Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, Mosaic Law or Decalogue (from the Greek Δεκάλογος, meaning Ten Words) were a set of rules related to ethics given to Moses by God. They are completely divine commandments, since God gave them to Moses at Mount Sinai in two Tablets of Stone, where the words where written by His own finger. Furthermore, violating any of the commandments is considered Sin in Christianity. They were given to Moses in Exodus' Chapter 20, but are mentioned once again in Deuteronomy.

Text

The commandments are the following

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall make no idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

In Exodus 32, the first and the second commandment were violated. In particular, the Israeli created a cult image of a calf they started worshiping. As a punishment, Moses through the Tablets of Stones on the idol and it was destroyed. God called Moses on Mount Sinai once again to give him another tablets with letters He engraved on them with His own finger.

New Testament views

In the Gospel of John (8:1-11) a woman was caught in adultery by the Teachers of the Law. They had to stone them, since the Mosaic Law commanded them to do so. However, Jesus said that whoever of the teachers was sinless should stone her. (Of course, nobody was) Nobody stoned her and Jesus forgave her, but also asked her not to repeat this sin. The Gospel here teaches us one of the most important virtues in Christianity, Forgiveness. Even though it's completely unacceptable to violate the Mosaic Law, we should forgive anybody who does so. Forgiveness is a virtue introduced in the New Testament, with Jesus Christ's Resurrection, (through the Resurrection we can have our sins forgiven and receive Eternal Life). It didn't exist as part of the Old Testament's laws, which meant that whoever violated the Commandments shall be stoned.

Furthermore, the Sabbath (Saturday) was replaced by Sunday in the New Testament, since Jesus Christ resurrected on Sunday. However, there are Christians who keep Saturday as their holy day. This group is called the ''Sabbatarian Heresy'' and it actually follows a heretic opinion. The fact of the matter is that the holy day was changed to Sunday because that day, Jesus Christ gave us a chance to repent and receive the Eternal Life Adam and Eve had lost. However, the Saturday is considered Holy Day in Judaism, since Jesus' Resurrection never took place in this Religion. Furthermore, Adam and Eve committed the first sin on Saturday, and this shows us that Judaism isn't a Religion that has the Salvation as its main goal, on the contrary, Christianity does.

In the Gospel of Mathew (Chapters 5-7), Jesus Christ also mentioned the most important of all the principles for a true Christian during the Sermon on the Mount, a commandment more important than all the others. It was ''Love others as if they were yourselves''. This rule is how Jesus is going to judge us in His Second Coming; Charity is considered the Greatest Virtue. This rule doesn't exist in any other Religion, making Christianity the only faith that teaches us love towards others.

Gallery

Trivia

1. The Commandment ''You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain'' means that we are not allowed to swear using God's name. The rule has been expanded with the use of any holy item or person, especially in modern times, where swearing also sees the use of other holy names.
2. ''You shall have no other gods before Me.'' This rule implies considering sin the worship of any deity rather than the Holy Trinity. (Even if the other gods aren't pagan deities) As a matter of fact, not being a Christian is considered the Sin unto Death, also called Eternal Sin, by some Christians, since you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Savior if you worship a false god.