Reformation Day

Today is known a Halloween, a day of kids (and some adults) dressing up as various characters, from your cutest little pumpkins to the most hideous creatures imaginable. They go from door to door demanding candy by threatening a nasty trick, spending the night at a fall festival at their church, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, or going to a party celebrating this interesting day of collecting candy and playing dress up.

But few know of or celebrate Reformation Day.

October 31st is shared by to events, Halloween and Reformation Day, on completely opposite sides of the spiritual spectrum. An interesting theory I have heard was that people made up Halloween to counter-attack, so to say, Reformation Day and turn it into a day of celebrating ghosts, ghouls, gross things, grotesque creatures, and basically all things related to dark magic. Or that Reformation Day occurred to counter-attack Halloween.

But what is Reformation Day exactly?

Reformation Day is the day Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the doors of the Castle Church (also known as the All Saints' Church or Schlosskirche) in Wittenberg, Germany, proposing reformation in the Catholic church because of the pardons, indulgences, the hierarchy of church positions, and doctrines.

What is so important about this occurrence?

This act basically sparked the pillar of flame known as the Protestant Reformation. It encouraged people to focus on God and the Bible, believe in justification by faith, and the priesthood of all believers.

So tonight, whether go do something for Halloween or not. Think about Reformation Day and the impact it had on Christianity today.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Church,_Wittenberg

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/495574/Reformation-Day

God Bless,