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Mysteries of Halloween...
the Devils Holiday?

   Halloween has been called "a mystery hidden behind a mask," and "the devils holiday." Is it?

   Is it harmless fun? Should You Keep It?

   Where did Halloween and the idea of ghosts and goblins or evil spirits originate?

   What about Jack-o-lanterns, witches, apple-bobbing, and trick or treating - what is the meaning behind them?

   What does the Bible say?



   Halloween has become a highly commercialized event with a hugh economic impact in the U.S. in recent years. Merchandisers promoting it take in around $7 billion a year - $2 billion from candy sales alone. Its financial impact is surpassed only by Christmas.

   Many schools, businesses and government offices in communities throughout the U.S. go all out in celebrating Halloween. Today, children and adults alike wear the costumes and play out the rituals of this seemingly harmless event without ever considering their origins and true meaning or possible consequences. Most reason, "How could having fun "pretending" possibly have any harmful effects? After all, who believes in the devil and evil spirits today?"

   Are Halloween traditions really just harmless "fun" as most suppose? What is their origin? How did they come to be accepted by traditional Christianity? Why are some churches now teaching against its observance? What does the Bible say about it?

What are Halloween Traditions really all about?

    Present day Halloween festivities and beliefs are an amalgamation of superstitious traditions and religious beliefs of many cultures, some going back 3,000 to 6,000 years.

   Like Christmas and Easter, the festival of Halloween with its traditions of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and spirits, its games and incantations, pranks and parties originated in pagan celebrations some dating long before the Christian era. Though its present name is derived from the Catholic festival of "All Hallows'" [all the holy ones] or "All Saints' Eve" (Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, 1980, by the Readers' Digest Association).

Origins of Halloween

    Halloween means hallowed or holy evening. October 31, the eve of November 1st became known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Hallow E'en because it takes place on the eve before All Saints' Day. Hallowed comes from the New Testament Greek word "hagiazo," meaning holy, to purify, consecrate or sanctify (set apart for God's purpose), be holy or morally pure, clean, innocent. Saint and holy are from the word, "hagios," meaning holy, sanctified, chaste, pure. But is Halloween really "holy"?

   All Saints' Day was a Catholic mass "first celebrated on May 13, A.D. 610 as the feast of All Holy Martyrs" (All Hallows' Day) (World Book Encyclopedia, article on All Saints Day).

   Christians and Jews had been under persecution and many were martyred in the Roman Empire up until the time Constantine became Emperor and his mother became a Christian. Constantine gave Christians religious freedom in A.D. 313 and Roman Catholicism became the state religion in A.D. 380. Catholic Christianity soon swept the Roman world, including the British Isles, in a relatively short time. However, pagans of the Roman Empire were reluctant to give up their false gods and ancient practices. So Catholic missionaries, unable to convert them easily to an entirely new code of worship, took the pagan festivals as they were and gradually grafted the observances of the new faith onto these festivals and the rites and customs surrounding them (Strange Stories, Amazing Facts).

   In A.D. 834 Pope Gregory IV changed the Roman Catholic observance of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) from May 13th to November 1st to counteract the pagan Druidic celebrations held on that date. October 31, the last night of the year in the ancient Celtic calendar, was celebrated as the end of summer and its fruitfulness. It was a festival that the Celts of northern Europe (and the British Isles) marked with bonfires, to help the sun through the winter (ibid.).

    To ancient Druids (Celtic priests), the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, or Summer's End, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the fields. Samhain, as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifice, augury (divination, foretelling events by signs or omens) and prayer; for it was thought that at this season spirits walked and evil had power over souls of men (Yearbook of English Festivals).

   One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess. Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.

   The custom of holding a festival at harvest time goes back to ancient times. Harvest feasts are first mentioned in the Old Testament more than 3,500 years ago (Ex 23:16). The Druids (Celtic priests), who had migrated to the British Isles from the area of Asia Minor, held a 3 day festival at the end of October and beginning of November called the festival of Samhain, Lord of the dead, which coincided with the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon new year (Ency. Brit. Micropaedia, article on "Halloween," 1981).

   But who were the Celts and Druids (Celtic priests)? And where did their practices originate?

