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Spooky: This Halloween, Protestants celebrate "Reformation Day"
American Papist ^ | October 16, 2009 | Thomas Peters

Posted on 10/16/2009 4:19:52 PM PDT by NYer

As we prepare for the Holloween season (which seems to become a bigger and bigger deal in the United States each year, and that probably isn't a healthy sign), let's see what our Protestant brothers and sisters are planning.

PCANews at the Christian Broadcasting Network website has come up with a way to overcome the satanic/occult aspects of Halloween - a Reformation Day party! They explain it:

October 31 celebrates the day that the Reformation in Europe began with Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door, leading to a firestorm response in Germany. Why not use this occasion for a celebration of our Reformed heritage. And yes, this can be fun for the kids too!

[Here is what Reformation day involves:]

Why not have a celebration at church where all get dressed up as characters from the Reformation (I've dressed up as John Calvin, Martin Luther, a peasant, and even John Tetzel (the salesman of those infamous indulgences)? When I couldn't get a 16th century idea then I dressed as a Bible character. You can transform the fellowship hall into Wittenburg, Germany or Geneva. Here is an opportunity to go over the great "solas" of the Reformation: by Scripture alone, by grace alone, by Christ alone, by faith alone, and to God be the glory alone. Have people explain them. Show a video of one of the reformers. Draw murals of Reformation events.

Here are some other things our church has done over the years: Medieval line dancing (a lot like Scottish line dancing), Medieval relay races (put the indulgences in the bottle), bobbing for apples, German cover dish dinner, acting out your character (don't tell anyone who you are, but act it out -- the ideas are limited only by time and background).
It's ironic that protestants are choosing Holloween to celebrate the Reformation, considering that many Catholic families celebrate All Souls Day by dressing as Catholic saints. Of course - protestants probably won't be up for a good old-fashioned cult of the saints party like we are.

Then again, if protestants can play "put the indulgences in the bottle" to get in touch with their historical roots, and baptists can have bonfires burning Catholic bibles and books on spirituality by Catholic saints, maybe Catholics could celebrate Reformation Day by starting bonfires and burning figurines of heretics to get in touch with our historical roots? ;-)

(... I'm totally kidding of course. Well ... mostly.)


TOPICS: History; Mainline Protestant
KEYWORDS: churchhistory; halloween; moapb; protestant; reformation
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To: AnAmericanMother
One year, my daughter dressed as St. Lucy, with her eyes on a plate.

I thought about going as St. Agatha this year - you know, it being breast cancer awareness month and all.

21 posted on 10/16/2009 4:55:55 PM PDT by Desdemona (True Christianity requires open hearts and open minds - not blind hatred.)
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To: NYer

So, I can go to such a party as Lady Montague? Despite it all in England she was a stalwart Catholic, but still a figure of the revolt.


22 posted on 10/16/2009 4:58:28 PM PDT by Desdemona (True Christianity requires open hearts and open minds - not blind hatred.)
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To: F15Eagle
What a load of baloney. They aren’t “choosing Halloween” - simply noting that it’s October 31.

LOL,

Now, now, don't get in the way of the poster's desire to poke at the hornet's nest.

23 posted on 10/16/2009 5:09:57 PM PDT by Col Freeper (FR is a smorgasbord of Conservative thoughts and ideas - dig in and enjoy it to its fullest!)
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To: NYer

I’ll put on a Keith Obermann costume and scare the hell out of everybody.

Halloween is a fun time in my family, we always treat the youngsters coming to the door with good treats, decorate the lawn and trees with ghosts and goblins and large monster balloons. So, in our household, let the good times and the heads roll.


24 posted on 10/16/2009 5:23:35 PM PDT by BlueStateBlues (Blue State business, Red State heart. . . . .Palin 2012----can't come soon enough!)
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To: NYer
Back home, my church usually had Reformation Sunday and at times a small service on Oct. 31.

But it was a bigger thing in Lutheran synods. Often, all Saints Sunday was either celebrated at the same time, or on November 1.

25 posted on 10/16/2009 5:30:17 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: NYer

Oh brother.


26 posted on 10/16/2009 5:39:52 PM PDT by Melian ("frequently in error, rarely in doubt")
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To: Redleg Duke

***I am afraid that too many of our Catholic “brothers and sisters” consider us Protestants to be in the same category as “witches and satanists”.***

Nonsense. There are no such things as witches.


