Truth Magazine

By Author Unknown

If we only knew that the smiles we see Often hide the tears that would fain be free,

Would we not more tender and loving be, If we only knew?

If we only knew that the words we say

Oft may drive the peace from some heart away, Would we speak those words in the selfsame way,

If we only knew? If we only knew that some weary heart

Has been burdened more by our thoughtless art, Would we cause the tears from those eyes to start, If we only knew?

If we only knew, as we onward go,

Many things that here we can never know, For more patient love we would often show, If we only knew.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 23
October 3, 1996

By Donnie V Rader

A reader of Guardian of Truth asked that we print an article answering the question of whether Christians (and their children) can celebrate Halloween by giving out candy, going “trick or treating,” decorating or having a Halloween party. Brother Willis has asked that I answer the question.

The History Of Halloween

To understand why there would be a question about whether Christians can have anything to do with Halloween, let’s look at the history of Halloween. The following quotes show the pagan and Catholic back-ground to Halloween.

Now a children’s holiday, Halloween was originally a Celtic festival for the dead, celebrated on the last day of the Celtic year, October 31. Elements of that festival were incorporated into the Christian holiday of All Hallows’ Eve, the night pre-ceding All Saints’ (Hallows’) Day. Until recent times in some parts of Europe, it was believed that on this night witches and warlocks flew abroad; and huge bonfires were built to ward off these malevolent spirits. Children’s pranks replaced witches’ tricks in the 19th century, but most of the other Halloween customs are probably survivals from the Celtic festival (The New Grolier Multi-media Encyclopedia).

Customs and superstitions gathered through the ages go into the celebration of Halloween, or All Hal-lows’ Eve, on October 31, the Christian festival of All Saints. It has its origins, however, in the autumn festivals of earlier times.

The ancient Druids had a three-day celebration at the beginning of November. They believed that on the last night of October spirits of the dead roamed abroad, and they lighted bon-fires to drive them away. In ancient Rome the festival of Pomona, goddess of fruits and gardens, occurred at about this time of year. It was an occasion of rejoicing associated with the harvest; and nuts and apples, as symbols of the winter store of fruit, were roasted before huge bonfires. But these agricultural and pastoral celebrations also had a sinister aspect, with ghosts and witches thought to be on the prowl.

Even after November 1 became a Christian feast day honoring all saints, many people clung to the old pagan beliefs and customs that had grown up about Halloween. Some tried to foretell the future on that night by performing such rites as jumping over lighted candles. In the British Isles great bonfires blazed for the Celtic festival of Samhain. Laughing bands of guiders (young people disguised in grotesque masks) carved lanterns from turnips and carried them through the villages.

In the United States children carved faces on hollowed-out pumpkins and put lighted candles inside to make jack-o’-lanterns. Halloween celebrations today reflect many of these early customs. Stores and homes display orange and black figures of witches, bats, black cats, and pumpkins. People dressed in fanciful outfits go to costume parties, where old-fashioned games like bobbing for apples in tubs of water may be a part of the festivities. Children put on costumes and masks and go from house to house “demanding” “trick or treat.” The treat, usually candy, is generally given and the trick rarely played. Some parents feel this custom is dangerous. There have been numerous instances in which sharp objects or poisons have been found in candy bars and apples. To provide an alternative to begging for candy from strangers, many communities schedule special, supervised parties and events at Halloween. The United Nations has used the Halloween observance to collect money for its children’s fund (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, 1993, 1994).

In fact, it goes back to a practice of the ancient Druids in Britain, France, Germany, and the Celtic Countries, who lived hundreds of years before Christ was born. This celebration honored one of their deities, Samhain, Lord of the dead. Samhain called together all the wicked souls who had died within the past twelve months and had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals. The date for this celebration was the last day of October, the eve of the Celtic new year. It was a time of falling leaves and general seasonal decay, and it seemed appropriate to celebrate death. That’s what it was  a celebration of death. It honored the god of the dead and the wicked spirits of the dead. The Druids believed that on this particular night the souls of the dead returned to their former homes to be entertained by the living. If acceptable food and shelter were not provided these evil spirits would cast spells, cause havoc and terror, and haunt and torment the living. They demanded to be placated. Look closely. Here is the beginning of “trick-or-treat.” Evil spirits demanding a “treat.” If they don’t get it, you got a “trick.”

But how did all this become associated with Christianity? There’s another part of the story that goes back to Rome. The Roman Pantheon was built by the Emperor Hadrian in about A.D. 100 as a temple to the goddess Cabal and various other Roman deities. It became a principal place of worship where Roman pagans prayed for their dead. Then, Rome was sacked, the barbarians came in and they took over the Pantheon, along with everything else. After several centuries it fell in disrepair. In A.D. 607 it was recaptured by the Emperor Faces and he turned it over as a gift to Pope Benefic IV.