Origin of The Feast of the 8th Month

    October, from "octa" or "octo," meaning eight or eighth, in ancient calendars was the eighth month. The Celts and their ancesters had been keeping a feast in the 8th month for many centuries going back to the 900's B.C. The story begins when the ancient nation of Israel became divided after King Solomon's death. Solomon had married 700 wives, princesses of the nations around him, and had 300 concubines (1 Kgs 11:3). The Old Testament reveals,
"When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
"For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
"Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord...
"Then Solomon built a high place ("bamah," elevated places of worship, usually on hills) for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
"And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods (see Jer 7:31)...
"Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, 'Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant...
"However I will not tear away the whole kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen" (ver. 4-13).
   So after Solomon died and his son Rehoboam became king, the nation became divided into two nations, Judah and Israel. Jeroboam became king over the northern ten tribes of Israel and Rehoboam over Judah (1 Kgs 12). But Jeroboam, king of Israel, feared that,
"If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lords, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.
"Therefore the king took counsel and made two calves of gold (gods of Egypt) and said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!'
"And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
"Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
"He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
"Jeroboam ordained a feast on the 15th day (time of the full moon) of the eighth month (Heshvan - equivalent to late October early November), like unto the feast that is in Judah (Judah kept God's Feast in the 7th month as God ordained - Lev 23:24-43), and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made.
"So he made offerings...on the 15th day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense." (1 Kgs. 12:26-33).

"The Levites (the priesthood God established - Num 3, 8, 18) left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord" (2 Chron. 11:14-15).
   The sins of Jeroboam which he introduced in Israel continued until they were taken captive by Assyria in the years from about 738 to 718 B.C. (2 Kgs 15:27-29; 17:1-12; 1 Chron 5:26).
"Yet the Lord testified against Israel...saying, 'Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes...'
"Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.
"And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them.
"So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
"And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced WITCHCRAFT ("qecem," divination, fortune-telling, sorcery, witchcraft) and soothsaying ("nachash," a magic spell, enchantment), and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger." (2 Kg 17:5,13-17).
   As a result of following the sins of Jeroboam, the ten northern tribes of Israel were rejected by God and went into captivity (2 Kgs 17:20-23). They became scattered and many lost their true identity and knowledge of the true God because they had rejected His true Sabbaths and feasts (appointed Holy Days - Ex. 31:13-17; Lev 23) and set up their own priests and holidays.

   Eventually some became known as Celts and their priests as Druids or the Druidic priesthood as they migrated to northern Europe and the British Isles. Others became known as Anglo (origin of English or England) - Saxons (Isaac's sons) and Jutes (Jews) and migrated to northern Europe and the British Isles some becoming known as English, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish peoples of the British Isles. England means "land of the Angles" (OE="Engla"). They were later converted to modern "Christianity" by Catholics and later the Protestant reformation. But in the process they still kept their pagan rituals and combined them with other pagan rituals incorporated into Christianity by Roman Catholicism.

   Thus the feast of the 8th month, first ordained by Jeroboam, with all its false gods, idoltry and pagan rituals eventually became known as Halloween. "The old pagan customs and the [Catholic] feast day were combined into the Halloween festival" (World Book Ency).

   The pagan vigil for the god of light (Baal sun worship), was transformed into All Hallows, a mass for Catholic saints; and the Druids' feast of Samhain, the lord of the dead, became All Souls', a day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifice, fortune-telling for heathen augury, and lighted candles for the old Baal fires. The early English Church called All Saints', the feast to commemorate all the saints, All Hallows. Hallow E'en, All Saints' and All Souls' (October 31, November 1 and 2, respectively) share a common tradition. The three festivals concern remembrance of departed souls. Hallow E'en is celebrated with games and divination rites, since people believed spirits of the dead walked abroad on this night. All Saints' and All Souls', on the other hand, are popularly observed with "souling" customs and plays. (The Yearbook of English Festivals).

Halloween - Festival of Samhain, "Lord of the Dead"

    The ancient Babylonians had a god called Samas. "...from the Amorite period the major name for Satan was Samael." Jewish legend says 'Samael-Samiel' is the angel of death and the head of the devils. The Greek rendering of the word 'Samael' is 'Sammane' (The Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 5, page 1020 and Vol. 14, page 719).

