Should Christians Participate in Halloween?

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Hello friends. Today's podcast question says: What should Christian families do about Halloween? Some parts of Halloween are explicitly evil, and I know we should stay away from them, but is it wrong if my daughters dress up as innocent storybook characters and go trick-or-treating?

This is a good question, and it's one that I know many Christian parents wrestle with. Should we allow our children to participate in trick-or-treating on Halloween? Now, I know that some of you listening will already have strong opinions one way or the other, but my goal in this podcast is to help us think biblically about what to do when there's an issue that Scripture does not explicitly address.

Three Biblical Categories for Decision-Making

Anytime there's an issue like this, I think there are three biblical categories we should think through in order to guide us to a biblically based conclusion:

1. Issues that Scripture directly and explicitly condemns or commands
2. Issues not directly addressed in Scripture, yet based on biblical principles, there's a clear right and a clear wrong
3. Issues that are a matter of conscience

We're going to think through each of these three categories and talk about how they relate to Halloween and our decision of whether or not to let our children participate in trick-or-treating.

Category 1: What Scripture Directly and Explicitly Condemns

The first category we're going to look at is issues that Scripture directly and explicitly condemns or commands. Something that is clear in Scripture is that we are not to participate in witchcraft. This is expressed directly and explicitly in the Mosaic law.

Now, as Christians who are part of the new covenant, we are not under the old covenant law. We are under the law of Christ, but the Mosaic law is still important and it teaches us who God is and what He values. So we are wise to look at what is expressly and explicitly condemned or commanded in that law.

Let's look at three different passages of Scripture. The first is Deuteronomy 18:9-12:

"When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you."

This passage directly and explicitly condemns any form of witchcraft. This is repeated in Exodus 22:18, which states, "You shall not permit a sorcerer to live," and Leviticus 20:27, which says, "A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them."

Now again, this was the Mosaic law which was given to the nation of Israel. We are under the law of Christ, so we are not to go out and stone someone who is practicing witchcraft, but we learn from these verses that witchcraft is an affront to God and participating in it is sinning against Him.

The New Testament Also Condemns Witchcraft

The New Testament also makes clear that witchcraft is a sin. In Acts 19:18-20, it says:

"Many of those who were now believers came confessing and divulging their practices, and a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily."

This is talking about new converts to Christianity during the days of the early church. Those who were converts turned from their magic arts.

In Galatians 5:19-21, it reads:

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

We read a whole long list of sins that are egregious offenses against the Lord in this passage, and one of them is sorcery. It specifically says those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. This makes clear that sorcery, that witchcraft, is a sin against God. It is something that keeps us from the kingdom of God.

Revelation 22:14-15, the last chapter of Scripture, reads:

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."

Again, in the final closing chapter of Scripture, it's describing those who are in the kingdom of God and those who are outside of it. One of the sins of those who are outside of the kingdom of God that is specifically mentioned is sorcery.

So Scripture clearly teaches that we are not to participate in witchcraft. Now, I don't think anyone, or at least 99.9% of people who are listening to this podcast, already knew this—that we are to avoid any participation in the occult, witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

A Practical Note About Fleeing Witchcraft

On a practical note, for most of us, this probably doesn't naturally fall into most of our lives, but there might be a time where you or your children might be in a place where people are practicing witchcraft, and we are to flee from that.

As I was writing notes for this podcast, I was thinking of my own life. I went to college on the north shore of Boston, and when I was there every year I had to do some student teaching. Two of the years that I was there, I student taught in Salem, Massachusetts, which is where the Salem witch trials occurred in the 1600s.

Halloween is a big deal in Salem. There are actually people who consider themselves witches or wizards or warlocks, and they actually practice sorcery specifically on Halloween. I remember that there were actually places where people would go to sacrifice animals. It was some really scary stuff.

Twice when I was student teaching in Salem, I was there on Halloween. I always made sure that as soon as my teaching responsibilities were over that I would get in my car and head back to college. I didn't want to be anywhere near there when I knew that there was witchcraft actually happening. We are to flee from witchcraft.

Category 2: Issues With Clear Right and Wrong Based on Biblical Principles

The second category is issues that are not directly addressed in Scripture, yet based on biblical principles, there's a clear right and a clear wrong. One issue regarding Halloween that I think falls into this category is for someone to pretend, even just in jest, to be practicing witchcraft.

Ephesians 5:1-10 is a longer passage, but I think it's important for us to think through:

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

Now, after reading that passage, you may be thinking, "Elizabeth, that really didn't say anything about witchcraft or sorcery." You're right, it didn't. But the reason I read this passage is because it opens up talking about how we are to imitate God. Then it lists a whole bunch of sins and says that these are not even to be named among the saints. We're not even to joke about them.

It says that no one who is sexually immoral or impure or is covetous (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or God. So if we are called to be imitators of God and we are not to even pretend or joke about participating in sin, and we know that witchcraft is a sin that keeps someone from the kingdom of God, then allowing our children to dress up like beings that are evil or are associated with occult practices is akin to joking about witchcraft—saying, "Oh, it's no big deal. Isn't she such a cute little witch? Isn't he such a cute little wizard?"

That is not imitating God. It is joking about something that God calls sin. So although Scripture does not directly say, "Thou shalt not have your child dress up as a witch on October 31st"—there is no command like that—from the biblical principles that we are given (that we are to imitate God, that we are to walk in light, that we are not to even joke about sin), we can conclude that having our children dress up like someone who practices witchcraft directly goes against the commands of God to not even joke about sin.

