My bold and confident assertion is that certainty provides structure and form while transcendence provides oxygen and life. In our modern context, life is saturated with casualness. People wear sweat suits to important events and flip flops to church, when only 100 years ago, day laborers commonly wore full suits, including jackets, vests, and ties, to work.

Halloween’s origins are not a matter of speculative debate, but a historical fact rooted in the profane festival of Samhain, celebrated by the pagan Celts. This was no innocent harvest party; it was a demonic rite where the veil between the living and the dead was believed to thin, inviting spirits—both benign and malevolent—into the world.

When we look at the confession, we observe that it intentionally has a “big tent” outlook on the church. It does this so as to not unnecessarily exclude any true believer from fellowship within the visible church, and the sacraments of the Lord. This is established within the confession by its discussion regarding the visible church.