This Sunday children everywhere will be donning costumes and with bag in hand will capture a treasure-trove of sugar-infused loot. Although All Hallow’s Eve has historically been an evening of church activity, in the recent past it has been co-opted—like Christmas and Easter—by a materialistic culture that no longer considers the Christian origins of this supernatural celebration. Instead it sets its sights myopically on the here-and-now without any regard to the biblical portrait of Satan or the One who defeated him on a Roman cross. Accompanying this, the gradual slide in Hallowe’en celebrations has gone from a fantasy-rooted kitsch event to the downright gory. Fading are the days of Oz-like witches, toothy Jack-O-Lanterns and bobbing for apples. In their place are the Saw-inspired severed appendages that litter the walkways children traverse in order to get their candy.
In Christian history, All Hallow’s Eve was not always a celebration of death and darkness. Theologian James Jordan explains, “‘Halloween’ is simply a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve. The word ‘hallow’ means ‘saint,’ in that ‘hallow’ is just an alternative form of the word ‘holy’ (‘hallowed be Thy name’). All Saints’ Day is November 1. It is the celebration of the victory of the saints in union with Christ.” Jordan goes on to explain that the purpose of the ghoulish costuming was to “mock” the Prince of the power of the air in order to celebrate life and light in anticipation of All Saint’s Day.
For many in the Reformed tradition the expulsion of ritualistic liturgical days, especially as they became encrusted with superstition, was laudable (though many maintain a stripped-down liturgical calendar). One ritual that accompanied Hallowe’en celebrations was the selling of “soul-cakes”—an omen-preventing remedy that hopefully tasted good—a practice not found in Scripture and thus would and should be extirpated. Thus this coming Sunday is a day of celebration for Christians who love the crystalline truths of the Reformation.
It was on October 31, 1517 that a German monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) posted a series of theological theses to be debated on his local church door (a bulletin-board of sorts). This of course sparked a movement of biblically-minded churchmen and laypeople who were dedicated to wresting the church back to the principles of biblical authority. Exegetical treatments of key texts that dealt with issues of justification, works, sanctification, etc., were re-examined in an “inner-canonical” way. The conclusion was that any theology that incorporated good works into the application of salvation was unbiblical. For more on the details of Reformation Day, see Heinz’s article in the following blogpost.
As the wonder of the Reformation has been re-captured by the twenty-first century church, the date of October 31st has taken on a new and cherished meaning. Many churches who have typically replaced Hallowe’en celebrations with “harvest festivals” are now celebrating Reformation Day. Instead of children dressed as cowboys, pumpkins or princesses, it could be that children in your church will show up dressed as John Calvin or Anne Boleyn.
But no matter how you celebrate October 31st this year, one thing must be certain—that you do “not give up meeting together” for Lord’s Day worship (Hebrews 10:25). As it happens, October 31st, 2010 falls on a Sunday. This is truly a day where Christians should come together to praise and hear from the risen King Jesus whose death killed death. The earlier purpose of Hallowe’en was correct, whether we would express it the same way earlier Christians would: Satan and his minions have been defeated at Calvary. So, this Hallowe’en is a special reminder that the forces of evil that we see displayed around us, sometimes in excruciatingly gross detail, have been vanquished by the very gory death of our Saviour.
