Is All Saints' Day on November 1st Because of a Pagan Festival?

On Tuesday’s podcast, Greg talked to Angie Mosteller about her Christian Origins of Halloween pamphlet. Here’s an excerpt from an article on Halloween from her website, Celebrating Holidays:

The name Halloween is a blending of the words All Hallows’ Eve or Even (referring to the evening before All Saints’ Day on November 1). The term hallow means “holy” – you may recall reciting it in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9).

From the early days of the church, saints (more specifically martyrs – the only persons initially recognized as saints) were honored and celebrated. However, with time, the growing number of martyrs (particularly under the persecution of Diocletian, the Roman Emperor from 284-305 AD) made it impossible to assign a separate celebration for each. Thus, various churches made an effort to select a common day to commemorate all the saints….

Many scholars claim that Gregory III chose to commemorate the saints on November 1 in order to combat an ancient pagan Celtic festival called Samhain that was celebrated on the same day. However, Samhain seems to have been a tradition limited to the Northern Celtic people (particularly in Ireland and Scotland), and since these areas were Christianized by this time, it is difficult to substantiate this assertion. Furthermore, it should be noted that the Irish celebrated saints on April 20, “a chronology that contradicts the widely held view” that Rome adopted the November 1 date under Celtic influence. Lastly, if remnants of pagan practices remained only in the remote parts of Christian lands, they were probably not of particular concern to the Christian leadership in Rome. Scholar Francis X. Weiser believes that November 1 was chosen so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome for the Feast “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring.” 

Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is a name derived from Old Irish that roughly means “summer’s end.” Practically speaking, it was a time to prepare for the harvest, shelter (and slaughter) animals, welcome home soldiers and kings, and generally reorganize communities in preparation for the coming cold weather.

Whatever claims are made about the ancient pagan celebration of Samhain are purely speculative. There were no written records among the northern Celtic people prior to their Christianization in the 5^th century. Early Roman sources from the first century BC note the superstitious nature of the Celts and how they would celebrate their festivals with fire and sacrifices (both animal and human), but there is no specific mention of Samhain….

[T]here is no indication that ancient Samhain was ever a festival of the dead or dedicated to some Lord of the Dead.

Read more or listen to the interview.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Here in Chile, Halloween is a national holiday. I won't have to go to work on Oct. 31. Officially, it's National Evangelical and Protestant Churches Day, so I guess the holiday is actually in honor of the Reformation instead of Halloween, but still, it's cool to get the day off....

[DGFischer]

>> From the early days of the church, saints (more specifically martyrs – the only persons initially recognized as saints) were honored and celebrated.

Perhaps this objection is misguided, but I had been taught that All Saints' Day was a commemoration of all the faithful departed in Christ, whether the individual died quietly in sleep or viciously under torment. That this day honored those who were devoted martyrs or repentant lapsi.

[Sam Harper]

Nothing makes me happier than knowing that Halloween is a Christian holiday. I almost want to move to Chile.

[John Moore]

What a silly argument this is! Imagine if Halloween were a pagan festival - would that be so terrible? Does absolutely everything have to be Christian?

[Robert]

John Moore,

What does that have to do with the argument? The argument isn't "It's pagan, that's bad" the argument is "Historically evidence points to it being of Christian origin." Pursuing the argument might be silly, but the argument itself can be invalid or contain false information. Other than using blatantly poor logic, or blatantly inaccurate data (neither of which you address), how would an argument achieve "silliness"?

[DGFischer]

>> Imagine if Halloween were a pagan festival - would that be so terrible? Does absolutely everything have to be Christian?

Robert is correct in his point that John Moore misses the idea of the origins of All Hallows Eve (aka Halloween). But John does open up a fine line of thought. What validates a holiday/festival, and what would the perception of a secularized holiday need on the origins of a holiday/festival?

Or better, why should there be this friction over the religious overtones of a celebration?

Granted, what has Halloween become, other than a reason to hold a party for which there should be no other reason than some attachment to a previously held celebration? What I mean is that the social importance of Halloween is rather recent. The concept of "trick or treats" for children has extended to a costumed celebration for adults, and this connected with All Saints Day by accident. Luther, incidentally posted his Ninety-Five Theses on Oct. 31, 1517 with the idea that masses of people would be in his city for the celebration, and that not anything approaching what is noted today.

This friction seems to be based on perceptions of the importance and purpose of a holiday by the secular minded and religiously oriented. Why Thanksgiving? Christmas? Easter? The craziness of Mardi Gras and Carnival contrasts with the austerity of Ash Wednesday. The links are there, while purely secular celebrations seem to lack depth. Groundhog Day? Or is that based on pagan ideas? Memorial Day and Veterans Day? Noble ideas, but it lacks the pizazz of a Halloween and the thrill of a Forth of July. Labor Day? More a day off, a farewell to summer than a salute to the working man it was intended to be.

That's why I enjoy John Moore's ideas and posts. I seldom agree with him, but appreciate the added elements he gives to a discussion. But as to his question: Does absolutely everything have to be Christian? No, but if there is a Christian element, does it have to be minimized? Sometimes you'll lose the whole zest of the day by doing so.

[RobertNotBob]

The reason the secularists and athiests constantly push for pagan roots to every celebration is they want to use the argument to prove Christianiy is just a copycat religion with no historical reality...

[Sam Harper]

Jehovah's Witnesses push the pagan roots thing, too, but for them its to elevate themselves above everything else that calls itself Christian.

[Dangitbill.wordpress.com]

I think the most useful way to think about Halloween as a Christian is to consider the three basic perspectives that Christians tend to take. Some will emphasize Halloween's pagan origins, some will stress the evangelistic opportunity in the neighborhood, and others will insist they have Christian freedom to celebrate in a non-sinful way. Just last week my 10 year old son was accused of "worshiping evil" when he answers, "Yes, I do trick or treat." We can't seem to get past this rhetoric in the current stalemate. I put my thoughts on how to move the conversation forward at my blog Dangitbill.

[Mike Westfall]

> Some will emphasize Halloween's pagan origins,

But that would be a mistake, since Halloween doesn't have pagan origins, according to the blog post here.

If there is anything pagan about Halloween, it's a more recent development, a subversion, not an origin.

[Dangitbill.wordpress.com]

Mike,

I concede your point. But I think it is true to say that pagan festivities occurred on October 31 (or thereabout) from ancient times. Some Christians focus on this and argue Halloween (All Hallows' Eve) is pagan. I don't happen to be one of them. It is my experience that arguing about the history of something doesn't usually persuade naysayers, especially since things change over time. Halloween has certainly transformed in our culture from a church holiday. So how do we as Christians deal with Halloween as it is today?

[JBerr]

Let's not forget fact that present day pagans do in fact consider Halloween to be a pagan festival. A friend of mine had an aunt and uncle that practice witchcraft, and they would ritually sexually abuse their daughter on Halloween. For this reason I will skip celebrating this date when disgusting things like this will almost certainly occur. It does not have pagan origins, but it has come to mean something else. Maybe if some of us would begin to celebrate it with its original intent, then it might be more interesting. For now, my wife and I and our children will refrain from celebrating death, demons, devils, and mischief. I'm not saying anyone who celebrates Halloween is necessarily evil, but I would rather not.