Benefic reconsecrated it to the Virgin Mary. This was part of a general policy that wherever pagan celebrations were well established, they would be continued and incorporated into Christian worship. (Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.) So, if you worshiped a certain god, and you were conquered and “Christianized,” you could continue that same celebration. Only now you would offer it to one or another of the saints. No longer were Roman pagans gathering to pray to the goddess Cybele for their dead. Now the Roman Catholics were gathering to pray to the goddess Mary for their dead. And they did so in the same temples.

For two centuries the major celebration in the Pantheon took place in May and was called “All Saints Day.” Then in A.D. 834 it was deliberately moved to the first of November. Why? To coincide with those ancient Druidic and pagan practices that had been going on for centuries (John H. Howe, “How Happy Is Halloween?”, Christianity To-day, October 21, 1977).

From these quotes we learn that Halloween, as we know it today, grew out of the merging of a pagan and Catholic celebration. That’s what raises the question about whether Christians and their children can participate in Halloween activities.

Halloween Activities That Christians

Cannot Participate In

There are a lot of things associated with Halloween in which Christians cannot participate: (1) Abusive and mean activities toward children. There are always a few people who will put sharp objects, razor blades, drugs or poison in candy or apples. (2) Destruction of other’s property. Detroit has its problems with “Devil’s Night” on the eve of Halloween when fires are set over the city. Less destructive actions included eggs thrown at cars, paint sprayed on cars, stores and houses and pumpkins stolen and smashed in the streets. (3) Any celebration of death or pagan acts like those of the Druids. (4) Any celebration of “All Saints” (All Hallows’) day by praying to the saints. Christians cannot have any part of these acts that are contrary to the word of God (by either being unkind to others or performing religious acts that are not authorized by God, cf. Matt. 7:12; Col. 3:17; 2 John. 9).

A Children’s Holiday

1. Just because the background and origin of Halloween is pagan and Catholic does not mean that it has that connection today with all who celebrate Halloween. There are many things that have a pagan or Catholic background that are not thought to be either pagan or Catholic in significance today. For example, “Christmas had its origin in a pre-Christian age among the pagans. It was adopted into the so-called Christian holidays by the Roman Catholic church. Even the name `Christmas’ is of Catholic origin. Encyclopedia Americana tells us, `The name is derived from the medieval Christes Masse, the Mass of Christ(Ferrell Jenkins, “Christmas,” Guardian of Truth, December 21, 1995, 756). Yet, Christmas today (as a civil holiday, not an observance of the birth of Christ) does not bear the significance of a pagan or Catholic back-ground. To enjoy time off work, being with family, eating a turkey, and exchanging gifts does not meanone is being pagan or Catholic. The same would be true of Halloween.

Those who think that letting children “trick-or-treat” or have a Halloween party is being either pagan or Catholic would do well to consider the names of the days of the week and the names of the months of the year. Many of them have a pagan background. (Monday  Moon’s day; Tuesday  Tiwes [Pagan god of war] day; Wednesday  Woden’s [chief Teutonic god]; Thursday  Thor’s [Norse god of thunder]; Friday  Freya’s [Norse goddess of love and beauty] day; Saturday  Saturn’s day; Sunday  Sun’s day; January  from Janus [Roman god of gates or doorways]; March  from Mars [Roman god of war]; May  from Maia [a goddess, the eldest of the Pleiades]. Even our term “holiday,” which we use to refer to New Years, President’s day and July 4, comes from “holy day”. How-ever, they have lost their Pagan or religious significance.

2. No Bible principle is violated by costume parties, children “trick-or-treating” or carving a pumpkin, etc. These activities do not honor the dead. Nor do they honor the saints. That is not to say that some would not make a connection between any observance of this day and the pagan and Catholic concepts. With Christmas many observe it as the birth of Christ. However, that does not mean that everyone who exchanges gifts or puts a wreath on their door is honoring Christmas as the birth of Christ. Likewise, some make Halloween a night of pagan activities. However, that doesn’t mean that it bears that significance to all.

If no Bible principle is violated, there is no sin involved (Rom. 4:15). Obviously, any who would violate his con-science by participating in any Halloween activity should abstain. To violate one’s conscience is a sin (Rom. 14:23).

 Guardian of Truth XL: No. 20, p. 1
October 17, 1996

By P. J. Casebolt

We are not surprised to see sectarian concepts in sectarianism  unscriptural doctrines and practices associated with the confusion and division of human denominational-ism. But sectarianism should be confined to that area, and not be practiced or sanctioned in the Lord’s church, God’s “called out” people  called out of the world and sectarianism.

