Yes, it’s that time of year again, the time when the debate is renewed among professing Christians whether or not to have anything to do with Halloween. Opinions range from seeing Halloween as harmless to seeing it as an opportunity to reach the lost with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The latter opinion sounds good and seems to be the preferred choice, but I still believe that complete separation from such a pagan religious day is in order.
In the Bible, particularly in the book of Acts, we come across three occult encounters that are important in developing our attitude and actions towards the occult, and, therefore, toward Halloween. First, in Acts 13:6, the Apostle Paul runs into a sorcerer by the name of Barjesus. This sorcerer opposed the preaching of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul’s evaluation of him is found in Acts 13:10, “And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
Then in Acts 16, a damsel “possessed with a spirit of divination” (v. 16) began to “help” the Apostle Paul and his missionary party proclaim the good news of God. Such help was not appreciated nor needed: God’s servants do not need the help of the Devil and his kind. By the power of God, the damsel was delivered from the spirit of divination (fortune-telling). This act of deliverance got the apostles into a lot of trouble with those who made a profit from her fortune-telling.
Finally, Acts 19 tells how the inhabitants of Ephesus have received the gospel at the hands of the Apostle Paul. Many are converted and now look what they are doing: they are having a bonfire! Why? “Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:19-20). “Curious arts”? They took their books on magic, witchcraft, occult practices, tarot cards, etc. and burned them. I wonder: if something like this occurred today in our city, would not Harry Potter, the Twilight books, and many others be burned to ashes?
The question remains: have occult practices changed much since Bible times? Talk to a witch, a person who is into Wicca, a Satanist, a pagan, and see what they think about one of their most dark holy days: Halloween! They laugh at our gullibility and stupidity when it comes to participating in this dark holy day. What can we learn from the historical examples given from the book of Acts? God’s messengers did not have anything to do with the occult, but actually opposed such works of darkness by the Word of God, by the shed blood of Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anything less than that for those of us who are Christians today is compromise, and we are giving place to the Devil to have a foothold in our lives. And this ought not to be for a person who names the name of Christ.
Pastor Tom Newton
Calvary Baptist Church
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Roger – Why I am not a Roman Catholic: http://romancatholicbeliefs.org/
No reply about capital sins, and the death penalty?
@ Roger. Not believing in fairy-tales is NOT a religion.
@Roger
First of all, your comments are eloquently stated and obviously well researched. However, let’s remember that the leaders of the church encourage men, women and children to look to them for moral and spiritual sustenence. When they abuse their influence they bring into question the validity of the entire concept they represent. There is a supposition on the part of the public that they can trust these “holy people”. The church willfully takes on this huge moral responsibility. They cannot effectivly be compared to “free range” lechers
@Roger. Though i agree with much of what you said i do take exception to your statement that Atheism is a religion. Firstly the definition of religion: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods. Atheism is a non-belief in a deity and therefore by definition alone doesn’t qualify. Atheists do not activity spend time to disprove the existence of a god because for them it’s like conversing about whether Santa Clause is real or not. They already know neither exists. Atheists do not worship nor do they have an organized system of beliefs because not all Atheists have a non belief for the same reason. Some were simply not born into a religious family and take life for what it is. Others were indoctrinated at some point in their childhood and have later came to the realization that “gods” do not exist. Either because common sense dictates that facts do not support the existence of a god and/or it contradicts scientific facts.
Tom Newton: I wasn’t aware of any question requiring a reply from me. My views are well expressed in earlier posts I believe. The death penalty for sins is in the realm of the Taliban, and certain Christian missionaries from N. America working in Muslim countries. It would be considered a hate crime or criminal activity in N. America by most civilized people. On top of that I’m not aware of God or Christ giving ANYONE the authority to judge and kill anyone. You’re the one who’s not answering questions. How can anyone not know your views on Catholicism? Everyone should clean out their own filth before attacking others.
I agree with you and I have no use for child abusers no matter where they are, or what profession they are in. I’m not sure what you mean by “free range lechers” however. Child abusers are almost always individuals in a position of trust, and known to or by the victim. Parents, stepparents especially, relatives and friends of the family, cops, teachers, coaches, baby sitters and a variety of others that have regular contact with the victims. Their breach of trust, and their impact on the victim, I don’t think is any less than that of a priest or minister. There are criminals in every profession and priests are no exception. It’s not the institution that is committing the crime, it’s a sick individual. Covering it up is also a crime, and again it’s not restricted to a church. Family secrets, police force coverups, business coverups are all part of the puzzle. When it’s a priest it seems to draw more attention from the media because it sells more papers.
My biggest concern with religion, any religion, is the lack of education of clerics in many cases, and the misrepresentation of the religion by these clerics. The Taliban is a good example, but we have much the same thing in Christianity. The main difference is that we live in a civilized society where the laws keep fanatics under control. Both Christianity and Islam are supposed to be religions of love and peace. That’s not what the so called radicals or right wingers preach however, and they should not be tolerated by civilized society. Many of them are criminals using religion as a cover.
Michael, sorry, that last comment “I agree with you…” was meant mainly for you. There doesn’t seem to be a way to edit comments.
