A Satanist-turned-pastor is warning Christians against celebrating Halloween, proclaiming that it is an evil holiday that believers simply shouldn’t partake in.
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“Sometimes people say, ‘I celebrated Halloween 10 years ago, I did this 15 years ago, I did this 20 years ago,'” John Ramirez told CBN News’ “Prayer Link.” “But the door’s still open. You just cursed your family from three to four generations.”
The former Satanist reaffirmed that “it’s a curse” and that Christians who celebrate should abandon their participation at once. Ramirez also urged them to go back and pinpoint the year that they started celebrating and to “renounce it in the name of Jesus,” while also asking God for forgiveness.
In the end, he said that Christian involvement in the holiday is wholly inappropriate and offered an example in an attempt to more pointedly defend his position.
“Do you know any Satanists who say, ‘Hey, we’re going to come into Good Friday and we’re going to hang out with the Christians and we’re just going to call it a different name?” he said.
Watch his remarks at the 11:00-mark below:
https://www.facebook.com/cbnnews/videos/10159863131735393/
The pastor also spoke of his own experience as a Satanist, stating that he once had intense communication with the devil.
“I was a general to the kingdom of darkness in witchcraft,” Ramirez told CBN. “I would sit with the devil and talk to him like I’m talking to you today. It was that kind of communication. It was that kind of relationship.”
As Faithwire previously reported, the Halloween debate continues to rage on in Christian circles. Some, like Ramirez, see the holiday as rooted in evil, inappropriate and simply unworthy of being celebrated by believers. Others, though, have no qualms about partaking in the more fun-filled and benign aspects.
Pastor Alan Rudnick, for instance, published a blog post titled, “7 Reasons Why a Christian Can Celebrate Halloween,” saying Halloween wasn’t necessarily founded on evil premises. Here’s what he wrote:
Somewhere, in the halls of history, Halloween or All Hallows Eve, got hijacked. What started as a day to prepare for All Saints’ Day (November 1st), Halloween became a spooky, evil, and candy filled observance. The term “Halloween” from its beginnings, had nothing to do with any pagan or evil beliefs. The Christian festival All Hallows Eve morphed into our current term Hallowe’en.
The key in understanding of the origins of the term Halloween comes from the sense of what is “hallowed” or “holy”. In the Lord’s Prayer, Christians pray, “Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name…” In the fourth century, John Chrysostom tells us that the Eastern church celebrated a festival in honor of all saints who died. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Christians celebrated “All Saints’ Day” formally.
What do you think?