In late October, people all over the Western world dress up in costumes, attend parties, and consume handfuls of candy. Yet whether or not families join in on the Halloween festivities, very few recall one of the most significant events that ever happened on October 31. On that fall day in 1517, a young monk named Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany, which addressed the abuses of the sale of indulgences and which provided the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.
Many churches standing in the heritage of the Reformation commemorate this momentous occasion as Reformation Day on the last Sunday of October each year. Luther’s magnificent hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” is usually sung in worship services across the world as well as “For All the Saints” in order to remember all those who have gone before us. Churches with a more liturgical flavor use the color red to mark the occasion. Reformation Day continues to be a public holiday in several German states.
The celebration of Halloween remains a debated subject among evangelicals, but no one can dispute the influence of Martin Luther. He is one of the most important figures in Western history, as his thought has impacted family life, politics, church-state relations, individual liberties, and a host of other societal issues. His translation of the Bible is a high-point of biblical scholarship and did much to shape the development of the German language.
Comparable to Luther is John Calvin, another major figure of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin provided one of the most important summarizations of Christian theology in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, and his thought shaped the worldview of many of the earliest Americans. Economists recognize the reformer’s importance in laying the foundation for capitalism. Calvin’s work also influenced the Westminster Confession — the doctrinal basis for Presbyterians. Their system of church governance in turn is reflected in the judicial system described in the United States Constitution.
Luther and Calvin’s powerful expositions of the Gospel remain their most important legacy. Though earlier individuals such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus would call for reform in the church, Luther’s forceful personality and Calvin’s brilliant systematization guaranteed reform would become widespread. In an era when the Gospel had been eclipsed by a system of human merit, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the other reformers were able to remind the people of God that we are declared righteous in the sight of the Lord through faith alone in the person and work of Christ Jesus.
The widespread acceptance of watered-down doctrine and uncritical ecumenism in our day demonstrates how we cannot take biblical teaching for granted. Luther and Calvin were willing to die if necessary for the biblical Gospel, but many today simply ignore the doctrine of justification through faith alone by grace alone because of Christ alone. This year, let us remember the work of our forefathers on Reformation day and strive, as they did, to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
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