All Saints Halloween Reformation

Yesterday was Halloween. But it was also All Saints Day, and Reformation Day, too.

If a synergy was to be found between all these, it would be All Saints Halloween Reformation, I suppose.

Halloween, primarily originates from ancient Celtic harvest festivals like Samhain, where it was believed that the boundaries between the living and the dead overlapped, allowing spirits to return to earth. Over time, this evolved through Christianization into All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day on November 1st, which honors all saints, known and unknown.

At some point it also became Reformation Day.

This day is actually observed on October 31st to commemorate the Protestant Reformation, which started on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This act is considered the spark that led to the Reformation, a significant schism within Western Christianity initiated by Luther and continued by other reformers like John Calvin, Zwingli, and others.

Some people adore Halloween. I’m not sure why but they do.

I’m told All Saints Day matters a lot to Catholics. A day to remember the dead and so on. Not a bad tradition even though belief in purgatory isn‘t based on the Bible.

Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Over time, as Protestantism solidified and spread, the day began to take on a more formal observance.

In 1567 Prince-Elector John Frederick I of Saxony ordered all pastors to preach on Luther's theses annually, which can be seen as an early institutionalized celebration of the Reformation. Over centuries, the celebration of Reformation Day became more widespread among Protestants, especially Lutherans, in Germany and elsewhere. It was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that it gained a consistent form across different regions, often with church services, educational lectures, or even public festivals.

I used to think very highly of the Reformation. These days, not so much. Protestantism, just like Catholicism and Eastern-Orthodoxy, has a lot of explaining to do if we stand its doctrines and practices next to the Biblical Standard of who the Messiah was and what was his authentic faith and teaching.

Which is why I don’t get entangled into any church fights. They are all absurd in my opinion.

Why is it so hard for us to keep the main thing - the main thing? Why do we (humans) always veer off into extremes? Why are we so baffled by the truth that Jesus (Yeshua) didn’t establish Christianity, it didn’t exist for centuries and when it was made “official“, it became something very different from what we have going on today?

Happy Halloween Saints Reformation Day!

Amen!