Reformation Day or Halloween? [Protestant Caucus]

A young deer near Grand Rapids Michigan will be celebrating October 31 differently next year I would venture to guess. First, a little history for those of you who did not grow up in a Dutch Reformed community:

The Dutch Reformed tradition frowned on the day of Halloween. Our parents taught us that witches, ghosts and goblins were not a healthy thing to be celebrating. Halloween origins are traced back to the Celts many years ago. The Celts believed that in the season between fall and winter, the veil between this life and the next was at its smallest. They feared that evil spirits could come back into this world in the form of animals - to get back at them for the sins they committed. So they got a group of their neighbor’s together, dressed in scary costumes and lit fires to keep the spirits away. I guess that one bright guy decided that since they were all getting together anyway, someone should bring food. No one volunteered, so they all decided to bring a hot dish - and the potluck was born. (Now the potluck is a tradition that is still going strong in these parts, but that a story for another day.) So, it turns out that some of the Celts were sneaking into the potluck to partake of all the good food, but they didn’t bring a ‘dish’. The next year the organizers of the potluck went house to house to gather food items instead of trusting everyone to bring something. That is where the tradition of trick or treating probably began. (A good potluck is built on trust - it won’t last long if too many moochers show up.)

Our Dutch ancestors did not want any part of those traditions and so Halloween was not celebrated in the Dutch Reformed circles. In their eyes, the only benefit of Halloween was that the candy was free. Even that did not convince our parents to allow us to go trick or treating. Besides all that candy would rot our teeth.

As we learned Sunday during Pastor Tom’s message at Thorn Creek Reformed Church, ‘Post tenebras lux’ is a Latin phrase. It is translated as ‘Light After Darkness’. The phrase came to be adopted by John Calvin, and was subsequently adopted as the motto of the entire Protestant Reformation. It is used by John Calvin’s adopted city of Geneva, Switzerland on their coins. As a mark of its role in the Calvinist movement, the motto is engraved on the Reformation Wall, in Geneva, and the Huguenot Monument, in Franschhoek, South Africa.

Since Halloween and Reformation Day happened on the same day, it was even more unlikely that little Dutch kids would be going trick or treating on October 31.

Anyway, back to the deer story. A few years ago on Reformation Day/Halloween, a young deer in Grand Rapids did not listen to his parents. He went trick or treating anyway. He must have been using a plastic pumpkin for all his candy. How do we know this? Because he was spotted running through the forest with the pumpkin stuck on his head. Since deer do not have fingers he must have stuck his head into the pumpkin and the black plastic carry handle slipped over his horns. He was spotted numerous times by local residents - one who called the Michigan DNR. They never got close enough to tranquilize the deer to remove the pumpkin. He ran around for a week with the pumpkin on his head before he was able to wiggle out of it. He is a very lucky deer since hunting season started soon in Michigan. A local hunter was quoted, “He would be pretty easy to spot, jumping through the woods with an orange pumpkin on his head.”

This October 31, the young deer will be one deer-year older and hopefully one deer-year wiser. He may just have a family of his own. I can picture him telling his young son. “Son, you shouldn’t go trick or treating. Get a cup of hot cider, come over by the fire and I’ll tell you a story about your dad and a scary plastic pumpkin!”

Thanks for reading our newspaper and remember to ‘Fall Back’ this Saturday night since Daylight Savings Time ends for this year. We all get to ‘recapture’ that lost hour of sleep from back in March.

It just so happens that Reformation Day is on the same day as Halloween. Reformation Day is a day that is celebrated by most of the Protestant churches in this country. Back in 1517 Martin Luther nailed 95 statements onto a church door in Wittenberg Germany. These statements were the catalyst of The Reformation. While it made a large impact on the political, economic, social, and artistic aspects of life in those days, the Reformation was at its heart a religious movement. The Reformation was the great rediscovery of the good news of salvation by grace through faith for Christ’s sake.
As we learned Sunday during Pastor Tom’s message at Thorn Creek Reformed Church, ‘Post tenebras lux’ is a Latin phrase. It is translated as ‘Light After Darkness’. The phrase came to be adopted by John Calvin, and was subsequently adopted as the motto of the entire Protestant Reformation. It is used by John Calvin’s adopted city of Geneva, Switzerland on their coins. As a mark of its role in the Calvinist movement, the motto is engraved on the Reformation Wall, in Geneva, and the Huguenot Monument, in Franschhoek, South Africa.

Since Halloween and Reformation Day happened on the same day, it was even more unlikely that little Dutch kids would be going trick or treating on October 31.

"As we learned Sunday during Pastor Tom’s message at Thorn Creek Reformed Church, ‘Post tenebras lux’ is a Latin phrase. It is translated as ‘Light After Darkness’. The phrase came to be adopted by John Calvin, and was subsequently adopted as the motto of the entire Protestant Reformation."

At the risk of sounding picky, the real reformation is simply a return to the light delivered by Paul regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps, "Return to light after a time of darkness" would have been a more apt slogan. It seems we "reformed" are routinely accused (around FR) of commencing with a message from the 16th cent. onward, when in fact we were simply denouncing a departure commencing circa 150AD.

I’m sorry. The “real” meaning? The letters are important, of course, but I cannot place Paul above Jesus. Thanks.

Again this is not your caucus. However, if your contention is Evangelicals do not obey the Words of Christ, you can post such a thread and I am sure many of us would respond. Because you would be in error for saying so. The Gospels and the Words of Christ must be taken in the full context. Meaning in light of the Cross and Empty Tomb. Not doing so, leads us to interpret the Gospels as "Sinai II" the Law more perfectly delivered.

Are you placing Jesus above the Father? Why not obey what is in Chronicles? Why not do what Isaiah is saying from the Father? Because you intuitively know that these are written to the Jews...so are the Gospels.

Matt. 15:24
Matt. 7:12

We could go on.

Here is the litmus test, my FRiend....

Do you actually believe the Gospel is “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”? Further, do you believe that you are complying? These are Jesus’ demands...Matt. 5:48 Are you there yet?

The important point is this:

1. We have the Ministry of Jesus Christ

3. We have the Gospel as preached by the apostles (most info we have is from Paul)

What is missing is the most important pieces (why I did not put #2 above).

If we stop at #1 the conclusion we come to is Jesus came to preach “Sinai II” the Law more perfectly delivered and practiced by One Person—Jesus Christ.

If we just look to #3 and compare it to #1, we grapple with what is perceived as contradictions or the apostles departing from Christ’s Words. In effect, Paul at the least would have to be declared a heretic.

HOWEVER...I failed to insert #2 above. Which is:

2) Death (shed Blood), burial and Resurrection (Life Everlasting) of Jesus Christ.

#1 and #3 now are seen within proper and very important context in light of #2.

So without the Cross and Empty Tomb, we are led back to Mt Sinai (Law). With the Cross and Empty Tomb we have deliverance from Mt Zion (Grace).

What does that mean? Is Paul more important than the Gospels themselves?

I tend to agree although i have always considered myself a protestant.

Many people credit Paul with the Gospel just because we have more letters from him than the other apostles, what were the other apostles doing? could it be they were preaching the Gospel by mouth?

If we read acts we can plainly see that the Gentiles were getting the Gospel on account of the death of Steven even before Paul starting preaching.

Those people did not have the Gospel of Christ so in many cases the only thing any one knew was from peter or one of the other Apostles or the disciples including Paul.

We now have the Gospel of Jesus and although i do not see any contradictions where Paul speaks of the Gospel is concerned my only faith is in Jesus Christ.

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