Are Mormons Christian?

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Despite the efforts of Pew Research (which included Mormonism in a poll of Christians), the fact is, Mormonism began from an occult practice, and are widely unorthodox, or non-Christian, in much of their doctrine.  Having Jesus in their official name (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is an affront to Christ, rather than honoring Him.

 

The Latter Day Saints (LDS) got their start with Joseph Smith Jr.  Born in 1805, he published the Book of Mormon when he was 24, in 1830. It was based upon his many visions.   In one of them, in 1823, he explained it as follows: an angel named “Moroni” directed him to a buried book of golden plates, inscribed with a Judeo-Christian history of an American civilization, which included the idea that Jesus visited America while He was on earth.  Smith "translated" the golden plates into English.  In that same year he organized a religion, what he called a “restoration” of the early Christian church (he considered all denominations apostate, carrying the wrong gospel).  He actually gathered some believers. But his attempts to find gathering places for them came upon hard times.  He was driven from Kirtland, Ohio, on a charge of bank fraud.  At Nauvoo, Illinois, his followers destroyed a printing press shop which criticized his church’s beliefs, particularly the practice of polygamy.  He was jailed, and then killed when a mob stormed the jailhouse in 1844. 

 

That’s the “sanitized” story.  Now for the dark side of the truth.  In his earliest years, he and his family engaged in religious folk magic.  Both his parents, and his mother’s father, received visions, which they asserted were directly from God. The family, in dire need of money, hired themselves out as “treasure seekers.”   In 1820 (he was 14) he received a vision from God who told him that all contemporary churches had “turned aside from the gospel.” In the 1823 “visit by Moroni” (he was 17), he not only was directed to the golden plates, which were buried conveniently at the Hill Cumorah, near his New York home, but with it were a pair of seer stones (which he called the “Urim and the Thummim”) set in an eyeglass frame, that when put on, magically interpreted the strange symbols (which he called “Reformed Egyptian,” never heard of by linguists) on the plates to English.  Smith had a history with seer stones.  He used them earlier in his treasure seeking career to try to “find lost items” for people who paid him a fee.   Those attempts were unsuccessful. He also had to appear before a Chenango County court in 1826 for con-artistry “glass looking.”

 

He put the golden plates in a locked chest, he says, and the angel told him not to show them to anyone.  But his “business” associates felt he had double-crossed them, and after ransacking his possessions and not finding them, he felt it was a good time to get out of town, with his now-pregnant wife.  So they moved, taking the plates with him, supposedly.  Starting in 1828, he got help cleaning up the abominable English grammar in his journals from a new associate, Martin Harris. Either he, or Oliver Cowdery, or Smith’s wife Emma wrote the English transcription of the Book of Mormon--by sitting on the other side of a curtain while Smith dictated with golden plates and seer glasses, hidden from view. (Their testimony later said that nobody ever saw the plaates.) But then Harris lost the original English partial manuscript.  As a punishment, Smith alleges, the angel took away the plates and his power to interpret.  In this low time in his religious career, he attended a Methodist church—until a relative complained about the inclusion of a “practicing necromancer” on the church roll--him.  (Necromancy is talking to the spirits of dead people—in other words, a sorcerer). A true charge.  So he was forced out.  Later he told his associates he got the plates back.  But they’ve never been found.  Smith said Moroni took them back when he was through using them.

 

Smith’s associates were questionable characters.  Cowdery was expelled from the fledgling Church later, supposedly for practicing counterfeiting.  But the real reason Smith threw him out, though, was that he began claiming that he also had received revelations from God. (I expect he asked himself, "Why does Smith get all the glory?")   Soon after, several other original church members flew the coop.  But Smith then received a revelation that he was the only prophet and apostle, and only he could receive revelations from God.  To permanently disconnect Cowdery’s influence from everyone, Smith then dispatched him on a mission to proselytize Native Americans. Send him far away.

