Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? (With Bible Verses)
Should Christians celebrate Halloween? It depends on who you ask.
According to a 2015 study conducted by Lifeway Research, American Christians are divided on the topic.
“A slight majority (54 percent) says Halloween is all in good fun, while 18 percent try to avoid the pagan elements, and 23 percent avoid it completely.”
And interestingly enough,
“Catholics are more likely to select ‘It’s all in good fun’ (71 percent) than Protestants (49 Percent).”
It’s not surprising that Christians disagree on how to participate in Halloween, of course.
There are no Bible verses about Halloween (the tradition as we know it today didn’t exist yet), and there are excellent arguments on both sides of the “Halloween and Christians” debate.
In this article, we’ll explore:
Halloween and Christianity: Should Christians Celebrate?
Are There Any Bible Verses About Halloween?
There are no Bible verses about Halloween, dressing in costumes, or trick-or-treating, as Halloween didn’t yet exist the way we know it today when the Bible was written.
That being said, if you’re wondering what the Bible says about celebrating Halloween, there are several Scripture verses that can help guide your decision, even if they don’t touch on the October 31 holiday specifically.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22: “Reject every kind of evil.”
- Ephesians 5:8, 11-12: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light… Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”
- Galatians 5:19-21: “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Micah 5:12: “I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells.”
- Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Personally, I don’t find it sinful to read (or watch) stories about evil. If this were the case, we wouldn’t be allowed to read the Bible, which includes many stories containing witchcraft, idolatry, adultery, murder, revenge, and more.
However, there is a difference between stories that clearly portrait evil as wrong and stories that promote, glorify, or even worship sin as good, normal, and natural. (Showing witches and sorcerers as the “good guys,” for example.)
Because there are no Bible verses about Halloween specifically, Halloween is considered a moral gray area. This means it’s up to every individual Christian to decide whether or not they will celebrate and to what extent.
Why (Some) Christians Don’t Celebrate Halloween
Some Christians don’t celebrate Halloween because they believe the holiday glorifies evil, it provides the devil unwanted access to our lives, or it simply isn’t appropriate for Christians to celebrate.
1. Halloween Glorifies Evil
While you can certainly participate in Halloween festivities without glorifying sin yourself, there’s no question that the holiday is highly associated with evil themes, characters, and practices that go directly against Christian values.
These themes include:
- Occult and Witchcraft: Imagery of witches, spell-casting, pentagrams, and anything tied to occult practices can be seen as celebrating or trivializing the occult.
- Demons and Satanic Symbols: Symbols or characters that appear demonic, satanic, or anti-Christian (e.g., devils, inverted crosses) may be viewed as contrary to Christian beliefs and offensive to faith-based values.
- Violence and Gore: Overly graphic depictions of violence, blood, and gore may be off-putting, as they seem to glorify or trivialize suffering and horror.
- Death and Dark Spirits: Themes that celebrate or glorify death and the undead, such as zombies or ghosts, may be seen as glorifying a worldview opposed to Christian beliefs about life and the afterlife.
- Evil Characters and Antiheroes: Characters that portray evil as fun, attractive, or worthy of emulation (e.g., serial killers, vampires) may be concerning, as they blur the line between good and evil in a way some Christians find problematic.
- Superstition and Fortune Telling: Fortune-telling, astrology, tarot cards, and similar imagery associated with supernatural “powers” apart from God may also be viewed as promoting un-Christian beliefs.
2. Halloween Can Give the Devil Unwanted Access
While some Christians find magic, horror movies, or demonic decorations harmless, others worry about the slippery slope of participating in activities the Bible clearly says are wrong.
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.” –Deuteronomy 18:10-14
Where do you draw the line between children’s magic tricks, Disney Magic, Harry Potter magic, reading books about magic spells, and practicing (real) magic yourself?
And where do you draw the line for your children? Can they dress as witches for Halloween, watch fantasy movies about sorcerers, play with magic 8 balls and Ouija boards, or read library books about how to cast love spells?
