SUBSCRIBER LOGIN






Search First Things

Advanced Search

RSS

Masthead

Recent Comments

  • Blake: People who have serious cognitive deficiencies often have serious problems seeing their own intrinsic worth....
  • Truth Unites... and Divides: “For those of us who are devotees of both history and literature, we recognize,...
  • Raymond Takashi Swenson: One of the most quoted verses in the NT us John 3:16, but it is part of an argument Jesus...
  • Hodge: Volk, I wanted to point out that I ignored your arguments because they weren’t arguments. They were...
  • Constantine: This was hardly an innovation of Augustine. After all, the resurrected Christ made this plain on the...
  • jason taylor: The Federal government is not a village. Nor is pointing that out merely being pedantic. A real village...
  • Archives

    Categories

    Monthly


    « Previous  |Home|  Next »         

    Thursday, October 29, 2009, 9:05 AM

    It occurs to me that of the major Western holidays, Halloween is the only one that originated with Christendom but got handed over to the pagans. Did we trade it in for the holidays of theirs we redeemed and turned into Christmas and Easter?

    I’d say that’s a fair enough trade, but I think we should have them all. Christ is the Lord of All Hallow’s Eve, after all.

    5 Comments

      Jeremy Pierce
      October 29th, 2009 | 9:58 am | #1

      What about Thanksgiving? That was indisputably Christian in its origins, but it’s not as if it generally gets celebrated in any Christian way by most Americans.

      Jared C. Wilson
      October 29th, 2009 | 10:06 am | #2

      Hmm. Yeah, I think that would apply too.

      But what I mean is, Christians didn’t go hands-off on Thanksgiving like so many do on Halloween. And we acknowledge its Christian origins, whereas with All Hallow’s Eve, we start talking about Samhain and druids and what-not.

      Sam
      October 29th, 2009 | 10:35 am | #3

      I wouldn’t be so quick to sell out on Christmas and “pagan” origins… see here:

      http://jeffreyjmeyers.blogspot.com/2008/12/is-christmas-christian-redux.html

      specifically here:
      http://jeffreyjmeyers.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-christmas-christian-part-vii.html

      Daryl Little
      October 29th, 2009 | 10:43 am | #4

      Jared,

      I agree. Besides, isn’t candy offererd to idols fair game anyway?

      Jared C. Wilson
      October 29th, 2009 | 10:59 am | #5

      No, it must be burned with the Purpose-Driven Life and the NIV Bible.