 

Cowdery got back at him for this humiliation.  He had originally testified that he heard someone who claimed to be John the Baptist, who told them to baptize one another, which they did; but later admitted that the “voice” of John the Baptist “did most mysteriously resemble the voice of Elder Sidney Rigdon.”  Rigdon, another shady associate, had a military background; during a Fourth of July celebration, he declared that Mormons would no longer tolerate persecution by the local Missourians and spoke of a "war of extermination" if Mormons were attacked. Smith implicitly endorsed this speech, and many non-Mormons understood it to be a thinly-veiled threat. But they followed and hounded him even more.

 

Martin Harris (the transcript-loser) was also expelled from the Mormon church.  His reason for expulsion was that he supported a young lady “seeress” who claimed she could see the future through a black stone.  The truth in this decision to excommunicate Harris and his girl was, simply, that Smith again showed that he wanted idolization focused on him, and to be the only one with supernatural power.  Harris had signed a paper saying that he had seen the golden plates. But as with Cowdery, when kicked out of the Mormon church, another piece of the truth came out—he later admitted that he only saw the plates “by the eye of faith.”    As a matter of fact, of the 11 people who had signed a document saying they had seen the plates, all those witnesses (except Joseph’s father and two brothers) had been expelled as apostates or had left of their own accord.  I suspect there were various reasons that covering for Smith’s lies wasn’t worth it.

 

Smith gained other followers by preaching to people who were emotionally inclined—when he heard about camp meetings (plenty of those at the time) that reported there were people having fits and trances, speaking in tongues, and rolling on the ground, he went there.  He told open-air crowds that they would soon receive an endowment of heavenly power, that he would lead them to a new Millennial kingdom, and he was going to find a site for the New Jerusalem.  But as his "church" grew, its leadership was constantly in dispute.  To keep attention on himself, Smith spoke frequently of how they were persecuted and how he would like to respond with military reaction.  At one time, he led a paramilitary group which shot two of their persecutors to death, and lost one of their own.  There were later intense gunbattles in Missouri, where he was arrested, brought before the court on a charge of treason, but escaped custody in 1839.  Smith lamented that his Mormons were an “oppressed minority” and petitioned the federal government for reparations. He moved his group to Illinois. Some of the government in Illinois felt sorry for him. He was allowed to legally found the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, with city-charter power to fend off extradition to Missouri.  The Nauvoo Mormons also formed a militia, granting them the power to arm the largest body of men in Illinois. He was now “Lieutenant General” Smith.  That’s when he began teaching plural marriage to his closest associates, and he raised the doctrine of baptism for the dead.  (His book Doctrines and Covenants reveal most of his theology—not the Book of Mormon, which is more biographical).  

 

But Missourians kept hounding him, so in 1843 he petitioned Congress that Nauvoo would be an independent territory, and could call out federal troops to defend him. When neither Congress nor Presidential candidates listened to him, his huge ego caused him to declare a third party campaign for himself for president—which went nowhere.  He also formed a secret council to help decide which state or national laws Mormons should obey. (As with most cults, they wanted to do anything, or break any laws they want, without government restraint).

 

He was accused of having a sexual relationship with his servant girl in 1831, but she was probably the first of his estimated 46 plural wives (many of those marriages occurred after his death--by proxy, a part of Mormon doctrine).  He took many of these wives privately, but still denied it publicly, where he claimed not to teach or practice polygamy--he was worried about his wife trying to kill him.  But after his 1844 death, the new leader--Brigham Young (who followed him into presidency) made a startling public statement in 1852.  Young produced a paper, in Smith’s handwriting, that in 1843 Smith had a revelation from God.  A revelation from a Prophet means that it was “legal” for the whole church (though this one was later illegal in civil law).  The revelation legalized polygamy.  In the text of the revelation, it also states that the first wife's consent should be sought before a man marries another wife--but also declares that Christ will "destroy" the first wife if she does not consent to the plural marriage!  If consent is denied the husband is exempt from asking his wife's consent in the future.  The revelation states that plural wives "are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth…and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men.”  

