Halloween, we hear, is now the third most popular "holiday" in the USA. Many Christians are very concerned about the meanings of Halloween customs, the seeming glorification and celebration of witches, ghosts and other spiritual beings, and the whole idea of having a holiday related to the dead. We're going to take a look at Halloween history, customs, the dead and the question of Christian involvement in the celebration. Be ready to be startled by some of the surprising things we've learned. If you want more detail, see these books about Christians and Halloween History.

What Is Halloween? The word comes from an abbreviation of "All Hallows Eve." This is the night before All Hallows (All Saints) Day, when the Church honors the past (dead) Christians. All Saints Day is also known as the day Martin Luther nailed his protest of the Catholic Church and began the Protestant movement. There have been different dates for All Saints Day. It's commonly believed that November 1st was chosen to coincide with...

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I agree with you. When I was younger, I did not allow my children to go trick or treating because it was unsafe in our neighborhood. However, I did not want them to feel "left out" at the public school they attended, so I wrapped seven (7) small gifts for each of them (not expensive) and threw what I felt to be acceptable "candy" around our house. When they got home from school Halloween afternoon they put their costumes on (none of which were either spiritual or evil, just fun). At about 6pm, after our dinner, their dad and I would shout, "One, Two, Three, Ready, Hunt!!" They would go scurrying through the house looking for their gifts and picking up as much "candy" as possible - the next day, at school, in their lunches appeared some of the candy they received the night before - and they were none the worse for the wear. There were even some friends that were a little jealous that they had gifts as well as candy. I included the gifts just because I wanted to, but they aren't necessary.

Now, my husband and I are older with no grandchildren and we have such fun giving out candy to the "trick-or-treators" that come to our house. We set pumpkins out on our front porch and have fall decorations all over - and do we ever love seeing all those little children in their "Angel, Power Rangers, Spiderman, etc., costumes!! What fun we have and how we always remember that Christ so loves these little ones!!