While I’m not saying any of these things are right or wrong (you’ll have to decide where to draw the line for yourself), if you were the devil, wouldn’t you start with children’s games and costumes that seem “harmless” in order to desensitize them?
3. Just Because Christians Can Celebrate Halloween Doesn’t Mean You Should
“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.” –1 Corinthians 10:23
Given the arguments above, some Christians don’t celebrate Halloween simply because they feel it isn’t appropriate for Christians or it isn’t worth the risk. Yes, there are pros to Christians celebrating Halloween (as we’ll see in a minute), but each of these can easily be accomplished at a different time or in a different way.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should, and there are plenty of other, better ways to spend a fall evening than participating in a holiday known for its questionable themes.
Why (Some) Christians DO Celebrate Halloween
Many Christians celebrate Halloween because they find it harmless fun, and they want their children to enjoy the same Halloween memories they have from their childhoods. Plus, some Christians even argue that Halloween can be used to strengthen their Christian faith — not detract from it.
1. Halloween is a Great Outreach Opportunity
As Christians, it’s our responsibility to be a light to the world. Yet, how can we do that if we constantly hide away in fear, voluntarily segregating ourselves within our own Christian communities?
In her thought-provoking article “Christians Who Celebrate Halloween,” Carissa Shaw writes, “What other time do you have an opportunity to be a kind, decent human and a light in your neighborhood just dropped in your lap like this?”
Yes, you can hide out at home with the lights off. Or you could volunteer at your church trunk-or-treat, host a Halloween party for your neighbors, go trick-or-treating with another family you’d like to get to know, or hand out the biggest candy bars on the block.
In some neighborhoods, this may be your rare opportunity to get to know your neighbors.
Related Reading: Halloween as a Ministry Opportunity: 5 Creative Ideas
2. Halloween Can Be Used to Teach Good vs Evil
The world is full of evil–not just on Halloween. Many Christians believe that, rather than hiding away from sin, we can use Halloween as a teaching opportunity for our children.
After all, the gospel message isn’t: “You better always do the right thing and make Jesus happy so he can bless you” — completely cutting sin and evil out of the equation.
Rather, the gospel message is: “Sin is real. We’re all sinners in need of a Savior. Jesus provides a way for us to say no to sin and Hell and accept his best for us instead–both now and in Heaven for all eternity.”
Sin is real, and Halloween is a great time to talk about it.
3. The Devil Doesn’t Get a Holiday
As you’re determining whether or not to celebrate Halloween, remember: God created all 365 days of the year. Satan created 0.
While some people may use the holiday as an excuse to glorify and even worship evil, that doesn’t mean the devil gets to claim the day as his own. It’s still God’s.
This might mean you honor God by choosing not to participate. Or it might mean that you honor God by redeeming the day as an opportunity to love your neighbors. That’s between you and Jesus. (The devil doesn’t get a say.)
4. Halloween isn’t the Only Cultural Tradition With a Questionable Past
Many Christians fully recognize and acknowledge Halloween’s questionable history (and present) but choose to look past it. After all, many of our cultural traditions and rituals come, at least in part, from questionable sources.
While it might seem nice to live a life completely free from on-Christian influences, this simply isn’t practical or possible for the vast majority of Christians today. Too much of our culture has pagan influences.
- MANY Christmas traditions (such as lights, bells, and mistletoe) come, at least in part, from pagan sources.
- Several months of the year and days of the week are named after various gods.
- The tradition of celebrating birthdays by lighting candles has pagan origins.
- Wedding rings, wedding ceremonies and funerals come from pagan customs.
Rather than trying to live a “perfect,” holy life, many Christians simply do the best they can, worrying more about the big issues than the small, controversial issues.
5. “Alternative” Activities Aren’t Really Any Different
Thinking of skipping trick-or-treating to attend your church trunk-or-treat or Harvest Party instead?
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with Christian Halloween alternatives, these activities typically really aren’t that different from the secular activities they’re replacing.