After this revelation was published, 20-30% of the church’s families became polygamous, and remained so even when the federal government declared an Anti-Bigamy law in 1862, but it was not outlawed by Mormons until 1904, with ex-communication if they didn’t obey.  The impression I get is, they were forced to give up polygamy. (But it’s still in their Doctrine & Covenants). A small part of rogue Mormons are still polygamous.  

Brigham Young, LDS president after Smith died in a hail of bullets, was polygamous; he was tired of how Smith sneaked around,  and he wanted this out in the open; he ended up with about 55 wives.  But many of these women were already married when they took up religious sexual union with Young, and later Smith—in at least one case, the cuckolded husband knew about it—and approved!—saying the prophet could do whatever he wanted to do.  They married some young girls—a 14-year old, for instance—and married some in their 50s.  Smith’s first wife, Emma, remained a dyed-in-the-wool LDSer who claimed the first she ever heard about all this multiple wives was 9 years after he died, even though she was shown of his 1843 revelation establishing polygamy at that time.  There have been studies and witnesses which conclude that from the 1830s to 1904, much seduction, rape, adultery, bigamy, and some abortions went on for practicing Mormons. 

 

The reason for Smith’s death was a hard act to follow.  He fell into a dispute with two of his associates in 1844, presumably over leadership, but the truth was more likely that he had allegedly proposed to "celestially" marry their wives!  When they gave him a hard time, he excommunicated them.  But they turned on him; going to civil authorities, they procured indictments against Smith for perjury.   They even made a newspaper decrying his doctrine of many Gods, and saying he used polygamy to seduce unassuming women.  Non-Mormons got heated up by Smith's gangs, and  Smith was jailed, facing charges of inciting a riot, and later treason.  It was there that he was shot by a jailhouse mob.  He is buried in Nauvoo, Illinois. 

 

Well, that was the real story about the glorious founder of the Mormon church.  Now let’s talk about their doctrines not being orthodox.  Keep one important thing in mind:  the doctrines say that Prophets, the presidents of their Church, can receive revelations for Church life and rules. These come from God.  (But God presumably changes his mind, since the Prophets did). At the beginning, it was Smith only.  Later the president of the Quorum of the Twelve, was the prophet who could hear changes in doctrine from God.   This means their “Word” is not infallible, and can be changed whenever another vision visits a prophet.  As Doctrines & Covenants  21:1,2, and 5 says (they’re allegedly quoting God):

 

Behold, there shall be a record kept among you; and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet… 2 Being inspired of the Holy Ghost to lay the foundation thereof… thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; 5 For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.

The idea that God would change His mind 180 degrees on an issue, is too comical to consider.

 

Now let's start with Christian orthodoxy on the subject of marriage:  Marriage is between one man and one woman, and is for life on earth.  In heaven, there is no marriage.  Start with Genesis 2:22-24:

Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. ²³ And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Now Matthew 22:30, the words of Jesus:

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

Mormon doctrine (which is unchanged):  Doctrine on Sealed marriage often led to plural marriage—This means multiple marriages in heaven.  Their Doctrines and Covenants 132:19-20 says:

…if a man a marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is  sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise…they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the  seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods. 

(Note the beliefs on men becoming gods, and reference to gods in the plural.)An explanation of sealing:  A couple who has been sealed in a temple will be married beyond physical death into the afterlife.  In the marriage ceremony performed in LDS temples, the words "until death do us part" are replaced with "for time and all eternity".  Civil marriages will not continue after death, but "eternal marriages" must be performed by priesthood authority. Eternal marriages are also performed vicariously for the deceased, by proxy.  Keep in mind that if a man’s wife dies, or is divorced, and he marries another, if both are sealed, he will be with both of his wives in heaven.  Thus, if the Mormons have their way, heaven will be populated with polygamy.  Thus they obtain those extra wives in the next life, if not in this one.  Brigham Young had the audacity to say:  "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 269, August 19, 1866).

Obviously, Mormon doctrine on marriage is in no way orthodox--it does not line up with Scripture.