   Two chief characteristics of ancient Halloween were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that this night of the year was the one during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander abroad. On or about the 1st of November the Druids (Celtic priests) held their great three-day autumn festival and lighted fires in honour of the Sun-god in thanksgiving for the harvest. Further, it was a Druidic belief that on the eve of this festival, Saman (a variation of Samhain), lord of death (Satan, the devil is the lord of death - Heb 2:14), called together the wicked souls that within the past twelve months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals [ie. black cats]. Thus it is clear that the main celebrations of Halloween were Druidical, and this is further proved by the fact that in parts of Ireland the 31st of October was, and even still is, known as Vigil of Saman, "Oidhche Shamhna." (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. 1911).

   The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. In the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. A symbol of Pomona was the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween. Ducking (bobbing) for apples, or throwing an apple paring over ones shoulder to see what initial it makes on the floor, supposedly to ascertain which ones would marry in the coming year, was a form of divinations which the Romans did - honoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruits. Some of the characteristics of the Roman festival in honour of Pomona were grafted onto the Druidic ceremonies held about the 1st of November.

   The Druidic order of priests in ancient Gaul and Britain, believed that on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches, and elves came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred and believed that cats had once been human beings but were changed as a punishment for evil deeds. Present-day use of witches, ghosts, and cats in Halloween festivities come from these ancient Druidic beliefs (World Book Encyclopedia, article on Halloween).

   The autumn Druidic festival of Samhain (pronounced SAH win) at summer's end was an occasion for feasting on all the kinds of food which had been grown during the summer. The custom of using leaves, pumpkins, and cornstalks as Halloween decorations also came from the Druids. The early peoples of Europe also had a festival similar to the Druid holiday (ibid.).

   The last day of the year on the old pagan calendar, October 31, served the triple purpose of bidding goodby to summer, welcoming winter and remembering the dead. The souls of the dead were believed to visit their homes that night. The Irish built tremendous bonfires on hilltops to offer encouragement to the waning sun and to provide a warm welcome for visiting spirits and ghosts that walked about in the night" (Book of Festival Holidays). It was also believed that witches and warlocks (male sorcerers) flew about playing tricks on people and wreaking havoc, so bonfires were also kindled to frighten them away.

   People of the British Isles had the quaint custom of tossing objects, such as stones, vegetables and nuts, into a bonfire to frighten away any "spooks" that might be near. These symbolic sacrifices were also fortunetelling props, still widely used at Halloween parties today. If the nuts tossed by young lovers exploded in the flames, theirs would be a quarrelsome marriage (Book of Festival Holidays).

   Fearful of spooks folks hollowed out turnips and pumpkins and placed lighted candles inside to scare evil spirits from the house. According to one tradition, they were called "jack-o-lantern" because an Irish Jack, too wicked for heaven and expelled from hell for playing tricks on the devil, was condemned to walk the earth with a lantern forever (ibid.).

   Lighting a candle inside a jeering pumpkin face (jack-o-lantern), is thought by some to be a way of imitating the Celtic Druids of northern Britain, who lit a fire to scare away winter and the evil spirits who were waiting to come rushing in when summer was over (The Book of Holidays, 1958, pages 149-153, by Walker McSpadden).

   It is thought that the Irish initiated the "trick or treat" system hundreds of years ago. Groups of Irish farmers would go from house to house soliciting food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of no less a personage than Muck Olla (ancient god of Irish clergy). Prosperity was promised to cheerful givers and threats made, a form of extortion, against tightfisted donors. In the United States, this custom turned into an occasion for playing pranks such as turning over sheds (outhouses), soaping and breaking windows, damaging property. A custom for English children was to dress up in each other's clothes (boys donning girls' outfits and vice versa) and wearing masks, to go begging from door to door for "soul cakes" (Book of Festival Holidays).

   "Souling," or "Soul-caking," is a custom descended from pre-Reformation times, of going about on All Saints' or All souls' and begging for cakes, in remembrance of the dead. The cakes householders gave were in exchange for prayers for the dead, a "charity" for the departed. Bonefires, "to light souls out of purgatory," and the ringing of church bells, also characterized old-time observances (Yearbook of English Festivals, by Dorothy G. Spicer, 1954, pages 153-157).

