On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther–a law student turned monk–nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. In short, these Theses (a thesis is an argument or an assertion–ask your TRA junior-higher or high schooler!) were Luther’s way of protesting against corruption within the Catholic Church and reminding the church of an oft-forgotten truth: that by grace and grace alone have we been justified from the consequences of our sins (Galatians 2:21; 2 Cor. 5:21). Any good works we might do are the reflection of our God-given grace upon our sinful state of being (Eph. 2:8-10). The sound of his nails fastening the Theses to those church doors was also the sound of the Protestant Reformation bursting forth.
Nine hundred years earlier, Pope Boniface IV sought to confront a spreading pagan practice, originating in the land of the Celts, of Samhain (among other non-Christian festivals). Samhain marked the end of harvest and the start of winter, with bonfires being lit and a belief that spirits roamed the earth for that night. So, people would disguise themselves out of a desire to hide from those spirits. Pope Boniface instituted All Saints Day on November 1, followed by All Souls Day the next day in an effort to turn people’s attention to honoring the saints who came before. As we can see, this distraction worked swimmingly, and Halloween has entirely been eradicated from the public consciousness. Not so much.
Instead of enmiring ourselves in those syncretistic holidays, The River Academy joins the long tradition of focusing on and celebrating a momentous occasion within the church: the day when we turned our attention to the work that God did through Martin Luther. He reminded us that, without the grace of God in our lives we have no hope for our salvation and that we can’t bridge that gap between our sinful state and the Perfection in which God exists. We echo Luther’s argument that “The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God” (Thesis 62). October 31st is not about costumes or candy or carnivals–those are tricks of distraction–but about remembering the truest treat out there: the grace and peace that comes from our Savior.
So, even though we do dress up–in the classical school tradition as literary characters or historical figures–we do so in honor of the Lord and the saints like Luther who came before us. We feast as our forefathers did, we fellowship as Christ commanded, and we frolic about in the joy of the Lord, remembering what He has done for us rather than honoring any pagan holiday.
Blessings,
Tyler Howat, Dean of Academics