 

One God:  Christian orthodoxy:  There is One God Who has Three Persons (the Trinity):  I John 5:7-8:

 

 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word (ie, Jesus, see John 1:1,14), and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

 

John 10:30, a quote from Jesus:  I and My Father are one.

 

Mormon doctrine:  Maybe there are three Gods, maybe not:  Per the General Authority, Quorum of the 12 Apostles of 1972-1985:

 

Page 43:  "So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods."
(But on Page 194, it says this):  As pertaining to this universe, there are three Gods: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. All other supposed deities are false gods.  (And on Page 227): There are three Gods - the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - who, though separate in personality, are united as one in purpose, in plan, and in all the attributes of perfection. (Some confusion here--presumably, Prophets were unsure).

 

God is in Christians' hearts:  Christian orthodoxy:  God dwells in the hearts of believers.  See John 14:23:

 

 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

 .

 

Mormon doctrine:  Again, they seem to contradict themselves.  In the Book of Mormon, Alma 34:36: 

 

36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell

 

But in the Doctrines & Covenants, 130:3 has a comment about the Bible’s John 14:23 (above):

 

The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false

 

So the D&C (from God, remember) comes right out and says that a Bible verse is old, sectarian, and false.  This is heresy.

 

Christian orthodoxy:  One’s salvation is originally by God’s grace:

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 

Mormon doctrine: Salvation is by works.  Book of Mormon, Moroni 8:25:

 

…baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins

 

Christian orthodoxy:  Jesus is God and eternal.  In the beginning, God created an angel, Lucifer, who went bad.  God’s children, though, are only those who follow Him; those who don’t, remain in their state of sin and ultimately go to hell.

 

 Let’s begin with  John 1:1,3,14 about Jesus:

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory

 

Observe how Jesus speaks to unbelievers, John 8:44:

 

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it

 

Lucifer was part of creation. Lucifer’s pride took him to evil deeds, and he became later known as the devil.  Isaiah 14:12-15:

 

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! ¹³ For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.. I will be like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.

 

Mormon doctrine on Jesus, sin and Lucifer:  God’s many children include Jesus and Satan, suggesting they were equal in purity.  Jesus only became God through effort.  Jesus and Lucifer vied for God’s honor.   Lucifer (or Satan) is not presented as evil; he is presented as offering himself to be our Savior, and existing, as God, “from the beginning.”

 

This quote is from the Mormon’s official organ; online, you will find this blasphemy on lds.org.  Again, by the way, notice another strange doctrine there:

 

 “According to official Mormon teaching, Jesus Christ is the first spirit child conceived and begotten by Heavenly Father and one of Heavenly Father’s many wives (commonly referred to as “Heavenly Mother”). Just as Heavenly Father before him progressed to godhood, so Jesus progressed through obedience to the status of a god (prior to his incarnation on earth).”

 

In the words of the late Mormon Apostle and General Authority Bruce McConkie, Jesus Christ “by obedience and devotion to the truth… attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God. As such, according to LDS authorities, Jesus is not to be worshiped or prayed to as one would worship or pray to Heavenly Father.”

 

This is a total denial that Jesus is equal to God. 

 

More from lds.org:

 

Mormons teach that “Heavenly Father subsequently had many more spirit children…thus, we should refer to Jesus as our “elder brother.” Moreover, Mormons believe that even Satan (Lucifer) is a spirit brother of Jesus.”

 

According to Mormons, Satan was willing to be our Savior!  As explained in their Gospel Principles:

 

We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27)….Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor”

 

Satan is even presented as existing “from the beginning,” a claim that only God can make!  From Selections from the Book of Moses (copied from LDS.org, chapter 4, 1830):

 1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning…

 

Christian orthodoxy:  Man is born with a tendency to sin, inherited from Adam. By God’s grace, disciples of Jesus can enjoy God’s favors in heaven, under His sovereignty.  Romans 5:12:

 

…just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

 

Revelation 22:1,3:

 

And he showed me a pure  river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb…was the tree of life…The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants (us) shall serve Him.

