How I Celebrate Halloween
I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween. Growing up, sure, I loved it. What kid didn’t?
But ever since high school or so I’ve always hated the dark side of Halloween and how its promotes evil things as ok if only for a day.
So this year I’m going to focus my attention on something else.
Something far more deserving of being recognized as any kind of holiday or event.
Reformation Day. Or what I would call Martin Luther Day.
On October 31st, 1517 Martin Luther mailed an essay to a leader in the Catholic church and nailed the same document to the door of a Catholic church in Germany. This is commonly referred to as Luther’s 95 Theses.
What followed changed the course of Christianity.
It was the most significant day in Christian history since the times written about in the Bible.
Protestants, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Lutherans, Episcopalians…they all have October 31st, 1517 to thank for their existence.
We get to hear English during our church services instead of Latin thanks to Luther.
For Halloween am I choosing to focus on the Reformation (started by Luther) and the many positive things that have come about for the Christian faith from it.
They are much more worthy than costumes, pranks, and jack o’ laterns.
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Tyler Braun.
I tend to prefer it as a celebration of All Hallows, when we remember all of those gracious Saints of the church without whom we would have nothing.
Then again, there’s nothing wrong with costumes and jack o’ lanterns. Pranks? Nah. They fail the Golden Rule test. But the other stuff is just fine.
The church was terribly corrupt and misdirected when Luther took his stance. I think the church desperately needed a reformation. Luther helped the church get back to the business of being the church. But the events of the reformation have also contributed to a deeply divided church. Today there are more than 100,000+ Protestant churches. Whatever happened to one holy and apostolic church? I’m grateful for Luther and others like Calvin who sparked the reformation and counter-reformation. But I’m also saddened by the divisiveness it created. It’s a bitter-sweet celebration for me.
Great point Ric. One I probably too easily overlooked. There are definitely some negative aspects to the Reformation.
Does this mean you’ll be dressing in a robe with tonsure for Halloween?
Hey Tyler. Thanks for the post. I also am deeply grateful to God for Martin Luther and for the desperately needed reclaiming of the gospel that came about because of his courage. Praise God. I also totally respect Christians stepping away from Halloween, because it is getting to be an increasingly dark holiday.
On the other hand, our family chooses to participate in trick-or-treating, and being a part of the neighborhood culture around our house on Halloween. We participate… we don’t “celebrate” the holiday. But we have fun and we enjoy each other and we connect with our neighbors. I just blogged about it this morning >> http://bit.ly/4ddB3Z.
Keep communicating, Tyler. I enjoy it. Appreciate your thoughts. God bless.
-joshua
What I always found interesting about Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door is that it wasn’t intended to be an act of defiance. When I was little, I always pictured this as a HUGE act of rebellion. In reality, Luther just wanted to sit down and talk with the church leaders about the issues he had. And church doors were the equivalent of bulletin boards. Instead, Luther was excommunicated from the church and hunted for years. I’m thankful that he didn’t back down from his beliefs, even after he was persecuted.
Of course, all the folks who don’t want to celebrate the “dark” parts of Halloween could just try to bring some light to it, thus pushing the average back toward light. Or we could just let it slide over even further the other way.
I think dressing up as Luther would be a great way to move it toward the light and promote the more important anniversary.
@Natalie: I don’t know if Luther was as tame as you think. Have you ever read any of his letters? “Roman toadies”? He had more than a bone to pick. I don’t know if he could have been any more defiant for his day and age.
Obviously it was a big step for back then, when everyone was pretty just expected to accept the way things were. I just meant that the act of nailing it to the door wasn’t supposed to be a real rebellious act, since the church door was like a message board. The 95 theses may have been posted next to a notice of a goat being for sale or something. But I know that Luther was extremely outspoken (i.e. all of his anti-semitic writings).
luther’s 95 theses? the most badass move in Christian history.