   In the 17th and 18th centuries it was customary for people to go from house to house in weird masks and costumes singing and dancing to keep evil at bay, or to go about as representations of the ghosts (disembodied souls of dead persons believed to inhabit the unseen world, which may appear to the living in bodily likeness; also spirits or demons) and goblins of the night - ugly spirits that are mischievous and sometimes evil and malicious (Book of Festival Holidays, 1964, pages 123,125, by Marguerite Ickis).

   Since the late 18th and early 19th centuries Halloween has developed into a festive time especially for children, with costumes, lanterns, and games. Before then it was regarded as a night of fear, and wise men, respectful of hobgoblins (mischievous goblins) and wandering demons, stayed indoors (ibid.).

   Halloween was scarcely observed in the United States until the last half of the nineteenth century. The customs of this holiday became popularized in America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine (ibid.).

Beliefs in ghosts, goblins and evil spirits

    Where did belief in ghosts, goblins and evil spirits originate? According to The Encyclopedia Judaica, "Defense against evil spirits was a concern in Mesopotamia from earliest times" (Vol. 5, page 1521,22 - Demonology in the Ancient Near East).

   According to their ancients beliefs of demonology, the intervention of spirits in nature and in human affairs is made possible by means of magic. Thus, magic was employed by primitive peoples to prevent drought, to produce rain, and to ward off disease or famine. They believed that by means of appeasement and spells, evil spirits could be diverted from their malevolent designs or pursuits. Among some primitive tribes, the path along which it was believed a demon would approach was barricaded with thorns, brushwood, odors, fire or other obstacles. To the primitive tribesman magic was the only available source of power whereby the attacks of demons could be averted or withstood (Collier's Encyclopedia, Vol. 8, page 96 - article on Magical Influence).

   "The worship of these demons were practices of appeasement... The pagans believed these 'gods' had to be 'fed' during licentious feasts. They believed they had to be fed the lives of their own children. But God instructed Moses that no one could serve the Lord God and serve gods' at the same time" (Halloween! Modern-Day Sacrifices of the Dead!, by The House of Yahweh).

Types of Spirits

    Among the spirits most familiar to students of demonology are the spirits of vegetation, water spirits, domestic spirits, ancestral spirits, and dream demons (ibid.).

   "Belief in ancestral spirits and the practice of ancestor worship are widely prevalent. In its cruder forms, this phase of demonology stresses the malignancy of the souls of suicides, of those who die by violence, and of women who died in childbirth. Demons of the unburied are feared more than ordinary ghosts. The worship of ancestral spirits, either as gods or as surviving souls of departed members of the family, reflects belief in immortality and the almost universal belief that death does not dissolve an individual's relation to the group. The postmortal status of the individual corresponds to that during his mortal existence. For this reason spirits of the departed are accorded the respect, love or fear shown them during their earthly state. Although all dead are held in awe, those who lived evil lives or died by violence are dreaded because, in the former instance, they are freer to work harm and, in the latter instance, may be intent upon revenge. It follows that the living must safeguard themselves against dangerous spirits or demons. Hence, exorcism and charms are superlatively important wherever this form of demonology prevails" (ibid.).

   Witchcraft and sorcery are practices of witches, wizards, sorcerers or mediums using magic or supernatural powers from demons and Satan to bewitch, fascinate, enchant, fortune telling, casting spells, curses, etc. From earliest times, people in all parts of the world have believed in witches. All forms of witchcraft were forbidden by God (Ex 22:18; Mic 5:12; Nah 3:4-5; Rev 21:8). King Saul of ancient Israel consulted a witch at En Dor having a familiar spirit (1 Sam 28:3-19) after God had rejected him because of his disobedience (1 Sam 15:10-23). Witchcraft was practiced in Egypt and in the days of the early Romans. Later Roman laws were passed to make witchcraft a crime (World Book Ency., article on Witchcraft).

   Sorcery was practiced at the time of the apostles of Christ (Acts 8:9; 13:6; 16:16). Simon, a sorcerer from Samaria,
"practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave great heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, 'This man is the great power of God.'
"And they all heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time" (Acts 8:9-11).
   But when he saw the people turning to Christ's disciples because of the miracles of healing and casting out of unclean spirits, he sought to buy this power for himself, but was reprimanded for his wickedness by the apostle Peter (Acts 8:9-23).