27 posted on 10/16/2009 5:42:09 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: Lee N. Field

***I’ve been working on my scraggly beard since the beginning of summer. Now to find a black beret. This is the look I’m aiming at:***

I’ll try to dig up somebody to burn at the stake for ya. :)


28 posted on 10/16/2009 5:43:24 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: NYer

Of Course, the origin of Halloween was that it was the “eve of All Hallows” or the night before All Saints Day, a day on which ALL the departed saints (small “s”, meaning everyone who had died in Christ)was honored! sO HA HA HA! The joke is on the witches and goblins! Halloween is a CHRISTIAN Holiday!

Personally, I enjoy the nonsense. It is the one day of the year everyone laughs at the one thing everybody on the planet is AFRAID of...death.

I love the Lord, By the way. Peace and love to ALL my brothers and sisters out there!


29 posted on 10/16/2009 5:54:30 PM PDT by left that other site (Your Mi'KMaq Paddy Whacky Bass Playing Biker Buddy)
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To: MarkBsnr

Just curious about your tagline. Could you tell me where it’s from?


30 posted on 10/16/2009 5:56:42 PM PDT by dorothy ("Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: dorothy

***Just curious about your tagline. Could you tell me where it’s from?***

Certainly. It is a quote from St. Augustine in his Against the Heretics as part of his explanation as to why the Catholic Church was the correct one and all the other churches were inventions of men and therefore incorrect.


31 posted on 10/16/2009 6:08:42 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: MarkBsnr

Thanks. I knew I’d read it somewhere, but couldn’t remember where.


32 posted on 10/16/2009 6:19:38 PM PDT by dorothy (“Wisdom cries out loud in the streets, she raises her voice in the squares…" Proverbs 1:20)
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To: dorothy

***Thanks. I knew I’d read it somewhere, but couldn’t remember where.***

I remember when I first remembered it and used it as a tagline here on FR. I had many children of the Reformation violently object to it; when they found out that it was a quote (and taken in context) from St. Augustine, the challenges dropped to only occasional. A knowledge of the early Church does much to indicate the development of Christian theology and therefore what we need to believe.


33 posted on 10/16/2009 6:34:25 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: workerbee
No, it is plain wrong from both aspects, and if you are looking for moral equivalency, you are neither moral or equivalent!

We shall all stand before our Father eventually and answer for our transgressions

34 posted on 10/16/2009 6:35:42 PM PDT by Redleg Duke ("Don't fire unless fired upon, but it they mean to have a war, let it begin here." J Parker, 1775)
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To: MarkBsnr
I’ll try to dig up somebody to burn at the stake for ya. :)

"Heretics roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose.."

Oops, that's a Christmas song.

35 posted on 10/16/2009 7:16:22 PM PDT by Lee N. Field (An armed society is a polite society. So keep your soi-disant "prophets" off my lawn.)
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To: Lee N. Field

***”Heretics roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose..”

Oops, that’s a Christmas song.***

But seriously, folks. The Church teaches that heresy is as heresy does and excommunication is the acknowledgement of the Church as to the wishes of the individual. Same as we believe that God does not condemn. We believe that God merely accomodates the wishes of the individual as to the desire for heaven or hell based upon his actions and his belief in God.


36 posted on 10/16/2009 7:45:45 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: NYer

This is ridiculous, and I am an evangelical protestant. Our church has a “trunk or treat” where kids go trick or treating from one car to another.

When I was a kid at Catholic school, our school Halloween festival was the big thing in town.

I love Halloween. Not for the modern stuff, but for the history of it. October 31 was the eve of All Saints, when the veil between this world and the next was thin. Children would go house to house and get “soul cakes” in exchange for praying for the dead. Halloween has a very rich history and my only gripe with it is the fact that we have lost the history. I would love to hand out “soul cakes” instead of candy.


37 posted on 10/16/2009 8:33:28 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see")
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To: AnAmericanMother

I love it!


38 posted on 10/16/2009 8:34:16 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see")
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To: left that other site

It is the one day of the year everyone laughs at the one thing everybody on the planet is AFRAID of...death.

- - - - - - -
Actually, I am not afraid of death. Of course, I study/write about it for a living, so...


39 posted on 10/16/2009 8:36:00 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see")
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To: AnAmericanMother
One year, my daughter dressed as St. Lucy, with her eyes on a plate.

We have a statue of St. Lucy in our church. One of the parishioners recently climbed a ladder to dust her off and suddenly began to chortle. Stepping down, he whispered ..... This is the money you could have been saving with GEICO.

We all cracked up :-)

40 posted on 10/16/2009 8:39:04 PM PDT by NYer ( "One Who Prays Is Not Afraid; One Who Prays Is Never Alone"- Benedict XVI)
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