Category 3: Issues That Are a Matter of Conscience

The third category we need to think through is issues that are a matter of conscience. I'm sure that most of you listening and watching have read through Romans 14 many times in your life, but I'm going to read through the first seven verses because this really walks us through what to do with issues that are a matter of conscience, where there's not a direct right or a direct wrong, but we need to think about what our conscience is telling us to do.

I think that this passage really relates to the specific question: Is it wrong for my children to dress up as storybook characters? It's one thing if our children are participating in witchcraft—clearly that is wrong. It's another thing if our children are pretending to dress up like a character who's participating in witchcraft, which again, I think based on Scripture would be wrong.

But what if our daughter wants to dress up as a princess or our son wants to dress up as a scarecrow? Those aren't things that are inherently evil, and walking around asking our neighbors for candy—that's not inherently wrong. So what do we do about these issues that are matters of conscience?

Romans 14:1-7 says:

"As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself."

In this passage, we're told that there are going to be matters where people's consciences lead them in different directions. In this particular passage, it was talking about eating meat versus just eating vegetables. At the time, there were some who wouldn't eat meat because the meat that was sold in the marketplace was usually sacrificed to idols.

Paul is saying there's nothing inherently wrong with that. He addresses this again in one of the Corinthians letters, saying that meat sacrificed to an idol is nothing—it's fine. But different people at the time were convicted. Some people had a weaker conscience and thought, "I can't eat any meat because this is sacrificed to an idol." Other people were like, "Idols are nothing. Why does it matter? Let's just eat."

Paul is saying here that we are to be fully convinced in our own minds, and whatever we do, whether we partake or abstain, we are to do it as unto the Lord. And we are not to judge people who choose to do differently.

My Family's Example

Letting our children go trick-or-treating dressed up in fun, innocent costumes is a matter of conscience. As I was writing my notes for this podcast, I thought about my own family. I have two siblings who are wonderful and love the Lord, and they're married to wonderful people who also love the Lord. Between the two of them, I have six nieces and nephews who are being raised in homes where Jesus is talked about all throughout all days. They're both wonderful families, and they just have different convictions on this.

One of my sets of nieces and nephews goes trick-or-treating every Halloween, and they always dress up in fun, innocent costumes—princesses and spiders and skunks and dinosaurs, things like that. My other sibling and their spouse have convictions that their children are not to go trick-or-treating, so they do not have their children dress up and go trick-or-treating.

Neither one judges the other. They're not mad at the other, but they just have different convictions on this. We need to make sure that as we're making a decision, we are fully convinced in our own minds that what we are doing is what the Lord is convicting us of. And then we are not to cast judgment on our brothers and sisters in Christ who choose differently and are participating within biblical limits, or are choosing not to participate because of biblical reasons.

Doing It as Unto the Lord

Romans 14 also talks about how whoever eats, eats as unto the Lord; whoever abstains, abstains as unto the Lord. So if you're choosing to let your children participate in trick-or-treating, I highly recommend that you talk about it through a biblical lens.

Whatever character or animal your child is dressing up as, talk about how fun it is that God has given us creativity and imagination and that we get to dress up as this fun character. Talk about how amazing it is that God let us live in this society where it is safe to walk from house to house and ask for candy at each door. Isn't it amazing that God has made it so that our mouths can taste the sweetness of sugar and we can enjoy candy? Do trick-or-treating as unto the Lord.

For those of you who are choosing to abstain, talk with your child about that. Say, "You know what? Mommy and Daddy have decided that we're not going to have you go trick-or-treating, and the reason for this is..." Explain your reasons why. Then explain to them, "You know what? Sometimes Christians still do choose to go trick-or-treating, but they choose not to dress up as things that are evil. And when you're an adult, you might decide to let your kids go trick-or-treating. But Mommy and Daddy, we do not feel like we want you to do this. We have to do what our conscience tells us to do because the Bible tells us we have to be fully convinced in our own minds."

I hope you see how no matter which way the Lord leads you, you can do this as unto the Lord, and you can walk your children through how you are doing this as unto the Lord.

Summary: Three Categories for Biblical Decision-Making

Just as a reminder, we've looked through three different categories:

First, issues that Scripture directly and explicitly condemns or commands. We saw that it is very clear that participation in witchcraft is sinful.

Second, issues not directly addressed in Scripture, yet based on biblical principles, there's a clear right and a clear wrong. We saw that we should not allow our children to pretend to be someone who is practicing witchcraft.

Third, issues that are a matter of conscience. We saw that going trick-or-treating dressed in innocent costumes is a matter of conscience. We are to be fully convinced in our own minds. Whether we choose to partake or to abstain, it's to be done as unto the Lord. And we are not to judge our brothers or sisters for what they're choosing to partake in within biblical limits or to abstain from.

Your Next Steps

Well, that's a wrap for this episode. I hope this framework has equipped you to think biblically about Halloween and to guide your children with wisdom and conviction. If you found this helpful and want more biblical guidance for raising resilient kids in today's culture, subscribe to our email list so you never miss future episodes and resources. Or better yet, explore Foundation Worldview's curriculum—designed to help you systematically ground your children in God's truth.

As we leave our time together, my prayer for you is the same as always: that no matter the situation in which you and the children God has placed in your care find yourselves, you would trust that God is working all things together for your good by using all things to conform you more into His image.