   In the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic inquisitions persecuted many for heresy and those suspected of witchcraft, some because they suffered hallucinations and convulsions. Historians believe about 300,000 innocent women were brutally tortured to confess to practicing witchcraft and put to death between 1484 and 1782 A.D. in Germany, England, France, Spain and Italy.

   Many in early America in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia were accused and persecuted for being witches because of family members suffering from hallucinations and convulsions. The real culprit in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1691-92 was recently determined by scientists to be outbreaks of ergotamine poisoning (simular to LSD, a dangerous psychedelic drug popular in the 60's), caused by a fungus that grows in rye grain used for bread. Ergot contaminated bread caused many to suffer hallucinations, convulsions, abortions and other maladies, which was erronously blamed on witchcraft and sorcery by some religious zealots.

   Some forms of sorcery and witchcraft utilize drugs to induce hypnotic and hallucinatory spells. The Scriptures refer to sorcery (from the Greek word "pharmakeia," meaning drug, magic, sorcery, witchcraft; and "pharmakon," a spell-giving potion, poisoner, sorcerer, witch - a root word of the modern pharmaceutical industry) as one of the "works of the flesh" (Gal 5:20). Today's drug culture is not caused simply by contaminated food, but by a highly profitable illegal hallucinogenic drug industry of modern day sorcerers. Some drug peddlers have even laced "trick or treat candies" with their drugs and handed them out to young children "innocently" keeping the pagan Halloween rituals. The Scriptures say,
"...sorcerers...shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death," if they do not repent when punished for their sorceries (Rev 9:20-21; Rev 21:8).
   Along with the modern-day sorcery of the drug culture, Wicca (the old Anglo-Saxon term meaning witch) and Satanism are now among the fastest growing religions in the United States today.

The Biblical Perspective

    Do we have an immortal soul? Is there really a world of unseen spirits, both good and evil, out there? Is Satan real?

   The belief that we have an immortal soul has been the basis of many such false beliefs relating to angels, demonic spirits, demonology and false religious doctrines such as heaven and hell. Much religious art from the Middle-Ages depict angels as human beings with wings; and today many books, movies and TV shows have been produced around the theme of departed humans becoming angels or even demonic spirits, perpetuating the Halloween theme.

   Where did the belief that humans have an immortal soul originate? Science has never been able to verify this belief. What about the Bible, what does it say? What happens when a human dies? Does a persons soul go up to heaven, or down to hell or into purgatory after death as many religions teach? Do those who died see and even interact with those still living in the flesh?

   Did these beliefs come from the Bible? If not, who introduced them?

   In the Garden in Eden, God instructed Adam in His laws and the foundations of all truth. And He said:
   "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for [when] you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17).
   The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is for us a metaphor for the tree of man's knowledge - and man deciding for himself what is good and evil. Eating of the fruit of man's knowledge, rather than obeying God's instructions, is to reject God's wisdom and authority for determining what is right and wrong, truth and error, and is rebellion against God. Without God's guidance man can not tell the difference between good and evil, truth and error, except through trial and error and much suffering, pain and death (See "Mankind's Greatest Experiment"). But God allows man to choose his own ways and suffer the consequences to learn and prove for himself that what God said is truth, so that man may eventually come to repentance (Jer 17:9-10; 2 Pet 3:9). Partaking of sin (evil) cuts man off from free access to the tree of life and God, the source of all truth and eternal life and results in the death of the sinner (Gen. 3:22-24; Psa. 66:18; Isa. 59:2 ; Eze. 18:4).

   When the serpent, Satan the devil, (Rev 12:9 - see "The Mystery of Satan...The Power Behind Evil & Terror") came into the garden and tempted Eve (2 Cor 11:3) he said to the woman,
"Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
She replied to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'
"Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You shall not surely die!
"For God does know that [when] you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'" (Gen 3:1-5).
   There it is! "You shall not surely die." Satan is the one who started the doctrine of the immortality of the soul! And Eve bought into it. She believed Satan's lies (John 8:44; 2 Cor 11:3).
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (Gen 3:1-6).
   And the man Adam went along with his wife and both ignored God's warning, rejecting His wisdom and love and authority over them, choosing instead to believe and follow Satan. For God had said,
"...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for [when] you eat of it you shall surely die!" (Gen 2:17 - see "Choices of Life").
   When they ignored God's instructions and warning and listened to Satan's lies and ate of the forbidden tree, God confronted them with what they did. When they justified themselves by passing the blame and would not humble themselves and accept responsibility and repent, then God said to them,
"Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it: Cursed is the ground [because of you]; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life...
"Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
"For dust you are, and to dust you shall return...
"Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken" (Gen 3:17,19,23).

