Rewriting the 10 Commandments? I'm speechless!

[joyfulthanks]

There are no words to express my dismay:

Hundreds of Churches Using 'New' Ten Commandments Rewritten by Popular Pastor, Christian News

 

[Lprdgecko]

*picks jaw up from floor*

How is, "Prosper with a clear conscience" more clear/concise than "You shall not steal." ... The original wording cannot be more plain....

Also, how'd he get "take God seriously" from "you shall not misuse the name of the Lord"?

 

[Cjwinnit]

He did a big rally in my neck of the woods a few years ago promoting "Just10". My personal opinion of rewriting the 10 commandments? A little to brazen for me.

 

[Resha Caner]

Disrepect for the Word is sad, but not surprising.

But without hearing the man for myself I can't really determine whether he is "rewriting" the commandments or just sermonizing on them. Remember that the title of the article was chosen by the journalist, not the pastor. It may misrepresent what he's trying to do. The article did say it is for those, "seeking a better understanding of the Ten Commandments."

He did a big rally in my neck of the woods a few years ago promoting "Just10".

So do you recall if the man himself called this a "rewrite"?

 

[alexnbethmom]

my personal favorite <insert sarcasm here> was "affair-proof your relationships" for "thou shall not commit adultery" </sarcasm off>

because apparently what God ACTUALLY said just isn't good enough anymore.....

 

[doulos_tou_kuriou]

Well, I don't wish to be too hasty, especially without actually seeing the presentation. After all, Luther's take on the 10 commandments are in some ways a twist in that he looks and sees that they command what we shall do as much as what we shall not do. Not saying they are entirely comparable, but things like "affair-proof your relationships" sounds like trying to see a simple commandment in a broader way.

I may be wrong. Without actually getting the full presentation I can't say much. I didn't see something that was trying to take away from the commands (a more common issue today) or create new ones. I think the rewording or modernizing sounds kinda stupid, but at risk of violating the 8th commandment, I can't say much more.

 

[Cjwinnit]

So do you recall if the man himself called this a "rewrite"?

I didn't feel comfortable going.

 

[Luther073082]

Well, I don't wish to be too hasty, especially without actually seeing the presentation. After all, Luther's take on the 10 commandments are in some ways a twist in that he looks and sees that they command what we shall do as much as what we shall not do. Not saying they are entirely comparable, but things like "affair-proof your relationships" sounds like trying to see a simple commandment in a broader way.

I may be wrong. Without actually getting the full presentation I can't say much. I didn't see something that was trying to take away from the commands (a more common issue today) or create new ones. I think the rewording or modernizing sounds kinda stupid, but at risk of violating the 8th commandment, I can't say much more.

But I think in a way they are taking away from the commandments, at least some of them.

For instance "prosper with a clear conscience" is pretty vagie. Now if the guy wanted to say that Thou shalt not steal means *among other things* that in one's business dealings they should not by any means deceive or take advantage of others. . . then thats fine. Its one thing to help explain the commandments, it's another to rewrite them. And prosper with a clear concious is vague.

And not taking God's name in vain, does mean "take God seriously" but it also means so much more then that.

I think the problem most of us are having is that he's sort of rewriting the commandments. If he was EXPLAINING the commandments then it would be totally different. Luther in the catechism's didn't rewrite the commandments, he just explained them.

 

[Kalevalatar]

"Prosper with a clear conscience" and "affair-proof your relationships" are pretty near incomprehensible, at least for a non-native English user. Vaguely poetic, signifying nothing.

Their question format take on the Ten Commandents is more approachable, I think:

1. Do you put God at the centre of your life, where he should be?
2. Do you put anything or anyone else in the place of God in your life?
3. Have you ever used the name of God carelessly or insincerely?
4. Do you keep one day free each week, to focus on God and to get some much-needed rest?
5. Do you respect and honour your parents?
6. Don’t murder – and watch your angry thoughts, because they, too, are murderous.
7. Have you ever had impure or lustful thoughts about another person? Don’t commit adultery – not even in your mind.
8. Have you ever stolen anything?
9. Have you ever told a lie or half-truth to another person or about another person?
10. Have you ever been jealous of what is not yours?

 

[ContraMundum]

There's a preacher in Australia who has been doing the same, and running huge advertisements in newspapers and on billboards promoting his new ideas. Totally self-aggrandizement if you ask me. Check it out here.

