What Does Halloween Have to Do with Christianity? A Religious Literacy Guide

Every October, a variant of a familiar question resurfaces: Is Halloween a Christian holiday? Does Halloween have pagan origins? What does Halloween have to do with Christianity?

The short answer is, it’s complicated. The history of Halloween involves a Christian and pagan blend, taking its modern form from centuries of intermingled and pluralistic cultural customs.

Halloween does not fit neatly into the category of either “Christian” or “pagan”; rather, Halloween reflects centuries of cultural and religious tradition adapted to community practices. Understanding that history is messy is important for religious literacy, especially when popular claims about Halloween or other cultural festivals simplify a complicated story.

Where Did Halloween Come From?

The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows' Eve,” meaning the evening before All Hollows’ Day (All Saints' Day), observed on November 1. November 2 became associated with All Souls' Day, a day for remembering the dead.

Together, these observances became part of a Christian calendar focused on saints, the faithful departed, and remembrance.

But that’s not where the story begins.

European cultures had their own seasonal traditions surrounding the transition from autumn to winter, a transitional period that was associated with a weakening of the boundary between the living and the dead. As well as a harvest time, it was also a time to recall the presence of ancestors. Samhain is a Celtic festival connected to harvest and the remembrance of the dead; it is often cited as the main festival that influenced Christianity.

However, it is important not to conclude that Halloween is simply “Samhain renamed.” Historians continue to debate the precise relationship between ancient Celtic traditions and later Halloween customs. The development of Halloween was gradual and involved diverse cultural practices across centuries.

So, Is Halloween Christian or Pagan?

This question assumes that religious traditions always have a single origin. History rarely works that way.¹

Religious practices can develop through layers of influence. A tradition may take on new meaning when it moves from one culture to another. Symbols can change and customs can be adapted as older practices are reinterpreted to fit new circumstances.

Halloween provides a fascinating example.

Some familiar Halloween customs have relatively recent origins. Jack-o'-lanterns, for example, developed from older traditions of carving vegetables in Ireland and Scotland before pumpkins became the preferred material in North America. Trick-or-treating also developed from a Sottish and Irish practice called guising—children dressed in costumes and reciting verses for treats. In turn, guising probably derived from the Middle Ages when poor children went door to door on All Soul’s Day (Nov. 2) to offer prayers for the dead in exchange for “soul cakes” (small round cakes).²

In other words, the Halloween we know today is not identical to the Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, of centuries ago.

What Does the Bible Say About Halloween?

Nothing. Interestingly, the Bible doesn't mention Halloween at all. That may seem obvious, but it is important to note because we often assume that the Bible says something about issues or questions today that in fact it knows nothing about.

Halloween developed long after the biblical texts were written. There are no Bible verses or sayings about Halloween. Nevertheless, the fact that the Bible was written before Halloween traditions developed does not prevent Christians from thinking about how they participate in the festival. Different Christian communities and families have reached different conclusions based on their own theological traditions and values.

But separating what the Bible says from what later tradition develops is an important part of acquiring the kind of historical consciousness central to religious literacy.

Halloween and Religious Literacy

Religious traditions are living traditions. They develop within particular cultures and historical circumstances. They change as people interpret, preserve, and sometimes repurpose them.

Religious literacy doesn't require someone to abandon belief or adopt a particular religious position. It simply asks us to understand where religious ideas and practices come from, how they developed, and what different communities believe about them.

Halloween is a perfect example of why religious literacy matters. Instead of asking, “Is Halloween Christian or pagan?” we can learn to ask better historical questions: How did this tradition develop? Which practices are ancient, and which are relatively modern? How have different communities understood them? And how did the Halloween we know today come to be?

Those questions don't make the holiday less interesting. They actually make its history more interesting and remind us that religious traditions are rarely as simple as they first appear.

[1] The reader may wish to look at After Jesus before Christianity (New York: Harper One, 2021). This significant Westar book indicates the plurality of movements associated with Jesus over the course of the first two hundred years of Christ communities that would become Christianity. There is no single origin to Christianity.

[2] The most frequently referenced book on the origins of Halloween is Ruth Edna Kelley, The Book of Hallowe’en. Kelley wrote this book in 1919, which makes it now freely available through Project Gutenberg.

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Thumbnail Image: Photo by Eleni Petrounakou on Unsplash