Halloween or All Hallows Eve

All Hallows Eve or Halloween as we call it in America has a significant place in church history. Do you know why? It goes far beyond the evangelical’s dilemma of handing out candy to  tricks and treaters.

All Saints Day and the day before, All Hallows Eve, is celebrated by some Christians and looked down upon by others. The earliest observance of the holiday was recorded in the early fourth-century.  Regardless of weather you engage in All Saints Day or not, five-hundred years ago on All Hallows Eve Martin Luther nailed his Theses to the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was proposing a theological debate, but what he got was a theological rebellion, or maybe it was a revival. In either case, Prof Luther unknowingly perpetrated one of the most pivotal movements in church history: The Protestant Reformation. The Reformation started a religious campaign aimed at refining the Catholic Church. However the results were much more monumental, the founding of, and the subsequent splintering of, the Protestant Church. One way of describing the Reformation might be: “…Their difference of opinion was so heated that they decided not to work together anymore…” (Acts 15:39)

It’s impossible to understand or even appreciate the modern church’s history, direction, content and theology apart from Luther’s Reformation. But the massive turmoil and lasting impact are present in whatever church we attend.  

#MinMChurch #MetroLifeChurch #Pkes