 

Mormon doctrine: Men are inherently divine, and can become gods, or equal with God

 

This quote begins from Mormon official publication, lds.org.  It quotes specific Doctrines and Covenants.

 

“Latter-day Saints see all people as children of God in a full and complete sense; they consider every person divine in origin, nature, and potential…Each possesses seeds of divinity …In 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon experienced a vision of the afterlife. In the vision, they learned that the just and unjust alike would receive immortality through a universal resurrection, but only those “who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise” would receive the fullness of God’s glory and be “gods (D&C 76:53,58)” Another revelation soon confirmed that “the saints shall be filled with His glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with Him.”(D&C 88:107)

 

There are other doctrines that contradict God's Word, are un-Christian, such as a heavenly mother (see their quote above) and others.  But this is 7 pages already.  There is no way their Doctrines and Covenants come from God, as they claim, and no way are they Christian.

 

Sources:  Book of Mormon, Facts on Mormonism (Ankerberg), "Is Mormonism Christian" (Fraser).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should Hallowe'en be Celebrated? Two Opposing Thoughts

 I have, for your thought, two opposing articles on a relevant subject.  The first argues that Halloween is a church tradition before  an evil corruption.  The author argues that we should celebrate it for its original merits.  The second article says we should not celebrate at the same time as evil is being celebrated.  You choose which argument you like.

 

Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Hallowe’en: A short history

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Pastor Joseph Abrahamson

There is a lot of new mythology about Halloween that has been invented to claim that Halloween is a pagan holiday. It is not.

 

Where Did Halloween Start in the Christian Church?

In the first three centuries after Christ’s resurrection, the lives of the martyrs of the Church were commemorated on the day and in the place where they were killed.

There were so many who were killed because of their faith in Christ during those centuries. Throughout the Christian Church different days were set aside not only for each martyr, but a special day for all Saints.

The earliest reference to a day being dedicated to the commemoration of All the Martyrs and All Saints of the Christian Church comes from the 2nd century. The document is titled “The Martyrdom of Polycarp.” Polycarp was a Christian killed because he would not deny Christ. The document says:

Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps. (Chapter 18) [Emphasis added]

Later, a Christian Bishop named Ephraim the Syrian mentions a common All Saints’ Day in 373. So, a common day for commemorating the Saints has been around throughout the Christian Church from very early times. And the fact that it falls on November 1^st today has nothing to do with paganism.

OK, so what does this have to do with Halloween? In the Bible the Jewish day begins at sundown or evening. This is why we have Christmas Eve. Halloween is All Hallows’ Eve‘, that is All Saints’ Evening. Halloween is the beginning of All Saints’ Day starting at sundown on October 31^st.

 

But, many of the Christian Churches in the Reformed traditions claim that Halloween is a pagan celebration. Very often they do this by referring to Neopagan and Wiccan writings. And there are many in the Neopagan and Wiccan communities who have tried hard to claim Halloween as an ancient pagan holiday that had been stolen by the Christian Church.

Don’t ever expect truth from Neopagans and Wiccans. But folklore does not support the Neopagan or the Wiccan claims about Halloween. The typical claims in current sources are that Halloween came from “ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions.” With respect to the origins of All Saints’ Day these claim are false. With respect to the modern re-paganizing of Halloween, the Neopagan version of Halloween doesn’t really come from ancient pagan sources. It comes from modern sources that pretend to be old but are not. These modern sources are simply fiction.

 

Doesn’t Halloween Have Its Origins in Samhain?

Neopagans and Wiccans like to claim that the source of Halloween is the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-in). There are three basic problems with their claim.

1.   The celebration of All Saints’ Day didn’t originate in Ireland or any other area populated by Celts or their descendants.

2.   None of the days on which All Saints’ Day was celebrated had anything to do with any Celtic holiday.

3.   The celebration of All Saints’ Day in Celtic regions is documented to be older than the documented celebration of Samhain.