I do not believe that the church of Christ of which I am a member, and which is identified in the New Testament, is either a sect or sectarian. Some members of the Lord’s church may believe in, or even practice certain sectarian ideas. It may even be possible for a whole congregation, or even congregations in a given geographical area to be partially or wholly given to sectarianism. Some brethren and congregations even identify themselves physically and men-tally with the denominations of men. But that does not prove that Christ’s faithful, spiritual body on earth, either in a local or “brotherhood” (1 Pet. 2:17) sense is a human sect.

One sectarian concept that I still witness among brethren is the Catholic idea of communion, or the Lord’s supper. It is evident in both word and deed that some think all they need to do with respect to public assemblies of the church is to “get” (or receive) communion.

We can have the Lord’s supper at the beginning or end of the assembly, and some brethren will come only to “get” communion. We can have the Lord’s supper in the morning, afternoon, or evening, or all three, and some brethren will abuse these times which have been set for the convenience of brethren in a given congregation. But abuse, per se, is not proof that a practice is wrong.

Some brethren are opposed to Lord’s day evening communion, depending on their definition of “evening.” Some say all of the church must be assembled at one time, which could postpone the observance of the Lord’s supper indefinitely. Now, I have received literature from California that insists the Lord’s supper is “not a breakfast,” and must be observed exclusively in the evening (whenever the evening is). In some parts of the country, the noon meal is lunch, to others it is dinner, while some call the evening meal dinner instead of supper.

The Bible says that we are to observe the Lord’s supper “on the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7), and that is as near as we can come to establishing either the time or frequency of the Lord’s supper. But the idea that “taking the sacraments” as “the most important act of worship” or doing it to receive absolution from sin for the past week or for another week is purely sectarian in nature, and may contribute to other erroneous ideas concerning the public assemblies of the church and when we should observe the Lord’s supper.

Another sectarian idea still being entertained by some brethren is the notion that the local preacher is “the” minister, that he needs some kind of flattering title (cf. Job 32:21, 22), that he should do all of the “visiting” for a congregation, that he should “manage” the affairs of the local church either with or without elders, and that the preacher’s prayers for the sick are more effectual than other prayers, especially when those prayers are offered within three feet of the patient and not from a distance.

I use the term “located preacher” or evangelist in the same sense that Paul was located for a period of time at Antioch, at Ephesus, at Thessalonica, or at Corinth. The “work of an evangelist” is proscribed by apostolic example as well as by teaching in such epistles as 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. And a preacher is not only a minister, he should be a “good minister” (1 Tim. 4:6); but he is not the only minister in a congregation.

Both preachers and brethren should resist influences in either the world or the church that are of purely sectarian origin. And while a preacher’s wife certainly ought to be an asset to the preacher’s work and may have individual talents of her own in ministering to the Lord, I’m hearing speech that sounds more and more like the sectarian concept of an “evangelistic team” composed of some “Reverend and Mrs. John Doe” who entertain, counsel, or edify public assemblies of some church on an equal basis.

Those who have more talents must give an account for more, and for how those talents are used. But let us not promote the idea that a preacher’s wife who cares for the needs of her husband and children and “guides the house” is somehow not reaching her full potential in helping to qualify her husband as an evangelist. Recognizing and weeding out such sectarian concepts is what keeps the church from be-coming sectarian in its identity. Let each of us do our part.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 22
October 3, 1996

By Olen Holderby

Much is being said, orally and in print, on the subject of unity. Appeals for unity are being made by our brethren in almost every paper that comes across my desk, and they are many. It would seem that everyone desires unity. It can-not be denied that there is a lack of unity among God’s people today. Some one(s) has disturbed the unity of the Lord’s people in many places. The disturbers of that unity have been, it seems to this writer, clearly identified, and the means used for this disturbing have been pointedly exposed. This, of course, needs to be done over and over every time there is teaching that is headed in that direction.

While the disrupters of the peace and harmony of God’s people need to be identified and exposed, such is not the design of this article. Our focus at this time is on the “Beauty of Bible Unity,” and we begin by calling the reader’s attention.

Prophecy Concerning That Unity

Some 625 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Zephaniah stated, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent” (3:9). The NAS and NIV both say serve him “shoulder to shoulder,” while both the RSV and NKJ say “with one accord.” Take any of these translations you wish, and it is still obvious that whatever people were under consideration were to be unified in their service to God.

The importance of this prophecy can be better seen when we realize that it concerns the forthcoming Messiah and his kingdom, the church, his people. Dear reader, that is you and me! This is not the only such prophecy of the peace, harmony and unity anticipated for God’s people in this age.