 

[Simon Belmont]

But I think in a way they are taking away from the commandments, at least some of them.

Exactly.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Like other ordinances of the Old Testament, this concerns particular customs, persons, times, and places, and now have been made free through Christ.

The Christian meaning for what God requires in this commandment is to set aside a day of bodily rest to recuperate and time to attend divine service together. However, this is not restricted to any time, as with the Jews, that it must be just on this or that day as no one day is better than another. Since from of old Sunday [the Lord's Day] has been appointed for this purpose, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Following the spirit of the Commandment is more important than whether we set aside a day we call lauantai, sunnuntai, lördag, fredag or pühapäev.

Tell me something I haven't heard a gazillion times.

 

[joyfulthanks]

.

 

[alexnbethmom]

Thanks for coming in here to argue and tell us we're wrong...but no thanks. We live freely in Christ.

which is against forum rules.

and ditto what lambie said - we life freely in Christ, thank you.

 

[violinp]

What exactly does that mean? Practically speaking.

It means that we are free from the former covenant made with the Jewish people, because God has made a new covenant with us in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

From Romans 3:

[bible]21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.[/bible]


We are now free from the bonds of sin and our sure eternal life - we now live eternally in Christ.


Since I know you're going to ask about the way we are to act now that we have been saved, here's more from Romans 3:



[bible]27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.[/bible]


We are not to throw away the law because we have now been saved in Christ's death. On the contrary, we are to follow Christ, whose commandments point us to the original ten.


If we love God, we will not put anything else above Him.
If we love God, we will not misuse His name to swear, conjure, or lie.
If we love God, we will love to go to church and join the church universal in praising and worshipping him.


If we love our neighbor, we will honor our parents and all in authority over us.
If we love our neighbor, we will not kill or injure him/her or even think evil thoughts about him/her.
If we love our neighbor, we will not be unfaithful to our spouse, be anything other than pure - minded and pure acting, or even think about another man/woman with lust in our hearts.
If we love our neighbor, we will not steal from him/her in any way, but rather help him/her to keep what is his/hers.
If we love our neighbor, we will not speak ill of him/her, but rather speak well of him/her and put the best construct on his/her actions.
If we love our neighbor, we will not envy him/her and try to get what he/she has, but help him/her to keep and improve it.
If we love our neighbor, we will not entice away his/her loved ones and property, but rather support him/her in keeping and caring for them.


Can you tell I've really had to explain this a lot?

 

[ContraMundum]

The Christian meaning for what God requires in this commandment is to set aside a day of bodily rest to recuperate and time to attend divine service together. However, this is not restricted to any time, as with the Jews, that it must be just on this or that day as no one day is better than another. Since from of old Sunday [the Lord's Day] has been appointed for this purpose, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Following the spirit of the Commandment is more important than whether we set aside a day we call lauantai, sunnuntai, lördag, fredag or pühapäev.

It might interest you to know that many Messianic Jews, among them Lutherans, disregard the notion that the Church appointed Sunday as an official day of worship, but in fact, out of Christian freedom chooses Sunday as a day of worship in honor of the Resurrection, and this is from the beginning. This dissolves the indictment that the Church moved or removed the Sabbath. In fact, many Jewish Christians like myself argue that the Sabbath is and always shall be the seventh day of the week, but only Israel was ever bound to the law of sabbath keeping (Ex. 31:13-17)

 

[Kalevalatar]

It might interest you to know that many Messianic Jews, among them Lutherans, disregard the notion that the Church appointed Sunday as an official day of worship, but in fact, out of Christian freedom chooses Sunday as a day of worship in honor of the Resurrection, and this is from the beginning. This dissolves the indictment that the Church moved or removed the Sabbath. In fact, many Jewish Christians like myself argue that the Sabbath is and always shall be the seventh day of the week, but only Israel was ever bound to the law of sabbath keeping (Ex. 31:13-17)

That is my understanding as well: the Russian word for Sunday actually means resurrection. My Catechism uses the word "varattu", "to set apart", and I believe that is Luther's spirit as well.

 

[Borromeo]

"Affair proof your marriage" makes it sound like the problem in affairs it the marriage and not the people doing the affairs. It puts the onus of responsibility off the adulterer.

 

[joyfulthanks]

"Affair proof your marriage" makes it sound like the problem in affairs it the marriage and not the people doing the affairs. It puts the onus of responsibility off the adulterer.

Exactly.

 

[Supreme]

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