Excerpt copied from Christian Worldview Discipleship Facebook page. The post was posted on October 30th, 2025
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. – Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10
Lest any professing Christians…still insist on participating in All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day (and any other superstitious popish tradition (X Mass and Easter)), by the claim that *in their heart* they are not joining in pagan activity. They don’t *mean* it and instead are thinking biblically. They consciously reject the Roman Catholic *meaning* of these holy-days, and therefore their participation in the traditional activities (i.e. visiting the cemetery) are harmless.
John Calvin dealt with that exact excuse, during the Reformation. And yes, it’s an excuse. He did this in his excellent writing against those he labeled “Nicodemites” (after Nicodemus) who were Protestant but refused to separate themselves from the Medieval Roman church. In other words, claiming that they don’t believe what the Roman Catholics believe as they are doing these things; they are just outwardly participating, but not inwardly. So that makes it okay. Calvin said that our beliefs and behavior should match:
“There is no room, therefore, for any one to indulge in crafty dissimulation, or to flatter himself with a false idea of piety, pretending that he cherishes it in his heart, though he completely overturns it by his outward behaviour.”
God does not only care about the posture of your soul, but the posture of your *body.* Does not the 2nd Commandment not only forbid you from internally worshipping images, but also *bowing down* to them? It is the *whole person* that engages in religious worship. Calvin explains:
“When the Lord, by his Law, forbade Idols to be reverenced or worshipped, he, under that head, comprehended the whole of the external worship which the ungodly are wont to bestow upon their Idols. (Exod. 20:4–6.) Such is the natural force of the terms which he employed—the one, meaning to bow down; the other, to bestow honour: and it is evident that the species of adoration struck at, is that by which Images of wood or stone are worshipped by bodily gestures. The Lord, therefore, by his interdict, does not simply prohibit his people from standing in stupid amazement like the Gentiles before wood or stone, but forbids any imitation of their profane stolidity in any form, by prostrating themselves before Images for the purpose of paying honour to them, or giving any other indication of religious reverence, such as we are accustomed to give by uncovering the head or bending the knee.”
Pastors that promote the observation of these papist holidays certainly fall under the sanction of the 2nd commandment in approving this religious worship not instituted by God and using their position of authority to do so.
—”Shunning the Unlawful Rites of the Ungodly“ (https://www.monergism.com/shunning-unlawful-rites-ungodly)
