I really enjoy October 31. It’s not just pumpkins and spice. A big part is that we’ve had young kids for the last fifteen years. Another part is that I’m a Calvinist and very happy Protestant.
Halloween presents a challenge and an opportunity to young Christian families: we don’t want to participate in or subject our kids to much of what our world celebrates. But as Christians, we’re not left helpless to cower in our basements with the lights off. Instead, we can seize Halloween as an opportunity to teach our kids about Christ’s majesty.
Even more so, the longer I live, the more precious to me is the marking of Reformation Day. It’s no accident that Halloween and Reformation Day are both October 31. November 1 has long been All Saints’ (Hallows’) Day. So, October 31 is All Hallows’ Eve. In 1517, with the holy day coming, Martin Luther chose All Hallows’ Eve for the posting of his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. In God’s good timing, that little spark spread through Europe and beyond and freed many from medieval captivity to human tradition and elementary principles (Galatians 4:3, 9; Colossians 2:8, 20).
So, October 31 offers tricks and treats alike. We’ve curated a list of resources to help your family celebrate the joys of this day and navigate its challenges — and to highlight how Christ holds all days in his sovereign hand.
Trick: Handling Halloween
Halloween is not a threat; it’s an opportunity to reassure our kids of Christ’s supreme power over all things, including spiritual darkness.
Our Lord reigns — truly reigns, right now — on the throne of the universe, over all earthly and demonic powers (Psalm 47:8; Ephesians 1:20–21). At the cross, he conquered our sin, and so “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). We want our kids to know that in Christ, “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4), and it’s not even a close fight between the devil and Omnipotence.
Our Sovereign permits and uses the ongoing existence of Satan and his demons for Christ’s own good purposes, as inscrutable as they are (Job 1:12). When Jesus is ready, one little word from his mouth will fell the devil (Revelation 20:10). Satan’s work in the world is real and terrible, but in Jesus, we enjoy ultimate safety. He is a reliable refuge — a castle the demons cannot crumble, a mighty fortress they cannot breach. We need not fear the night if we have the holy, delightful fear of God himself in Christ.
I’ve loved rehearsing these truths with our kids year after year. Now, my youngest daughter is almost ten. We are close to aging out of Halloween. And the older I get, the more grace I have for fellow Christians handling the loaded challenge of October 31 in a variety of ways. Our family has taken up different emphases from year to year. If your family is ready for a more aggressive, Jesus-rules-over-Satan emphasis, the resources in the link above may help.
Treat: Remembering the Reformation
Do what you will with Halloween, but I’d say at least don’t miss out on Reformation Day — even if the marking of days isn’t especially Protestant! The following resources can help shift your family’s thoughts away from ghosts and toward divine glory.
For an eleven-minute audio introduction, listen to this 2023 episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast that outlines five points to celebrate on Reformation Day: Christ’s glory, God’s free and sovereign grace, Christ’s achievement on the cross, God’s inspired word in Scripture, and the sufficiency of faith for fellowship with Christ. Before turning your attention elsewhere, know that “ultimately, we celebrate the exaltation of the glory of Christ.” That, at bottom, is the significance that makes the occasion soar.
Luther, of course, set the haunting spark in 1517. One way to observe the day would be to enjoy John Piper’s biographical message on Martin Luther from the 1996 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors. While Piper focuses on how Luther guides us to study Scripture, he also provides an engaging account of the Reformer’s life that’s sure to inspire.
If you’re short on time, a briefer but equally helpful read is Piper’s seven-hundred-word overview of Luther’s life, called “Here He Stood.” It’s part of our series “Here We Stand,” offering 31 brief audio and text profiles on various Reformers.
Luther didn’t reform alone, and the Reformation didn’t happen in Germany alone. Browse the table of contents to find a Reformer new to you. And if you’d like a personality overview in one place, I tried to make quick mention of many Reformers (with links) in an article for the five-hundredth anniversary in 2017: “Where Did the Reformation Really Begin?”
As important as knowing the tenets of the Reformation is to understand what the movement did not teach. This article series from 2022 aims to clarify points for which the Reformers labored — and allay confusion about those they didn’t. The culminating piece, Scott Hubbard’s “The Five Not-Points of Calvinism,” is a rewarding read.
For this and other pieces, Scott is one of my favorite late-October voices. Not only does he tell William Tyndale’s compelling story in “The Reformation of English,” but he also addresses the Reformers’ (many) imperfections — and even egregious flaws — in “Whitewashed Heroes.”
Finally, October 31 would be a great occasion to put the Bible itself on the screen. Watch John Piper walk through this six-part Look at the Book series that asks, Are the five solas in the Bible? Spoiler alert: Piper has Scripture for all five.
Desiring God