with candy skulls, photographs, ribbons and favorite food items of the deceased.
More than 500 people attended last year's inaugural event, according to Calvary spokeswoman Nicole Lecheler. This year's celebration on Oct. 29 will include Aztec dancers, skull-decorating workshops, food booths and Day of the Dead altar displays by artists, students and local community groups. (Rodriguez J. All Saints Day comes to Silicon Valley -- Filipino style. San Jose Mercury News, November 28, 2011. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19217399 viewed 08/06/13)
Again, these are not biblical practices. And having Aztec skull dancers should be an obvious clue to any who does not believe that they should compromise the faith of the Bible with paganism.
The dead, of course, will be resurrected, and that is the day that the dead will be revived--and modified Aztec practices will not change that.
As we see more open ecumenism, it is no surprise to see Protestants embracing Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholic holidays. They already do Easter and Christmas, which they most certainly did not get from the Bible, but from Rome.
While pagans have had holidays for the dead, the Last Great Day (John 7:37) is really the "Day of the Dead." That is those that were spiritually and physically dead will be resurrected to have their opportunity for salvation (see the free online book: Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation).
The "festivals of the dead" turn people away from God's plan of salvation as laid forth by His Holy Days. And these death festivals encourage people to commune with, appease, serve and even worship the dead.
The Bible does not teach to put on costumes of witches or other things associated with darkness or pagan holidays. True Christians rely on the word of God.
It is not only Roman Catholics who push Halloween. One headline at the mislabeled Christianity Today was:
"Why Should the Devil Get Halloween?" (Rivadeneira C. Christianity Today, October 29, 2010. http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2010/october/why-should-devil-get-halloween.html viewed 10/01/13).
Well, the simple answer is that it is NOT a biblical holiday and the Bible says not to worship the true God like the pagans worshipped their deities.
Notice also the following:
October 20, 2014
In light of his new film "Saving Christmas," Kirk Cameron is also speaking out on Halloween celebrations, urging Christians to get into the spooky spirit this year.
"Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas" hits select theaters on Nov. 14, ... Cameron addressed the same theories as they are applied to Halloween, clarifying why Christians "should have the biggest Halloween party on your block."
"The real origins have a lot to do with All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve," the actor told The Christian Post. "If you go back to old church calendars, especially Catholic calendars, they recognize the holiday All Saints Day, with All Hallows Eve the day before, when they would remember the dead. That's all tied in to Halloween."
Moreover, the "Unstoppable" star went on to cite the meaning behind dressing up in frightening costumes on Halloween, clarifying the meaning of Oct. 31.
"When you go out on Halloween and see all people dressed in costumes and see someone in a great big bobble head Obama costume with great big ears and an Obama face, are they honoring him or poking fun?" Cameron asked.
"They are poking fun at him," the actor said, answering his own question before comparing the concept of costumes to early Christianity.
"Early on, Christians would dress up in costumes as the devil, ghosts, goblins and witches precisely to make the point that those things were defeated and overthrown by the resurrected Jesus Christ," Cameron continued. "The costumes poke fun at the fact that the devil and other evils were publicly humiliated by Christ at His resurrection. That's what the Scriptures say, that He publicly humiliated the devil when He triumphed over power and principality and put them under his feet. Over time you get some pagans who want to go this is our day, high holy day of Satanic church, that this is all about death, but Christians have always known since the first century that death was defeated, that the grave was overwhelmed, that ghosts, goblins, devils are foolish has-beens who used to be in power but not anymore. That's the perspective Christians should have. http://www.christianpost.com/news/kirk-cameron-on-halloween-christians-should-have-the-biggest-party-on-the-block-128345/
Despite Kirk Cameron's claims, the Bible condemns pagan celebrations and early Christians did NOT dress up as witches and devils. Related to that, someone properly commented, "If there is anything Kirk Cameron is fond of, other than bananas, it is making up his own facts about things. ... this week, he brings us his version of the history of Halloween" (https://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/229911/kirk-cameron-explains-how-jesus-invented-halloween-to-mock-obama-or-something/).
Isn't the perspective real Christians should have is what does the Bible teach and what did early Christians do?
The Apostle Paul wrote:
8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:8-12)
No, we are not to follow heathen practices because we may think we will not be affected.
The perspective real Christians should have is: What does the Bible teach?