 

So let us look at each of these three claims:

1.   In order for the Neopagan and Wiccan claim that Samhain is the origin of Halloween to be true, then Halloween and All Saints’ Day should have started in Celtic areas. But All Saints’ Day was celebrated in Syria as early as 373 A.D, in Caesarea in 397 A.D., and in Constantinople (under Chrysostom—modern Istanbul) by 407 A.D. So All Saints’ Day, and Halloween didn’t start in the Celtic countries. But it did take some time for the declarations of Rome to reach distant Celtic areas like Ireland.

2.   In order for the Neopagan and Wiccan claim that Samhain is the origin of Halloween to be true the particular day chosen should have some significance to the Celts and Samhain. But here we run into some serious problems. According to the best sources, Samhain was a Lunar festival of harvest. That means that the day of Samhain can vary up to a month in difference from any Solar year day. Compare, for example, the wide variety of days upon which Easter can take place. When sources claim that Samhain was October 31 to November 1 in the modern Solar Calendar they are being dishonest and disingenuous. They are intending to deceive the reader. Due to the differences between lunar and solar dates, on the average Samhain would take place exactly on October 31st only once in about every 30 years. When the reader adds into this the fact that the Western Calendar changed over from the Julian to the Gregorian at different times in different places, the reader can better understand how artificial the Neopagan and Wiccan claims are about Samhain. The Christian Church didn’t get Halloween/All Saints’ Day from the pagans, the pagans are trying to claim that Christians stole from them. But the Neopagans and Wiccans cannot even get their calendars straight. And they are hoping that the reader doesn’t notice how weak and embarrassing their claim is.

3.   In order for the Neopagan and Wiccan claim that Samhain is the origin of Halloween to be true Samhain they should be able to prove that Samhain is older than All Saints’ Day. But, in fact, the opposite is true. We have a manuscript from 843 A.D. where the Irish Christian Bishop Óengus of Tallaght wrote about the celebration of All Saints’ Day. It was celebrated in the Spring of the year at that time and in that place. The Decree of Pope Gregory IV had still not reached Ireland so that All Saints’ Day should be celebrated November 1^st.

But the earliest-ever-mention of Samhain in Irish folklore doesn’t come until the 10^thCentury (Ronald Hutton’s 1996 book Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain). There is no mention of Samhain outside of Ireland until centuries later.

These, then, are the facts.

Samhain comes from the 10^th Century A.D. and is a newer invention. All Saints’ day is older than Samhain. All Saints’ Day came from the practice of honoring the Christian Martyrs in Israel, Turkey, and Syria as early as the 2^nd Century and later.

All Saints’ Day and therefore Halloween originated outside the Celtic sphere of influence and had nothing to do with what the Neopagan and Wiccan claims are about its origin.

In fact, the newer holiday, called Samhain, was a Lunar holiday. This means that it could be celebrated on any of 30 or so days in Autumn of a given year depending on when the harvest moon was recognized in Ireland. And very, very rarely did this moon happen on October 31^st. This simple truth cannot be emphasized enough.

Any book or website or article that claims that the ancient Celts celebrated Samhain on October 31 is perpetrating a lie. Modern Neopagans and Wiccans invented their own calendar through the 1970s and 1980s and they chose Oct. 31 to be the day for Samhain. It was a move on their part to put forward the false claim that Halloween started in paganism.

 

Why Would the Non-Christians Want to Undermine This Holiday?

All Saints’ Eve (Halloween) and All Saints’ Day have a special place in the commemoration of the Christian Church because of the Reformation. It was on October 31^st, Halloween, that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany. It was on that date he chose to challenge the corruption in the official church about the notion that salvation in Christ could be bought with money or works. All Saints are saved by Grace, through Faith, revealed by God’s Word in Christ.

Halloween, October 31^st is Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517 the Church of Christ began to return to the authority of Scripture alone over the traditions and will of man.

It should not be surprising that Satan and the World have gone to such extremes to defile Halloween with anything that would distract Christians and the unbelievers from Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia and Solus Christus   (Scripture Alone, Faith Alone,  Grace Alone, and Christ Alone).

