A Brief Case for Halloween

They may drink like sailors and eat their candy like gluttons, but we drink in honor of St. Peter and St. Augustine and eat for the joy set before us (Heb. 12:2).

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

Many point to the conspicuous anti-Christian practices and assert that it is illegitimate and even sinful to take part in Halloween’s practices. While there are reasons to oppose practices within Halloween, there are also reasons to oppose practices within St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July celebrations, or any extra-biblical festivities. But the question is whether the abuse of things constitutes an argument against it. I do not believe it does.

Every year, about this same time, there is a host of opinions concerning the hosts of heaven and whether fright is a legitimate rhetorical device, whether angels can dance above demons, and whether candy is a means of grace to little children or an ultimate nutritional curse.

I approach this matter in the pro-Halloween party, arguing for the case in favor of angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven; arguing for a cause that puts sociology and theology on the same level of interest. In most endeavors, this is central to my thesis: that praxis and the axis of history come together to support a just cause.
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Therefore, the first case for Halloween is its neighborliness. Halloween is an extension of that festive spirit of communion. We should abide by principles that establish more powerful platforms of community life.

I can already see from afar and up close the parents who wish to preserve decency and order in the home by keeping demons away. There is a consistent curmudgeon who avoids all festivities. Christmas? Boo! Lent? Ascetic! The Feast of St. Augustine’s cat, Felix? A return to sentimentalism! But to some of these folks, Halloween receives a different kind of wrath. “Halloween?” Paganism mixed with vampiric orgies, devouring candy offered to idols!

Halloween Defined

For those unfamiliar, Halloween comes from the phrase All Hallows’ Eve. The term hallow means “saint,” being an older way of saying holy—as we hear in the prayer, “hallowed be Thy name.” All Saints’ Day, which liturgical churches celebrate on November 1st or the first Sunday after, is a festive occasion that remembers the faithfulness of God to the sons and daughters of the kingdom who gave their lives and now rest with Christ from their labors. Jesus claimed victory on the cross as an act of triumph (Heb. 2:14; Rom. 16:20). He died and rose so that we might live abundant lives (Jn. 10:10). We affirm and cherish the life we have and the life of the saints gone before us, who now embrace the God-given sabbatical of eternity (Heb. 4).

The Eve of that day is the traditional Halloween. Now, before you bring your Cotton Mather to bear on this question and before you show me some variation of Zechariah’s vision to make a case against offering candies to little kids, and before you claim the ancient Celtic festival as the root of all the world’s evil, let me first lay out my presupposition. And here it is: we practice Halloween at our household because Jesus makes a mockery of evil (Psalm 2; I Sam. 5; Is. 46:1-5) and because joy is a distinctly Christian virtue.

God is a playful God who delights in treating evil with all the playfulness and mockery He can muster. In the divine currency, that’s an infinite supply of it. God loves to bring wicked things low, and he uses his redeemed image-bearers to crush serpents.

I have interacted with anti-Halloween advocates in the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and other mainline traditions, which means you all are everywhere. But the simple outline above indicates that what we do on Halloween is not giving demonic powers a high-five but exercising our ability as judges of angels (I Cor. 6:3) to rule over everything, including candy and Marvel characters. And if the Kit Kat bar needs saving, someone has to do it. Why not your six-year-old?

Lord Over Candy

Jesus is Lord over demons and outfits of superheroes. Now, if your eight-year-old is dressed like some sexy version of Catwoman, you’re doing it wrong, but I suspect most of you are more self-aware. You can participate in an event with Presbyterian zeal and have a blast without failing basic biblical principles of modesty.

In my estimation, the best way to prepare to celebrate the saints gone before us is to spend the Eve of that day eating candy, being neighborly, dressing up in your favorite outfit, and singing Psalm 2 with Lutheran vigor as a parting hymn.

Everything is Christ’s, and we are his, and everything the world has is ours (Rom. 4:13). They may drink like sailors and eat their candy like gluttons, but we drink in honor of St. Peter and St. Augustine and eat for the joy set before us (Heb. 12:2).

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