They were to “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: . . .neither shall they learn war any more,” they were to “sing and rejoice . . . and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord,” and they were to “rejoice greatly” for their “King cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Isa.2:4; Zech.2:10; 9:9).

This was to be a wonderful period of time for God’s people; and these beautiful word-pictures are given in grand anticipation of something wonderful to behold and even better to experience. Do you see the beauty of what God here intended?

1 Corinthians 1:10

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

To see the beauty which should have been here, we need to remember the problems which they had and the sin that was in their midst: contentions (1:11), envyings and strife (3:3), being puffed up (4:18), fornication (5:1ff), going to law with one another (6:1ff), marriage (ch. 7), meats/idols (ch. 8), paying preachers (ch. 9), Lord’s Supper (ch. 11), spiritual gifts (chs.12-14), and the resurrection (ch.15). Can you imagine how they must have felt about the presence of these things, especially after the apostle called them to their attention?

Consider the man in chapter 5, the one guilty of fornication. How did his father feel about him? How did everyone there feel when they found out that they had to turn that young man over to Satan? Do you reckon that they deeply wished it was not so?

Think about the problem with the Lord’s Supper in chapter 11. Some of them were probably standing with their eats and drinks in their hands when they learned how they were shaming their fellow Christians and insulting the Lord. When they did examine themselves and discovered what they were really doing, how do you think they felt? Assuming their honesty, this must have been an extremely miserable time for everyone of the guilty.

How strongly they must have wished that all these things had never happened! How so very forgetful they had been, to have failed to speak the same thing and to be of the same mind.

Apparently these people could see how they had marred the beauty of Bible unity, for they are later seen as having cleaned up the mess (2 Cor.2:lff; 7:4-16). Can you see the beauty here, even though it was not present at first?

John 17:20-21

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

These are familiar verses; and we all use them to stress unity. But, where is the beauty in them?

The answer is to be found in realizing, as nearly as we can, the relationship of the Son to the Father. They had shared their glory before the world was (v. 5), the Father had given him the twelve (v. 6), the twelve had shared this glory that they might all be one (v. 22), and they (Father and Son) belonged to each other (v. 10). The Son had been in the form of God and equal with God, and the Son took on the form of a servant and became obedient to the Father, even unto death (Phil. 2:6-8). The Father created all things through the Son; and the Son was the express image of his person (Heb. 1:2-3). The Son was the image of the invisible God, and in him dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col.1:15; 2:9).

Is it even possible that the human mind can imagine a relationship so wonderful? So perfect? So beautiful in every way? Now, remember that Jesus is praying that his followers would have this kind of relationship. Again, dear reader, this is you and me! Do you see the beautiful unity for which Jesus was praying?

Psalms 133:1-3

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

A thorough exegesis of these three verses could require a sizable volume, but we wish to stick to our theme. We refer first to the ointment. This was not just any ointment, but “precious ointment.” This is a reference to the ointment described in Exodus 30, ordered by the Lord, and made with the four best spices (vv. 22-24). It was used to anoint Aaron, his sons, and all vessels used in the tabernacle, and was called “holy ointment” (vv. 25-30). This holy ointment was known for its wonderful fragrance and its use demonstrated an abundance. The writer says dwelling together in unity is like this!

Next we consider the dew. This was the well known dew that descended upon the land from the mountains bringing its fertilizing power and fruitful harvest. There was nothing like it and livelihood depended upon it to a great extent. It was longed for, looked for, and there was rejoicing when it came. The Psalmist says that unity is that way.

The very mention of either the ointment or the dew would most likely produce thoughts of joy and happiness, followed by a determination to have them, whatever the cost. They were very desirable and the faithful pursued them with dedication.

We are told that for brethren to dwell together in unity is like these two items, it is “good and pleasant.” Do you see the beauty in these verses?

Closing Comments

Have you ever read Proverbs 6:16-19? Have you thought upon these six things that God hates, the seven that are an abomination? Have you noticed the last of these, “He that soweth discord among brethren”? Such an one destroys this beauty, this pleasantness, this pleasure, this peace, this wonderful harmony among God’s own people. That discord may be the fruit of gossip, tale-bearing, nasty attitudes, the teaching or the practice of error, or even by a self-appointed critic. Whatever the way used to sow that discord, God hates such a person and let us not ever forget this solemn fact.

Ought we not then to pursue the course expressed by Paul in Ephesians 4:1-3, and, “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”? Our every fiber must be exerted, even exhausted, to keep this unity, whatever the cost may be. The Beauty of Bible Unity! Is it yours? Why not?

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 19, p. 20-21
October 3, 1996