SUMMARY. Halloween originated more than 2,000 years ago with Europe's Celtic peoples. On November 1 they celebrated their New Year's Day, which they called Samhain (SAH-win). On the night before Samhain which we know as Halloween, spirits, fairies, demons, and other creatures were thought to walk the earth.The Celts sacrificed animals to their gods while gathered around bonfires. They often wore costumes--probably animal skins--in order to confuse spirits and perhaps to avoid being possessed. It is also thought they wore masks or blackened their faces in order to impersonate dead ancestors. Trick-or-treating may have begun as the Celts, costumed as spirits, were believed to go from house to house and doing silly things in exchange for food or drink.
Christians later co-opted pagan holidays. In the seventh century Pope Boniface IV decreed November 1 to be All Saints' Day or All Hallows' Day. The night before All Saint's Day continued to be observed with bonfires, costumes, and parades under a new name: All Hallows' Eve and later Halloween. The holiday was brought to the United States by European immigrants, and the celebration gathered steam in the 1800s.
To read the entire article and much more about Halloween, click on this link to THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.
COMMENT: There is probably no holiday that is as controversial among Christians as Halloween. I don't think one can fault those who want nothing to do with this holiday because of its admittedly heathen origins. On the other hand, historically it became, at least on the surface, a Christian holiday. Of course, most people do not celebrate it as a Christian holiday today and treat it more or less neutrally. However, a serious question is whether or not Christians should be dressing up as witches, the Devil, ghouls, vampires, or other heathen characters.
Some Christians, especially Lutherans, have found a way to celebrate Halloween in a way that I don't believe should be offensive to any Christian, at least of the Protestant persuasion. They treat the day as a Reformation celebration. After all, it was on All Saints Eve, October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, an act that officially began the Reformation. Perhaps dressing up in costumes that depict clothing from Luther's Day or as angels or as other acceptable Bible characters might be a good compromise.
God used Luther to restore to the church the doctrines of Sola Fide (salvation comes through faith alone and not by anything we can do or not do), Sola Gratia (it is entirely a gift of God and not something we can earn) and Sola Scriptura (we rely on only the Bible to show us the way to salvation). Since God demands perfection (Leviticus 11:45) and nobody comes even close to perfection, we are overjoyed and grateful that God gives us the gift of salvation by faith. Now we can look forward to enjoying eternity in heaven and there meeting Jesus, Luther, and all the saints.
*********************************************
Want to be automatically notified each time there is a new post? Just e-mail your request to [admin@lutheranscience.org].
*********************************************
QUESTION OF THE DAY
Has there been any change in the size of newly-built American houses?Yes, they seem to be shrinking. New homes under construction in June were on average nearly 200 square feet smaller than houses built two years ago. Compared to houses in other countries, American homes are still very large: 2,521 square feet on average (in 2007) compared to 1,200 square feet for French and German houses and 900 square feet for English homes.
Source: Parade (October 11, 2009)
*********************************************
NOTE ON VISITOR COMMENTS: Visitor comments are encouraged including those containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity or advertisements will not be published. After posting a comment, please allow several hours for it to appear on the blog.
*********************************************
0 comments:
Post a Comment