Reformation Day 2007

Today at work we're having an early Halloween party. It's a chance for the kids to come in, show off their costumes and "trick or treat". Really...it's just an excuse for the big kids to knock off early and eat some cake! Every year lots of energy is spent debating whether Christian parents should let their children participate in Halloween. I'm agnostic on the question. I don't have kids so I'm not going to tell parents what they should or shouldn't do (my wife has fond childhood memories of carving pumpkins, etc. so I have an inkling which way we'll lean when we're faced with the decision). I think it's possible to separate the wheat from the chaff, but I don't think parents that don't let their kids participate in Halloween are narrow-minded wackos. There's a good case to be made against it. In my opinion there's a stronger Biblical case to be made in favor of a prohibitionist stance on Halloween than there is in favor of a prohibitionist stance on drinking alcohol. Just my opinion.

Bottom line? Use spiritual discernment. Albert Mohler reminds us in an article from 2003 that, "The coming of Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity." Read the article


Tomorrow is also Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517 an obscure monk nailed an invitation to debate the practice of selling indulgences to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, which became known to history as Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Luther wasn't engaging in an act of vandalism. In medieval times the church door was like the classified ads. If you wanted to make an announcement, that's where you posted it. Still, Luther couldn't have known what he was starting. He was a remarkably humble and simple man til the day he died. Legend has it that the last words he wrote on a scrap of paper were, "We are beggars: this is true." Even if only legend, his life and writings bear witness that he would say with Paul, "by the grace of God I am what I am."

Is the Protestant Reformation even relevant to the American church of the 21st century? Have the issues the Reformers were debating with Rome been forever settled? Michael Horton and Co. discuss those questions on this week's edition of The White Horse Inn. I'd say yes it's relevant, and no the issues haven't been settled. Why celebrate Reformation Day? One good reason is we wouldn't have a copy of the Bible in our own language if not for the Reformers. At that time Bibles were chained to the lecterns of the churches. Even if a layman could get his hands on a Bible, he wouldn't be able to understand it because it was in Latin. Being able to study the Scriptures on our own is just one of the many sweet fruits of the Reformation. Here are some suggestions for celebrating Reformation Day 2007.

- Sing a hymn

- Buy the ESV Reformation Study Bible for $15.17

- Learn about Luther's favorite beverage

Semper Reformanda!