Does walking around a church parking lot in a Christian Halloween costume make you holier than walking around a neighborhood in a secular costume? Are you actually setting yourself apart? Or are you simply modifying the activity a bit so you feel better?
Is it a Sin to Celebrate Halloween as a Christian?
While Christians may disagree on how to observe Halloween, it is not a sin for Christians to celebrate Halloween. The Bible never forbids the holiday or any of the common traditions people follow (dressing up, eating candy, going door to door, etc.).
Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
Whether or not Christians can celebrate Halloween, many Christians debate whether they should. Because there are no clear Bible verses about Halloween, every Christian has a responsibility to act according to his or her own conscious.
In her article A Christian View On Halloween, Courtney Joseph writes: “Since the Bible does not give a clear mandate “thou shalt not participate in passing out candy or dressing up as Minnie Mouse on October 31st” – this is an area of Romans 14 – called liberty, conscience or a grey area.”
My Personal Christian View on Halloween
Personally, our family does participate in Halloween, though we certainly don’t go all out.
We love getting dressed up in matching family-friendly costumes, trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, and eating waaay too much candy. We carve pumpkins, make Halloweenies, and watch at least one kid-friendly Halloween movie every year. This year, we’re even going to a Halloween party at the home of one of our kids’ friends.
I personally stay away from anything to do with the occult, witchcraft, or the paranormal. (Though we did watch The Poltergeist with our oldest.) And I prefer our costumes to be G-rated and family friendly — nothing scary or evil.
If I do any decorating, it’s only making cute little tissue ghosts or giving my kids tealight candles to put in their jack-o-lanterns they carve with their dad. (I’m not much of a decorator anyway.)
In other words, we take part, but it’s not my favorite holiday, so I personally am not interested in doing more than the minimum (buying costumes and trick-or-treating).
That’s what works for our family, though. You’ll have to decide what works for yours!
What do you think? Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? How does your family spend the day?
Thank you for this interesting article. I would like to add another angle. I do not participate in Halloween but I now teach in a school that has set aside a teaching day in the syllabus to allow for Halloween and I must teach it as an English lesson. I have gone the route of focusing on creative writing, vocabulary, interesting things about spiders and bats and a few simple crafts. It still does not sit well with me and I hope to lessen the emphasis on the devil and his tricks. I have also arranged a bring-to-school food item harvest to celebrate the gathering of the harvest before winter and we will share this with less fortunate members in our community also in an attempt to shift the focus off the evil and more to showing Jesus to the community.
That’s a great idea 🙂
So I'm gathering that it's all in the intention you set. It's great to ask God for guidance and also ask ourselves the importance questions aka the "why's". We just need to be real without selves and God.
Great points! Thank you for sharing!
I don't celebrate Halloween. Instead I plan to celebrate Harvest Festival Day when I have a family. I will decorate my house in autumn themed decor (pumpkins, leaves, cornucopia, autumn fruits and vegetables etc), put autumn themed sheets and blankets on the beds, make autumn themed meals and praise God for the things that He has blessed us with. Another family tradition that I want to establish is putting together healthy food baskets which include a booklet about God and giving them out to the poor and needy. I don't really like the idea of going door to door for sugar laden candy. Trunk or treat is a good idea because it allows people to use their GOD given creative talent to glorify God. At the end of the day GOD reads your heart and He knows the motives behind your actions.
Those are all wonderful ideas. I love it.
Years ago the Lord challenged me to think about the things we normally celebrate and how we go about that (think: Easter eggs). The bible mentions the Lord was angered at the Jews because they adopted the practices of the pagan peoples around them. The Jews started to bring those pagan traditions into their every days lives and also into their religeous practices. This is what the Lord showed me. Halloween began with pagan peoples. Take a real look at halloween. Over the years it has become about violence and gore and demons. This is no accident. Halloween is the satanist’s high holiday and I believe the evil one loves it when he sees Christians celebrating along with his people. Our family goes out for the evening to get away from it. We might go out to eat or do our shopping. A couple of times we even went away for the night (when it falls on a Saturday). It has been hard. Very hard. We want to do all of the fun stuff with our family and share what we did as children but we also have to do the hard stuff of saying no sometimes.
