Theology of Halloween
Halloween is one of my children’s favorite holiday.
What’s not to love? Dressing up and candy. It’s just fun.
I’m excited for Trunk or Treat this Sunday (October 23) from 4:00 -6:00. There will be decorated trunks, lots of candy, music and hot dogs. I’m making plans to decorate my trunk. You won’t want to miss it!
Many churches these days are moving away from Halloween celebrations. They call them, instead, ‘harvest festivals’ or something similar. The concern seems to center on the darker themes of Halloween. Churches struggle to reconcile the celebration of death with the gospel. But Halloween isn’t actually about celebrating death, rather, it is about mocking death. And mocking death is actually the point of the gospel. In Jesus, we do not fear the power of death. Death itself has been overcome by Jesus. As Paul said, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)
Countless Christian martyrs faced persecution and death, some by literally laughing in the face of death.
There is certainly no need to justify the fun of Halloween with our theological reasoning. But if it helps, there is something profoundly Christian about Halloween. Death has no power over us. Therefore we are free (encouraged actually) to mock death—and get a little candy out of it too!
Happy Halloween!