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Christianity Today is a magazine whose title
suggests that it is a source of edifying material for Christians of today. In
reality, it is a magazine that furthers the falling away of Christians today.
Nowhere is this more evident than in their article,
"Hallowing Halloween Why Christians should embrace
the "devilish" holiday with gusto—and laughter" by
Anderson M. Rearick III.
The points that I cite below reveal that "Hallowing Halloween" is serving as
damage control for Satan's highest holy day: Halloween. All fair use
quotes for this critique are excerpted from the article,
"Hallowing Halloween Why
Christians should embrace the 'devilish' holiday with gusto—and laughter."
(1)
Anderson Rearick III boldly communicates the
idea that Halloween is not Satan's holiday, and it is Satan's servants who
warn Christians against participating in this day:
And I am reluctant to give up what was one
of the highlights of my childhood calendar to the Great Impostor and Chief
of Liars for no reason except that some of his servants claim it as his.
The Watchman Expositor, a website that, unlike
Christianity Today, exposes evil rather than
promotes it, declares the opposite:
While almost every major holiday has been
tainted with some form of paganism, none are so deeply immersed in the
occult as is Halloween.
(Quote source:
The Watchman Expositor
Samheim: History of Halloween)
According to Rearick, Halloween is not only not
Satan's holiday, it is also not the same holiday as Samhain!:
If they are Druids, they are celebrating
Samhain, which is not Halloween but an even older holiday.
This statement is false. Samhain was (and
continues to be) celebrated by the Druids and requires human sacrifice.
Halloween is the modern term for this satanic highday that hides behind a
seemingly innocuous front of fun and games that serves to divert attention from
its true purpose: worldwide
human sacrifice.
More and more followers of the Lord Jesus Christ
are becoming aware of this and are standing
against Satan in prayer on his day. It stands to reason that Satan would
seek to counter the prayer movement that has greatly reduced his Halloween slaughters.
The author acknowledges that some Christians
believe that prayer is needed on Halloween, but he quickly affirms that
Halloween is not Satan's holiday, and leaves the reader with the impression that
prayer is NOT NEEDED.
"We all know what day is coming," said a
young woman in the choir of the Rhode Island church my wife and I attended
when I was working on my doctorate. "And I think we need to be in prayer
that the evil powers and principalities be held in check over this next
weekend."
"It's Satan's Holiday, Dr.
Rearick," affirmed one of my students. "Didn't you know?"
Well, no, I didn't know.
Rather than admitting that
Halloween is Satan's prized day, Rearick prizes it himself by communicating to
Christianity Today readers that Halloween is a wonderful day to "celebrate the
imagination," "hear spine-tingling ghost stories," or be with children who dress
up as something they secretly fear.
According to this writer,
Halloween used to be evil but is not evil anymore:
"But look at the roots of
Halloween," some may say. "Don't you see how evil it once was?" I do, but
the operative word in that sentence is was.
He then quotes an author of
occult-themed novels (C.S. Lewis) in order to launch a "laugh at Satan" doctrine that is not found in the
Bible:
Should the forces of evil be
mocked? Should Satan be laughed at? He most certainly should be. At the
beginning of The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
includes two telling quotations, the first from Martin Luther: "The best way
to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to
jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."
Rearick instructs his readers that
Satan's rebellion against God (which he employs to deceive billions into
following him into perdition) is nothing more than a farce, an empty show!
His pride is undermined by his
own knowledge that his infernal rebellion against God is in reality an
absurd farce.
This author continues his soul-subverting ploy
by telling his readers that even though Satan's rebellion against God is an absurd
farce, he demands to be taken seriously:
The one thing Satan cannot
bear is to be a source of laughter. His pride is undermined by his own
knowledge that his infernal rebellion against God is in reality an absurd
farce. Hating laughter, he demands to be taken seriously.
Of course the message presented in
the excerpt above is that since Satan's power as the god of this world is
nothing but a sham, only a simpleminded and uninformed Christian would
bother to pray against his wicked devices.
This writer sent a Luciferian
message in this article by using the name, "Lucifer" in place of the name of the
fallen, god of this world, "Satan." Lucifer was Satan's name before
he rebelled against God and was "cut down to the ground." (Isa. 14:12)
Luciferians believe that Lucifer never fell.
This writer also has the audacity
to imply that if Christians pray against human sacrifice and other evils
committed on Halloween they are part of the problem:
Indeed, I would say that those
Christians who spend the night of October 31 filled with concern over what
evils might be (and sometimes are) taking place are doing the very thing
Lucifer wants them to do. By giving him this respect, such believers are
giving his authority credence.
Two One World Church of Antichrist messages are
presented in the following excerpt. (1) Most believers should celebrate Halloween.
(2) The
second is that believers with an occult background should not celebrate
Halloween because they mistakenly believe that Halloween is a serious matter.
Not all believers should celebrate
Halloween. For those who have been redeemed from the occult, Halloween in
its foolishness may contain what was for them deadly seriousness.
Reminiscent of Jim Pappas'
perversion of Pilgrim's Progress, Rearick
went on to communicate to his readers that those who had formerly fellowshipped
with devils (that is what the occult is all about) were involved with nothing
more than lies and illusions!
While their souls were in deadly peril,
however, what they experienced were lies and illusions.
The author actually expects his
readers to believe that if Christians celebrate Halloween with gusto—
by having a grand time giving place to
the devil by celebrating Satan's day in Satan's way—
that Satan will flee:
Christians should instead
celebrate Halloween with gusto. If we follow the traditional formula of
having a good time at his expense, Satan flees.
According to
Anderson M. Rearick III, Halloween is
"God's gift of imagination" and God's people are guilty of spiritually harming
the lost if we do not celebrate Halloween amidst gales of laughter that he claims will make Satan flee:
If we give up All Hallows Eve, we lose the
delight of God's gift of imagination and we condemn the rest of society to a
darker Halloween because our laughter will not be there to make the devil
run.
Laughter not only does not make Satan flee, it
is one of his wicked devices that he uses to grievously
deceive Christians.
God Commands His People to Resist the Devil, Not to Laugh at Him
The Holy Bible says Christians
must submit ourselves to God and resist the devil (not laugh at the devil) and
he will flee from you. James 4:7
This article encourages Christians
to promote the devil (by celebrating his special day) but the Bible warns us to
"Neither give place to the devil." Ephesians 4:27
Followers of Jesus Christ must be
diligently "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God" not indulging in demonic, Halloween-appropriate
imaginations and rationalizing that such imaginations are God's gift to us!
2 Cor. 10:5
notes:
(1) http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/011/29.79.html
Also see:
Halloween articles
Gary and Lisa Ruby
October 25, 2005 |