What Is the Soul, Is it Immortal?

    What about their souls? Do those who die become spirits, such as ghosts and goblins as Halloween teaches? What happens to the soul? God says,
"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The SOUL THAT SINS, IT SHALL DIE!
"But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right...
"If he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully - he is just; He shall surely live! Says the Lord God" (Eze 18:4,9,20).
   The Scriptures make it absolutely clear that the soul is not immortal, but that it can die. Some of the confusion may be because in translating from the original Hebrew of the Old Testament into English the meaning was changed. The Scriptures say in Genesis 2:7,
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
   Soul is translated from the Hebrew word "nephesh," which means body (alive or dead - Num 10:11) and creature (man or animal - Gen 1:20-21,24). Therefore "the soul that sins" is mortal and can die. It does not go to heaven when the person dies, for,
"No one has ascended into heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who was in heaven" (John 3:13; Acts 2:29,31,34).
   But the soul (body) can go to hell, for hell ("sheol" or "hades") is the grave. But hell is not an ever-burning inferno or torture chamber where "immortal" souls of sinners are sent to be tortured forever by some demented god as the Italian poet Dante Alighieri of the Middle Ages depicted in his poem, the Divine Comedy, which he invisioned as man's struggle through the hell and purgatory of his Catholic faith.

   The Scriptures reveal that when a man dies,
"...in that very day, his thoughts perish" (Psa 146:4).
"For what happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no preeminence over beasts, for all is vanity.
"All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.
"Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, which goes down to the earth?" (Eccl 3:19-21).
   It is clear that when a man dies, "his thoughts perish,"
"For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know nothing..." (Eccl 9:5).
   But wait a minute! What is this "spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward"? The soul (Hebrew "nespesh," and Greek "psuche," meaning body, breathing creature) is not immortal and does not go to heaven, but God's Word also reveals that there is a spirit in each human given by God at conception that gives each person their personal human identity and sets them above the animals intellectually.
"For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit ("pneuma," invisible wind, breath, life, spirit, Spirit of God) of the man which is in him?" (1 Cor 2:11)
"But there is a spirit ("ruach," invisible wind, breath, life, spirit) in man, and the inspiration ("neshamah," invisible wind, breath, divine inspiration, Spirit) of the Almighty gives him understanding" (Job 32:8).
"Then the dust shall return to the earth as it was, but the spirit ("ruach") will return to God who gave it" (Eccl 12:7).
   The spirit in man does not have consciousness of itself, but is something God gives at conception to every individual that is like a computer software program on a spiritual CD that gives each individual a specific identity and keeps a record of the persons life like a CD disk that can be inserted into a computer to store data. The spirit in man enables the man to think in a higher plane than animals and at death returns to God who gave it to later be installed in the new body (either a physical or a spiritual body - Eze 37; 1 Cor 15:44,52) at a future resurrection (Rev 20:5-6,11-15).

Is Halloween the Devils Holiday?

   Satan's lie that man has an immortal soul is still believed and taught by many even today. This lie is the source of the beliefs in the ghosts and goblins or spirits of the dead wandering around on Halloween. Paradoxically, many do not believe in the existence of the devil and demon spirits revealed in the Bible. Consequently they participate in the pagan rituals honoring and trying to appease those evil spirits as just "harmless fun." Some occult groups, Satanic cults, believe in the devil and the demons and blatantly worship them. Some of them are even offended that Halloween, perhaps their most important religious observance of the year, depicts their beliefs and witches as spoofs.

   Are Satan and demon spirits real? Who and what are they and what is their origin? And why are they depicted as evil? Did God create Satan and the demons? Why would they want to deceive and do evil to man? On the other hand, why does God allow evil?