 

Halloween Traditions:

In this world some traditions have become the mainstay of Halloween. Though these traditions are not necessarily a problem by themselves, they have been claimed by the Neopagans and Wiccans as evidence that Christianity is a fraud and newcomer that has replaced the “Older” so-called “Truth”. But they lie.

The Haunted House started in the early 1970s. The first records of Haunted Houses were from Cincinnati, Ohio where the Jaycees (Junior Chambers of Commerce) introduced the first Haunted Houses as a way to keep kids entertained on Halloween.

So which is older, All Saints Day starting in the 2^nd Century or Haunted Houses starting in the 1970s?

Jack o’Lanterns are an American invention from the mid 1800s. Ireland and Britain had older traditions of carving vegetables into lanterns. But those traditions are not ancient. Historian David J. Skal writes:

Although every modern chronicle of the holiday[ of Halloween] repeats the claim that vegetable lanterns were a time-honored component of Halloween celebrations in the British Isles, none gives any primary documentation. In fact, none of the major nineteenth-century chronicles of British holidays and folk customs make any mention whatsoever of carved lanterns in connection with Halloween. Neither do any of the standard works of the early twentieth century.
(see this and other helpful references cited at The Scoopie)

It was in 1837 that the term “Jack o’ Lantern” first appeared as a term for a carved vegetable lantern. Previously the term referred to the man or boy a town hired to keep the street lamps lit through the night. The pumpkin was used with the cornucopia as a fruit that was displayed throughout fall harvest time in America as a sign of God’s providential blessing.

There is a lot of folklore about the Jack O’Lantern, but it is fakelore invented to create a fictional scary history for the Jack O’Lantern. But which is older? All Saints’ Day or the Jack O’Lantern?

Trick or Treating is very popular in America and several other countries. In the Middle Ages (1300s to 1500s or so) there was a practice where children or the poor would go from door to door to beg. In some places these beggars would sing or perform in order to get gifts of money or food from householders. While this happened every day of the year, because these beggars had to eat every day, they were particular active on holidays. Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and All Saints’ Day were special days when children and adults would go from home to home singing hymns and carols and begging. A good source for what these people would sing is the Oxford Book of Carols.

In Shakespeare’s 1593 play The Two Gentlemen of Verona the character Speed accuses his master of “puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas.” That’s our All Saints’ Day, November 1^st.

Wearing costumes on Halloween is first known in Scotland in 1895 and in the United States in 1911. The earliest use ot the words “trick or treat” is from 1927 in the United States. In the early 20^th Century there were thousands of postcards made with Halloween themes, but none of them showed “trick or treating” until the 1930s.

So what is older? All Saints’ Day or Trick or Treating?

Halloween, Reformation Day, All Saints’ Day is a very special day of the year for the Christian Church. We commemorate all saints past, present, and future with the confession that we cannot save ourselves with our own works, no price we could ever pay would be good enough. But Christ has paid for the whole world. And all believers in Christ, and these are the Saints, will be raised on the last day to eternal life. Reclaiming Halloween means knowing where it comes from, why the day was established, and the historical significance it holds for the Christian Church. Satan and the world are always willing to undermine and steal anything that is of value to the confession of the truth of Scripture. Let us not fall prey to the lies.

Enjoy Halloween! Enjoy Jack O’Lanterns, Enjoy Trick or Treating. But confess the truth!

 

Pastor Joseph Abrahamson serves Clearwater Lutheran Parish: a parish of four Confessional Lutheran congregations in very rural Northwestern, Minnesota. He and his wife, Mary, have 10 children. Pastor Abrahamson is a graduate of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary, and of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies. He has served on the Faculty/Staff at Bethany Lutheran College teaching Religion, Linguistics, Archaeology, and Self-Defense; and was on Staff at the University of Wisconsin as an Information Processing Consultant (Computer Geek) while doing graduate work in Semitics. Pastor Abrahamson has served Clearwater Lutheran Parish (ELS) for since Dec. 2001.

