Halloween and the Protestant Reformation

I’m not writing this to tell you whether you should or shouldn’t celebrate Halloween, nor to insist that you must celebrate the Reformation instead. My goal is simply to highlight an interesting historical connection that some historians have noted between Halloween and Luther’s nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses.

November 1 has traditionally been known as All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day—the word hallow being Old English for holy or saint. That means October 31 is the eve of All Hallows’ Day—hence, All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween. During Luther’s time, All Saints’ Day was a major religious festival, especially in Wittenberg, where the church displayed its vast collection of relics and granted indulgences to those who viewed them. And indulgences, of course, were precisely what Luther was opposing.

Some historians believe Luther chose this date strategically. He recognized that October 31 would offer a public moment, a time when crowds would gather and the issue of indulgences would be front and center in people’s minds. In that sense, Luther modelled cultural engagement with wisdom—timing his message for maximum impact and addressing the very concerns of his age. That’s something both pastors and ordinary Christians can learn from.

Too often, we get so caught up debating whether to participate in a cultural event that we miss the opportunity it presents for proclaiming truth. I’m not talking about cowardice or compromise—Luther’s act was anything but that. He boldly confronted a corrupt practice at the height of its influence. But he did so strategically, as a faithful witness. There are indeed times to withdraw from the culture’s practices, but there are also times to speak prophetically within them. A true prophet doesn’t shout into the void; he waits for the right moment to make truth unavoidable.

We see this same pattern in Scripture. Jesus and the apostles constantly looked for strategic moments to proclaim the gospel. Even the Holy Spirit was poured out not on an ordinary day, but during the Jewish festival of Pentecost, when the nations were gathered—ensuring that the message of Christ would reach the world.

May God make us wise to use every opportunity to advance His kingdom, to proclaim His glory, to speak prophetically against the sins of our age, and to do it all with courage and conviction—fighting the good fight of faith.

Nino Marques