   The Bible reveals that before God ("Elohim," a collective plural noun meaning the Almighty Ones) created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1), God created more than 100 million angelic spirit beings (Rev 5:11). They were there when the Lord ("Jehovah," meaning Eternal) created the heavens and the earth as God's helpers. God revealed to Job when He asked him,
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?... "When the morning stars (angels sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7).
   They were there when God laid the foundations of the earth. God created the angels to be,
"ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" Heb 1:7,14).
   Satan, originally called "Heylel," mistranslated into Latin as Lucifer (Isa 14:12), was created as one of three great cherubim. God said of him,
"You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty...
"You were the anointed cherub who covers (meaning to protect); I established you; You were in the holy mountain (governing council) of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones (on the earth when it was still a molten globe, he was put over one third of the angels (Rev 12:3-4) to prepare the earth for man).
"You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you... But Satan rebelled and changed!
"Your heart became lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your [glory]" (Eze 28:12-17).
   This great cherub became lifted up in pride and jealousy when he saw that God was going to create man out of the dust to eventually become sons of God and to rule with God over the entire universe and over all of the angels, including him (1 Cor 6:3; Rev 21:7). At that point he began to rebel and to turn the angels under him against God, and became Satan, a Hebrew word meaning "accuser" and "adversary" (1 Pet 5:8; Rev 12:9-10). He accuses God of being unfair. He said in his heart,
"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount (government) of the congregation on the border of the north (next to God's throne); "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isa 14:13-14).
   Satan became a liar, deceiver and murderer, an adversary against God and man (John 8:44). He is called the devil, from "diabolos," which means accuser, slanderer, one who falsely accuses and divides, because he accused and slandered God in the garden of Eden and is the accuser of God's people (Rev 12:10), seeking to cause confusion and division between man and God.

   Why does God allow their evil to continue?

   God's divine purpose of creating children of God to be part of His ruling Family (Eph 3:14-15; Heb 2:5-14) requires the development of godly character in man before man can be given full powers as Spirit born children of God. For this purpose God has given man a free will to choose for himself what he will believe and do. Everyone's character must then be tested and proven whether it is righteous or evil (Deut 30:15-19; Jer 17:10).

   God allows Satan to test every man's character, just as He allowed Satan to test Adam and Eve's character in the garden of Eden. Remember, Satan would like to destroy all mankind or subject man under his rule, but God will not allow him to force his power or will over anyone without their consent (Jam 4:7-10). His method is to tempt through lust and pride and deceive people into committing sins to separate them from God (Isa 59:2; Eph 2:2-3; Jam 1:12-16) and to bring harm to them. To resist the devil, one must know and obey the truth - God's commandments and word. Jesus set an example of how to resist Satan's deceptions and temptations (Mat 4:4-11; Heb 2:10,14-18; 4:12-16; 5:7-9,14; 12:1-12).

   When Satan, "the great dragon...that serpent of old called the Devil...who deceives the whole world" (Rev 12:9), deceived Eve into believing that she had an immortal soul, and that the forbidden fruit was something to be desired, she and Adam sinned and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When God confronted them, rather than repenting, they justified themselves and therefore cut themselves and their progeny off from the tree of life and God's spiritual blessings (Gen. 3:1-24) - opening Pandora's box of evils as Greek mythology puts it.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom 5:12).
   So from that time to the present most have believed and have been blinded by Satan's lies to understanding and believing spiritual truth revealed by God (2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 Cor 2:7-11,14). But God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance," (2 Pet 3:9) and be saved through His master-plan for the salvation of all mankind as revealed by His Holy Days, the "Feasts of the Lord" (Lev 23:2-4).

   The so-called "Christian" doctrines of the immortal soul and beliefs that the departing soul goes to up heaven or down to an ever-burning hell are doctrines of the devil to deceive mankind. Satan tries to depict God as an uncaring, unfair, angry, vengeant God. "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16). The truth about God is revealed by keeping His laws and 7 annual Feasts (appointed Holy Days - see...), which reveal God's plan of Salvation for all mankind.

   Halloween is one of Satan's counterfeit "holidays" to promote false doctrines and deceptions of the Devil to deceive mankind from understanding and receiving the blessings of keeping of God's ways and inheriting salvation, and so prevent man from eventually ruling over all creation, including the angels.