 

Why Christians Absolutely Should Not Celebrate Halloween

6:00AM EDT 10/21/2015 JAMIE MORGAN

 

Setting aside a day to celebrate evil, darkness, witchcraft, fear, death and the demonic brings disdain to God. Period. (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Many Christians celebrate Halloween. Some churches and pastors even do. I  recently saw a church advertising they were having a Zombie Run. Seriously? God's House? This pastor does not celebrate Halloween and neither does her church.

In a spirit of full disclosure, when I was a brand-new believer, I allowed my son to go trick-or-treating. Part of the reason was because my husband was not yet saved and insisted we do. The other part was because I didn't see the harm in it. After all, many Christians I respected did it, so as a new Christian I justified that it must be OK. Right? Wrong!

As I grew closer to the Lord and gained more knowledge of His Word, I began to feel convicted about Halloween. I had thoughts like:

o    God is a God of life, but Halloween focuses on death. Should I celebrate a holiday where people decorate their front yards with tombstones?

o    The Scriptures tell us to put away deeds of darkness (Rom.13:12) and that light has nothing in common with darkness (2 Cor. 6:14). Is celebrating a dark holiday something a child of the light should be doing?

o    I had been delivered from fear and panic attacks and knew that fear comes from the enemy. Should I participate in a holiday that has fear as its very foundation?

o    Witchcraft is clearly detestable to the Lord (Deut 18:10-13). Shouldn't something that glorifies witchcraft (just take a walk through the Halloween store) be detestable to me as well?"

o    Halloween is a sacred, high holiday for Wiccans (the official religion of witchcraft). Is this a holiday Christians should celebrate alongside Wiccans?

o    Is it cute when we dress our kids like the devil (or witches, ghouls, scary characters, etc.)? Isn't it, well, demonic?

o    What if my child dresses in a wholesome fireman costume? Romans 16:19 says that we need to be wise to what is good and innocent of evil. If I let him participate in Halloween, even while dressed as a fireman, aren't I sending him a mixed message by allowing him to participate in a celebration of evil?

o    The Lord said in 2 Cor. 6:17, "Come out from them and be separate ... Touch no unclean thing ..." Doesn't God want His children to be set apart from the world and from sin and evil? Aren't we supposed to be peculiar people?

o    My extended family thinks it's ridiculous that we not allow our son to dress up for Halloween. Should their opinions matter to me more than God's? Shouldn't pleasing God be my utmost concern?

o    If there is even a question in my heart and mind that it might be wrong, shouldn't that be my first clue? Why would I continue to do so with even a lingering thought that it is wrong?

o    Does Halloween bring glory to God? No! It glorifies the devil! Nuff said.

So as a new believer, saved only two years, I responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repented of displeasing the Lord and put a stop to Halloween. And as a pastor, after observing firsthand the amount of destruction that the enemy brings into peoples' lives when they give him a foothold, I am even more convinced I made the right decision to close the door to the enemy and on this evil holiday.

Setting aside a day to celebrate evil, darkness, witchcraft, fear, death and the demonic brings disdain to God. Period. A Christian celebrating Halloween would be like a Satan worshiper putting up a nativity scene at Christmas while singing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" The two just don't go together. Jesus has nothing in common with Satan (2 Cor. 6:14), and neither should we.

So, what did we do instead? Hide in the basement with the lights off? Hustle the family out of the house? No, darkened homes are the enemy's victory! Where does your light shine the brightest ... in the darkness!

Halloween is the one day a year when neighbors come to your door expecting to receive something.
So give them JESUS! Our family chose to give God the glory and the devil a black eye by reaching out to our neighbors with the gospel of Jesus Christ! "You are the light of the world ... let your light shine among men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:14-16).

So stop justifying why it is fine to celebrate this demonic, worldly, evil holiday. There are no muddled lines or gray areas about it. A committed follower of Jesus Christ should not celebrate Halloween.

 

Jamie Morgan is the pastor of Life Church (Assemblies of God) in Williamstown, N.J., and the Life House of Prayer (24/7 prayer).