The Apostles James and Paul warned against such:
4 Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the scripture saith in vain: To envy doth the spirit covet which dwelleth in you? (James 4:4-5, DRB)
20 But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. 21 You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21, DRB)
20 [No], but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and also from the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons as well. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21, EOB)
Should you heed the Apostles James and Paul or someone who took steps in opposition to the Bible’s teachings? Paul is clearly teaching that it is wrong for Christians to combine pagan and Christian practices. But that is what Halloween is supposed to do.
Furthermore, real Christians understood that Jesus taught:
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24)
Philosophies of men and paganism are NOT based on truth and real Christians understand that. Real Christians accept the words of Jesus above their opinions or temporal feelings.
Yet, every year there are articles by Protestant ministers explaining why Christians should celebrate Halloween--here is a link to a related article refuting their arguments: Reasons False Christians Give to Celebrate Halloween.
They want to convince themselves of a lie.
Remember that the Bible repeatedly teaches:
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 16:25)
Furthermore, consider:
8 “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. (Jeremiah 21:8)
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; (Deuteronomy 30:19)
The demonically-pushed paganism is not the way of life that the Bible advocates.
Some may say, "Well the non-observance of Halloween is just from extremists as almost everyone in my area celebrates it."
The Old Testament warns:
2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; (Exodus 23:2)
Jesus taught:
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
So, God's people are specifically told not to do something because the majority does something.
Actually, the Apostle Paul also made it clear that real Christians do not really fit in when he wrote:
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”17 Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)
Halloween is a pagan and unclean holiday.
Faithful Christians do not celebrate it.
Notice something that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, the prophetic evangelist:
16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)
Notice that Timothy was told to continue with the original doctrines.
That is consistent with what the Apostle Jude wrote:
3 … to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)
Notice that Paul told Timothy that Christians have to continue in the original doctrine for salvation, and Jude wrote that the original faith is what true Christians should stand for and advocate. Sadly, the bulk of those who profess Christianity have refused to do so as they have adopted traditions of men and many aspects of paganism.
Remember the explanation for why there were changes to the original faith given by the late Roman Catholic Cardinal Newman:
Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship to evangelical use, … the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or to sanctify the existing rites and customs of the population, as well as the philosophy of the educated class. (Newman JH, Cardinal. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. J. Toovey, 1845, p. 358).
Cardinal Newman explained pagan items were considered to be an evangelical tool (ibid, p. 358). Please understand that the appeal to “the philosophy of the educated class” means that pagan philosophy (as taught by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and expanded by people like Clement and Origen) was to be accepted.
Accepting Halloween and other aspects of paganism, has resulted in most who profess Christ do not truly understand God's plan of salvation--pagan holidays detract from God's plan--they do not enhance it.
Those who will accept the truth, need to turn from pagan ways as we see in the following from the Book of Acts:
17 … the Name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified; 18 many also of those who believed were coming, confessing and declaring their acts, 19 and many of those who had practiced the superfluous arts, having brought the scrolls together, were burning [them] before all; and they reckoned together the prices of them, and found [it] fifty thousand pieces of silver, (Acts 19:17-19)
Notice that there was a major financial cost to people who had accepted paganism that the converted were willing to accept. People today should do likewise.
Yet, the late Charlie Kirk did not see pagan holidays, like Halloween, as a real threat. Actually, his wife is Roman Catholic, was raising their children Roman Catholic, and Charlie himself told a Roman Catholic bishop that he was very close to becoming a Roman Catholic before his murder (see https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266671/report-charlie-kirk-was-this-close-to-becoming-catholic-just-prior-to-his-death).
However, even some Roman Catholic leaders have pointed about that Halloween is a pagan threat.
The pagan threat has long been real and has greatly impacted what the world considers to be Christianity. Pagan holidays distort God's plan and get people to disobey God--that is what Satan wants!
And, of course, true Christians have long opposed the pagan threat of Halloween and other pagan-adopted holidays that much of the world observes.
Jesus said:
4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
We have a free eBook titled: Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?
Those who heed the word of God do not keep pagan holidays like Halloween.
Do not fall for the pagan threat!
Here is a link to a related sermon: Halloween: A Pagan Threat!
Thiel B. COGwriter (c) 2025 https://www.cogwriter.com/halloween-pagan-threat.htm 2025 1018