I think God may call some to completely ignore it as best they can. It IS hard to not do things when everyone else does them. He may also call others to use this time as a moment to minister to others. I like how you still make things about family… just in a different way.
When my children were young I really didn't know about the background of Halloween. But once I did we didn't
celebrate it in the traditional sense but did participate at church functions. But having spent more time in the word I feel it is not appropriate to celebrate Halloween. My grandchildren do participate at church functions but to me it's doing the
same thing-celebrating just using a different means or label. I guess it's about your heart. As one gets older one's
heart becomes more tender. I think of the affect of Halloween on God's heart. Is it something true, noble, lovely, pure, of good report, praiseworthy to meditate on….ouch. (Philippians 4:8) I don't think Halloween fits.
True. Your heart plays a big role along with what God would call each individual person to do. Thanks!
I appreciate this. My family does not do church Holloween parties either.
Great article. I really like how you ask the questions as questions not saying yes or no things to think about. My family has always celebrated different ways through out the years. It has depends on parents time and age of the children and who was doing what.
Thank you for your feedback! And thank you for sharing about how your family celebrates Halloween.
Our family celebrates a modified version of Halloween—it’s a fun time to dress up and meet the neighbors, and we decorate our house with lots of pumpkins (thank you, pick-your-own farm!) and fall leaves from the local craft store, but we stress that God is a God of life, and the gory, zombie and witch costumes celebrate death, not life. The devil loves death, and we don’t want to give him a foothold in our family. I explained this to our kids when they were younger. Our elementary school had a Halloween parade to show off the students’ costumes, but it also held a harvest party for those children whose parents didn’t celebrate Halloween, which I appreciated. Note that my kids are “too old” to trick or treat, I have them hand out candy, which I don’t think is a pagan custom (though I could be wrong…) and do a nice, pumpkin and squash flavored dinner to celebrate the season. I think that straddles the line nicely!
Thank you so much for sharing about your family’s traditions. It sounds like your house is all decked out for fall! I love that!
Halloween has its roots from the Christian faith. The word Halloween comes from 'All Hallows Eve' . All hallows Eve (Halloween)is the eve of all saints day (All hallows day).
In the Our Father prayer we say Our Father 'hallowed' be thy name. 'Holy be thy name.'
The catholic faith celebrates on all hallows day (all saints da). All the holy Saints in heaven.
Known(st Francis Assisi, st mother Teresa,.,..) and also the unknown saints.
All hallows day (the celebration of all saints day ) was formally celebrated on may 31st. Until the holy father pope Gregory ( around about the year700…) moved the celebration of all saints day ( all hallows day) to November 1.
When the holy father moved all hallows day (all saints day) to November 1. All hallows Eve (the eve of all saints day. halloween) came to be celebrated on the 31st October. Just like Christians celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas day… Catholics/Christians celebrate the eve of all saints day halloween (October 31) and the actual all saints day itself all hallows day (1st of November)
The following holy father after pope Gregory iii. Took things a step further . Halloween (the eve of all saints day – all hallows day) was formally a local Italian celebration in Rome. Pope Gregory IV) extended the celebration to all Catholics all over the world.
l Catholics in different parts of the world had their various ways of celebrating all hallows Eve tide eve of saints day- halloween.) Some would dress up, others would carve faces from turnips… This extended celebration by pope Gregory IV was made in the year late
700
When people began to move around and live in different countries.They brought their traditional celebration of halloween with them. As people moved to America all these traditions became meshed together.
Like Christmas and , Easter all hallows Eve halloween (eve of all saints day, has moved away from its point of origins
Celebrate Halloween from its roots. A holy day of celebration remembering the saints in heaven. Some Catholics will dress up as st Francis Assisi , mothe Teres ….to celebrate Halloween I would recommend googling 'should Catholics celebrate Halloween.' Then clicking on search result. 'a catholics guide to halloween' It's very interesting.
Thank you for sharing that history. Very interesting!