Halloween

What is the TRUE/UNBIASED history of Halloween?

Does this holiday a Christian practice?

Does this holiday a celebration rooted from the 1st century christian practices?

Is Halloween, from the bible?

Well, just click the links to read:

cdrc-phil.org
halloweenhistory.org
neopagan.net
halloweenishere.com

and etc.

Make some research from your favorite search engine so you may know! All are united by saying that the History of Halloween came from PAGAN PRACTICES! And if you have watched t.v shows, or searched that halloween is a CHRISTIAN PRACTICE, well, they are the LIARS! For everyone knows about it, that it is only one of the created traditions in the Catholic Church!

And if some didnt know about Halloween, lets read from Wikipedia what really is it (click the link for the full content):

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the United States. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Common Halloween activities include
trick-or-treating,
wearing costumes and
attending costume parties,
carving jack-o'-lanterns,
ghost tours,
bonfires,
apple bobbing,
visiting haunted attractions,
committing pranks,
telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and
watching horror films.

It is only the introduction part, lets read other information about it!
But i will just quote some:

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)". The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".

A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av). The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through.

The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.

Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink. The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.

The NAME

"The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century"

The PRACTICES

carving jack-o'-lanterns, candle lanterns
"The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips."

wearing costumes and masks
"The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them..."

Samhain celebration, where Halloween originated

bonfires
"Bonfires played a large part in the festivities celebrated down through the last several centuries, and up through the present day in some rural areas of the Celtic nations and the diaspora."

trick-or-treating
"Children going door to door "guising" (or "Galoshin" on the south bank of the lower Clyde) in costumes and masks carrying turnip lanterns, offering entertainment of various sorts in return for food or coins, was traditional in 19th century, and continued well into 20th century."

apple bobbing
"Apple bobbing originates from Celtic times when Halloween was called Samhain in some Gaelic languages, when apples were associated with love or fertility. Some say this comes from the Roman goddess Pomona whilst others note that this game is an important part of the Celtic pagan religious festival of Samhain when families would gather together for a communal feast."

And etc...

Not just the celebration of Halloween came from PAGANS, but also the activities inside it. So now you know the truth behind this, WOULD YOU CELEBRATE AGAIN HALLOWEEN NEXT YEAR?

By the way, what is the TEACHING FROM THE BIBLE?

“In particular, I want to urge you in the name of the lord, not to on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live. Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, without knowledge because they have shut their hearts to it.” (Eph. 4:17-18, Jerusalem bible)

That is why the Iglesia ni Cristo/Church of Christ members do not participate and celebrate Haloween! We just follow God's commandments, dont blame us for being "K.J" or "not cool" just because we do not celebrate celebrations CAME FROM PAGANS, is it our fault to OBEY AND FOLLOW THE WILL OF GOD?