Halloween and Evangelical Identity
— Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 —
The words “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” have very little meaning. For some, a “fundamentalist” is anyone who believes in miracles. For others, it necessitates a King James only Bible or a pre-trib Rapture or even a certain sort of public posture. At an American Baptist Churches General Assembly, I’d be considered a hardcore fundamentalist. At a KJV-only independent Baptist Bible camp, I probably wouldn’t be counted.
And “evangelical” includes, for some people, everyone from J.I. Packer to T.D. Jakes to Brian McLaren. That can get confusing, especially to those on the outside of our circles.
A few years ago, a friend of mine, the inimitable John Mark Reynolds, attempted to explain, simply, some of the differences for our friends on the outside of conservative Protestantism. Picking up on the old definition, “An evangelical is a fundamentalist who likes Billy Graham,” Reynolds said, “An evangelical is a fundamentalist who watches The Office.”
I tried my hand at explaining the spectrum, with tongue in cheek, using Halloween as a Rorschach test. I posted it over at the First Things group blog. Here goes.
An evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for Halloween.
A conservative evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for the church’s “Fall Festival.”
A confessional evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as Zwingli and Bucer for “Reformation Day.”
A revivalist evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as demons and angels for the church’s Judgment House community evangelism outreach.
An Emerging Church evangelical is a fundamentalist who has no kids, but who dresses up for Halloween anyway.
A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist whose kids hand out gospel tracts to all those mentioned above.
45 Responses to “Halloween and Evangelical Identity”
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Very clever. On the definition of the almost-useless term “evangelical,” I’ve often heard “A fundamentalist who’s not pissed off.” As an operative definition, this usually works for my purposes: “A person who believes that everyone who is not an evangelical is going to burn eternally in the fiery pits of Hell.”
I deal a lot with polling data, and increasingly find the evangelical/mainline distinction wanting. For instance, many evangelicals prefer moderate-to-liberal political policies. And many mainliners are doctrinally orthodox.
Oh, and Mainline Protestant churches have “Fall” and “Harvest” Festivals, too!
I’d say all those definitions are generally accurate!
A very keen and humorous observation! My 5 year-old daughter goes to a non-denominational Christian school, and my wife and I have seen the various reactions from other parents when we talk about taking our daughter trick-or-treating.
Ha! Great read! Thank you.
Now trying to figure out where I fit!
Wow! I really am a fundamentalist. Bring on the gospel tracts.
I laughed out loud in my office reading this. I know people in each one of these categories. Thanks for the lighthearted fun.
Yes, I too am wondering where we fit in. We never really acknowledged the day as any different than any other day.
Where does someone who dresses up for Hallowe’en in a monk’s cassock with cross (not crucifix) around neck, plays Bach organ music and Gregorian chant as kid’s approach, yet hands out candy fit on the spectrum? And how would you classify him? I was attempting to reclaim the All Hallow’s Eve aspect (i.e. the night before All Saint’s Day) and remind those who showed up at the door that there are Christian roots in the celebration of this evening. (see wikipedia) Some of the kids were confused because I wasn’t dressed to scare - or maybe they don’t know what a monk is. One comment I received from a youth who must have watched The Apprentice was “You’re fired!” I know a RC family whose kids dressed up as the saints they were named after but I think they attended a Hallowe’en alternative at their church.
I have contemplated carving a cross shape into a pumpkin and writing (carving?) the words “No guilt in life, no fear in death” around it but figured the words were too obscure a reference for the general public to get. Wasn’t sure how a cross illuminated by a burning candle would be received as well - might be confused with a burning cross which would cause no end of problems.
But how can we show the “light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” to the world on an evening that celebrates darkness and evil and proclaims at the very least, a duality of good and evil, or, at the extreme, the supremacy of evil over good?
In the rest of the world (not USA) a fundamentalist is usually considered to be an Islamic extremist. We definitely avoid using that term to refer to our beliefs in regard to the fundamentals of the faith.
Very true! And it made me laugh, so bonus points. I think I’ve been through several versions in my lifetime. From hiding in the basement with all the lights off to dressing up as bible characters for the “Harvest Festival” at church to tracts and now taking my kids out but banning all things creepy. Oh, and I watch the Office.
“An Emerging Church evangelical is a fundamentalist who has no kids, but who dresses up for Halloween anyway.”
I literally laughed out loud at this.
@Stuart, Me too - that was fantastic!
My emerging church friends have 4 kids :-)
Yeah, I’ve been through a few versions, too (and I’m single). Right now, it’s just me dressing up and handing out candy to the kids (and asking educational questions to the ones who shouldn’t be there).
Russ,
Some things you must either laugh about or cry over. “Evangelical identity” one of them. Thanks for the laugh.
I brought my kid to a church Halloween event dressed as a ghost and the first question I received was, “Is he supposed to be the ‘Holy Ghost’?” This is exactly why I dressed him as a ghost.
And a New Testament believer is one who does not recognize Oct. 31st in any way. It’s just another day!
@Denise,
Lighten up. God did give us a sense of humor.
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
Note that it doesn’t say, “The ones who consider every day alike are the right kind of Christians (i.e. ‘New Testament believers’) and the ones who don’t are wrong.”
@Denise: Romans 14:5 “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
@Denise, by this line of logic Jehovah’s Witnesses are New Testament believers and Christmas is “just another day”, as Christ was almost surely not actually born on December 25. Holidays are for remembering something (Reformation Day) or celebrating in fun and innocent ways (Halloween in its healthy context for believers).
Some friends of mine and I were talking and decided we’d like another category…
A grandparent evangelical is one who made you hand out tracts at the door but want their grandkids to dress up so they can take them trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.
@Kim Ransleben, yes!!!! My parents are the ones who made us hide and leave the neighborhood on Halloween, but now they like us to dress up our kids and go trick or treating LOL!
@Kim Ransleben, Ouch - I’m recognizing myself.
Great read Dr. Moore! I suppose I’m a fundamentalist (for Halloween) who is not a Fundamentalist (theologically).
Gave me a chuckle. Thanks!
Hey bro - this is/was hillarious from a “Type b fundamentalist” - I fit into two or three of these categories - I’ll have to talk to myself about that. God bless and Straight Ahead!
Dr. Joel Tetreau
Senior Pastor
Southeast Valley Baptist Church
Gilbert, AZ
Great article! (but where do the “Trunk or Treater’s” fit?
This is hilarious beyond words. I come from a Russian Pentecostal background, where everyone is hyper-fundamentalist, aka asking trick or treaters “So did you always like worshiping the devil.” Just yesterday I wrote an article about it on my website and was accused of “poisoning” the local Slavic speaking community.
A true evangelical is a Lutheran who knows that October 31 is really Reformation Day!
And then there’s the ultra-separated fundamentalist who is a fundamentalist who turns out the lights and hides in the basement during neighborhood trick-or-treating. (That’s what my family did during my childhood. Don’t tell me we were the only ones… :))
I think Halloween and Evangelical identity is the religious information. It will be useful to anybody who want to know about an evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for Halloween.