Roger writes “… and they should not be tolerated by civilized society. Many of them are criminals using religion as a cover”. Welcome to the new Nazism of our day! I suppose Roger you believe the Holocaust was a made up lie too, and that it was a “civilized” German society with the Pontiff’s approval that went about to murder all those innocent Jews. Rome has always wanted Jerusalem for it’s holy see.
Roger here is a link to Romes involvement with Hitler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwMdHTM254#t=165
Go back and read it again Tom. You know perfectly well what I’m talking about. Either that or you’re insane, to come out with a statement like that. “Pastors” who preach the death penalty are criminals, vehicles of Satan, not of God. Hitler was criminally insane too. It ran in his family. What I’m talking about has nothing to do with Nazis.
@Roger
Thanks for your response. “Free range” lechers (my own term) are perps who operate independently and yes come from all walks of life and every conceivable interpersonal dynamic. Their crimes are equally regrettable, but they commite them without the “authority” of a religion.
I’m suggesting that the abuse in the church is systemic and bred in the bone. There being (thankfully) some exceptional individuals that have operated within its structure and NOT partaken of the culture of abuse of the vulnerable and downtrodden.
The church sanctioned lecher also enjoys the “company benefits program” which usually involves a promotion and change of scenery for the outed offender.
As far as the media goes, they couldn’t do enough to expose the abuse of the church, AFTER HOW MANY CENTURIES OF SILENCE!
I don’t like to “stack” my comments, but I thought I’d leave you with an image from my youth in Cornwall.
Back in the early 60’s there was a family clothier who was located right beside (west of) the newly constructed post office. In the front window were two prominently displayed features. One was a brightly festooned (almost paramilitary) youth commencement suit. The other was a rather neurotic spider monkey in a cage. Peace out.
Interesting how some conversations always seem to come around to the Catholic Church and this time an added Newtonian theory on Nazis.The link to “Rome’s involvement with Hitler” is a good example of the prevalence of mental illness in religion. There are much more credible sources in The National Enquirer, and the Looney Tunes archives. How would they explain the thousands of Catholic priests and Protestant ministers that were murdered or sent to concentration camps to be killed there. Very well documented for anyone wanting to check the records. Also the records of Jews saved by nuns in convents etc. Amazing what lengths people will go to to avoid answering embarassing questions.
I have a near and dear family member in the RCMP in another province. For most of his career, he has been involved in investigating sex crimes, and is now a member of an integrated child exploitation (ICE) team. The stuff he deals with is quite unbelievable and the stories he tells would make a normal person weep. We talk about his work often. He tells me that child abusers and predators come from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. Religious fanaticism does raise a red flag during investigations, but it’s not limited to any one religion, and it’s only one of many considerations when working up a profile.
In my husband’s country of Lebanon Halloween is practiced in the month of March and is called “St. Barbara Day” and they wear costumes like us and collect candy but a lot is done in the homes instead of going on the streets. The same thing is done in Israel – I don’t know what they call theirs but is done in March as well.
Furtz you are right indeed when you said that child abuse is done in all religions. In the past my husband never ever heard about this happening in his country until lately. This has always gone on but it was never heard about like what we hear today. The Catholic church has gone down hill worldwide over this and are going through many lawsuits and we don’t know if the church will survive because of all of that. Yes every religion is guilty of such crimes. What the cops see every day would make any normal person crack under the stress of what they see and have to do every day.
Again, the vast majority, maybe as much as 95%, of sexual abuse cases have nothing to do with religion, or any church, and the coverups are the same and probably have gone on for centuries there too. Cops, parole officers, lawyers, judges, teachers, professors, school principals, coaches, boy scout, girl guide leaders, ordinary heterosexual parents of both sexes, relatives and family friends, next door neighbors, almost always someone very well known by the victim. That was my experience in working as a volunteer with welfare agencies and victims or adult survivors. I’m pretty sure any police organization or child welfare agency will confirm those figures, or very close to that, depending on the region. Religion has it’s evil side, but if we focus all of our attention there, the rest could very well get overlooked. Victims who came forward during project truth were only a fraction of the total number. It’s very difficult coming forward when it’s your own family, or others who have power over your life, like an employer, cop or teacher and that’s where the victims suffer in silence. A child especially has to have supportive parents, who will believe them, or again they never come forward.
My first ancestor in Canada circa. 1630, had his 5 year old daughter raped by a next door neighbor. That neighbor was sentenced to death, and subsequently be-headed, and his head was put on display on a spike in the middle of the town square as a warning to others. So it’s far from new, human nature has probably been the same as far back as you can go in history.
People have complained recently about figures that showed sick leave was higher in the civil service than in the private sector. It turned out that the figures used were wrong and there wasn’t near the difference reported. When you consider the fact that the majority of people who have to deal with these problems are civil servants, it’s surprising that the figures are not higher, especially when you consider burn-our or P.T.S.D.
Several recent media reports lend a bit of credence to my comments on child abuse, especially the one dealing with 3 to 400 arrests for child porn and abuse, most of them teachers. Doctors also mentioned. Even with that, it’s not sensational enough to draw media attention away from the Ford fiasco. Sad.