       Warnings are given throughout the Old and New Testaments concerning Satan and his evil spirits. The apostle Paul wrote,
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavens.
"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph 6:10-13).
   Peter, the apostle, warned and exhorted,
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world" (1 Pet 5:8-9).
   The book of Job (Job lived centuries before Moses wrote the "Book of the Law" or Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament) reveals Satan, our "adversary" and "accuser," as a hateful, jealous, mean-spirited, murderous being:
"Now there was a time when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?
Satan's sarcastic, accusatory response was, "Does Job fear God for nothing?
"Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" (Job 1:6,8-11).
   God did allow Satan to afflict Job and test his character, but in all this Job did not turn against God, but he maintained his integrity. In the end God corrected Job for his self-righteous pride and Job humbled himself before God (Job 40:1-7; 42:1-6), which Satan refuses to do. And God restored Job's blessings (Job 42:12-17).

Should you or your children observe Halloween?

    The Bible gives many warnings against participating in the lies and worship of the devil and demons and the torment and curses that can result for doing so.

   God called Abram and told him:
"Get...out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house..." (Gen. 12:1-4)
   Why? The land of Ur (part of Mesopotamia) and Abraham's ancestors worshipped false gods and demons (Josh 24:2). God instructed:
"You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:3).
   God warned Israel:
"When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft (uses divination), or a soothsayer (an observer of times), or one who interprets omens (an enchanter), or a sorcerer (witch),
"or one who conjures spells (a charmer), or a medium (consulter of familiar spirits), or a spiritist (a wizard), or one who calls up the dead (a necromancer).
"For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you."Deut. 18:9-12
   And in Exodus 22:18 He says,
"You shall not suffer a witch to live" (1 Sam 28:3).
   He warns in Deuteronomy 4:15-19, 24-26,
"Take therefore good heed unto yourselves...lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image...the likeness of anything...
"And take heed, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven to be an inheritance...
"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
"When you shall beget children and grandchildren...and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord your God, to provoke Him to anger:
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it: you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed."
   But Israel did not heed the Lord their God.
"And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel...and Moses said unto the judges of Israel, 'Slay you every one his men that were joined onto Baal-peor" (Num 25:1-5).
"They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them" (Psa 106:28-29).

Warnings for Christians and the world today

    Christians, Jews, and all people should consider the Satanic origin and character of Halloween with its occultic and heretical rituals and activities and the dangers and consequences of observing them.

   Before God allowed ancient Israel to be conquered by Assyria and scattered in captivity, He sent them prophets to warn them to repent. God sent Amos to warn Israel, saying,
"I hate, I despise your feast days (holidays), and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. "Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings (cakes), I will not accept them, nor will I regard the peace offerings of fat beasts.
"Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
"But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
"Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
"You also carried the tent of Moloch and [statue of Baal-peor], images (idols) of the star of your gods, which you made to yourselves.
"Therefore I will send you into captivity...says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts" (Amos 5:21-27).
   God does not change His stance against evil. He says,
"For I am the Lord, I change not...
"Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts..." (Mal 3:6-7).
   Christians today are admonished to,
"Prove all things and hold fast that which is good" (1 Thes. 5:21).
   When Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan, He answered,
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4).
He warned, "Beware of false prophets..." (Matt. 7:15).
And, "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many...
"For false christ's and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect." (Matt. 24:5-6,24).
   How can you know who are ministers of Satan's deceptions?
"You shall know them by their fruits." (Matt. 7:16).
"And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums, and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
"To the law and to the testimony (the Word of God)! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:19-20).
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
"Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Cor 11:13-5).
   The apostle Paul warned,
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work...
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders,
"and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
"And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
"that they all may be condemned (Greek "krino," meaning to separate or judge) who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thes.. 2:7,9-12).
   The apostle James instructs,
"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.
"Therefore submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:6-8).
   The apostle Peter warns,
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world" (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
   Speaking of the great false religious system inspired by Satan's deceptions, the Book of Revelation tells of its final end and warns mankind,
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
"For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities...
Therefore her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her" (Rev. 18:4-5,8).

Consider the following points regarding Halloween observance:

Copyright ©: by Allen L. Stout, 11/22/97; Serf Publishing, Inc. 2002-2008