FRIDAY MORNING MANNA November 1, 2013
Nathaniel Fajardo Email: [email protected]
Halloween and Pagan Friday
To mainstream Christianity, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, today, November 1, is All Saints Day. Wikianswers.com says some of the reasons Friday, when it falls on the 13th, carries superstitious beliefs with it, are as follows:
“In ancient Rome, Friday was execution day.
“In some Pre-Christian Religions Friday was a day of worship, so those who involved themselves in secular or self-interested activities on that day were not likely to receive the [heathen] gods’ blessing on their undertaking–which may go a long way to explain the superstition of not embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.
“From the Christian bible [which, if closely examined, are unscriptural!]:
“–Friday is reputed to be the day Eve gave Adam the apple.” The Bible never says it was an apple but fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and does not tell us when she did, only that she was first to disobey God’s express command. Genesis 3; cf. 1Timothy 2: 13, 14.
“–It is said to be the day Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.” The Biblical fact is the first Couple celebrated the very first Sabbath at sunset of the 6th day of creation till the next day sunset, the seventh day, memorial of creation.
“–Friday is also reputed to be the day Adam and Eve died.” The Biblical account is: Eve bore to Adam the very first son, Cain, followed by Abel, and when Adam was 130 years old, Seth. He lived 800 years more and died at the age 930. Gen. 5: 5.
According to All Saints DayFinder.com (itals. mine):
“November 1 is a religious holiday that is celebrated on the 1st of November by Western Christianity and on the first Sunday following Pentecost by Eastern Christianity. The day is dedicated to all the saints, including those known and unknown. All Saints Day officially begins at sundown October 31st and ends at Sunday November 1st. It is the second day following Hallowmas, and preceding All Souls Day.
All Saints Day is also known as All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints, and the Feast of all Saints.” (end). The “saints” herein referred to are allegedly fleshless “souls” or “spirits” of the dead who are either in heaven, hell, or in “purgatory” somewhere in between the two final destination/rewards. And yet the apostle John describes the saints thus: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. Solomon says: “The living know that they will die but the dead know nothing. . . for there is work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 10.
Knowing its pagan origins, did we still allow our children to go treat-or-treating or even hosting Halloween parties, self-justifying it as “all in the spirit of fun”? Error never transforms into truth (it must be replaced by the latter!); neither can pagan/heathen (Gentile) beliefs and practices be “Christianized.” The prophesied falling away of the early Christian church began with the compromise between paganism and Christianity by Constantine. Jesus enunciated this principle: “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” Matt. 7: 17-18, N.K.J.V. The patriarch, poet, and prophet Job declared the same centuries earlier: “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!” Job 14:4.
In case we forgot, the Origin of Halloween on the internet says:
“Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain, and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead. Samhain signifies ‘summer’s end’ or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition. The Celtics believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure the next year’s crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or treating.”
The Roman Catholic Church uses their claim of authority to institute extra-biblical feasts to challenge Protestantism, as the following quotations from Church authorities show.
“Q.- Have you any other way of proving that the [Roman Catholic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
“A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; —she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.” – Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174. New York: P.J. Kennedy and Sons, 1846.
Reverend Henry Tuberville, D. D., says:
“Q. –How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy-days?
“A.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
“Q. –How prove you that?
“A. –Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” – ‘An Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine,’ p. 58. New York: Kennedy, 1833.”- Quoted in Facts of Faith by Christian Edwardson, p.292, Southern Publishing Asso., Nashville, TN, 1942.
Spiritualism is an old abomination. Writing of King’s Saul’s probation-ending consultation with the sorceress of Endor with a “familiar spirit,” E. G. White, in Patriarchs & Prophets, “Ancient and Modern Sorcery” chapter, pp. 684-5, says:
“Nearly all forms of ancient sorcery and witchcraft were founded upon a belief in communion with the dead. Those who practiced the arts of necromancy claimed to have intercourse with departed spirits, and to obtain through them knowledge of future events. This custom of consulting the dead is referred to in the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘And when they say to you ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God” Should they seek the dead in behalf of the living?’ Isa. 8: 19, N.K.J.V.
“The same belief in communion with the dead formed the corner-stone of heathen idolatry. The gods of the heathen were believed to be deified spirits of departed heroes. Thus the religion of the heathen was a worship of the dead. This is evident from the Scriptures. In the account of the sin of Israel at Beth-peor, it is stated: [Numbers 25: 1-3 quoted]. The psalmist tells us to what kind of gods these sacrifices were offered. Speaking of the same apostasy of the Israelites, he says, ‘They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices made to the dead” (Ps. 106: 28), that is, sacrifices that had been offered to the dead.”
“The deification of the dead has held a prominent place in nearly every system of heathenism, as has also the supposed communion with the dead. The gods were believed to communicate their will to men, and also, when consulted, to give them counsel. Of this character were the famous oracles of Greece and Rome.”
“The belief in communion with the dead is still held, even in professedly Christian lands. Under the name of Spiritualism, the practice of communication with beings claiming to be the spirits of the departed, has become wide-spread. It is calculated to take hold of the sympathies of those who have laid their loved ones in the grave. “
How vital then for all now living to know Bible truth for themselves! Warning: “Spiritualism will take the whole world captive.” Search the Scriptures as for hidden treasure and plead for the third Person of the Godhead to guide, enlighten, teach, convict, and seal us, and the holy angels to encamp round about us! Note:
“Those who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. [Eph. 6: 10-18]. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of the heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Savior, with the words: ‘It is written.” (Ibid, The Great Controversy, (1911), p. 559)
Just before vacating His earthly office as the Prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18], the “Teacher come from God” and first “Comforter” (John 3: 2, K.J.V.) Jesus Christ, Creator, in His adopted human nature (Rom. 8: 3; Heb. 8: 6-9, 14, 16-18], introduced to His disciples His Successor and Vicegerent in a valedictory discourse: “Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was in their interest [John 16: 7] that He should go to the Father, and send the [Holy] Spirit to be His successor on earth.” – E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 669.
Leroy E. Froom adds: “He (Christ) unfolded the tremendous fact of the dispensation of the Spirit, and this dispensational aspect cannot be overemphasized. It is based on the earthly work of Christ, and [the Holy Spirit’s] coming was impossible until that work of Christ [on earth] was finished and He ascended. In John 14 and 16 Jesus opened before them the three mighty truths of— (1) the promised coming of the Holy Spirit; (2) the character and personality of the Holy Spirit; and (3) the mission, or work, of the Holy Spirit.” – The Coming of the Comforter, p. 26.
(Continued next week)