Hey, guys. I'm doing a research assignment for my major project at school and its on the relevence of the first commandment in today's society. *sigh* :bang: Not the easiest one I could've gotten but meh...what can you do? The First Commandment states.. (old testament) "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me." If any of you are just feeling bored or have enough time... please just write down your opinion. How do you think this commandment applies to the contemporary world, its relevence? Is it important.. if not why? Thankyou a heap for even bothering to read this..
That is basically the first pillar of Islam http://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm 1) The Testimony of Faith: The testimony of faith is saying with conviction, “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah.” This saying means “There is no true god (deity) but God (Allah),1 and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God.” The first part, “There is no true god but God,” means that none has the right to be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son. This testimony of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula which should be said with conviction in order to convert to Islam (as explained previously on this page). The testimony of faith is the most important pillar of Islam.
I think you left out part of the commandment. I'm pretty sure it goes more like this: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." God identifies himself as an actor in human history. He does things in history. He alters the course of peoples' lives. And he does it to benefit those who are his own. For example, he rescued his people from distress. He rescued them. Given that context, the only fitting response is "you shall have no other gods before me." If the first part of the commandment is true, the 2nd part is easy.
if this is for gcse or something similar don't they probably want you to write something about how we shouldn't idolise objects or material things eg/ money, iPods etc etc???
It has little relevance at all. I don't know anyone who believes in or worships two gods. You'd have to doubly indoctrinated by seperate parents of a different religion to do so.
I'm a bit confused here sorry SabishiiObake - does your question and statement refer to worshipping only 1 God, or does it mean in effect mean only 1 God exists? I'll answer both anyway.. I dunno my religious beliefs, I can't put a word to it. Basically I believe in a God, but don't worship him/her/it because there is far too much suffering in the world and I can't pretend that religion doesn't cause alot of it either. I believe in Heaven to a degree, but don't think any God would willingly allow someone to go to Hell, but I'm not totally sure what I believe half the time to be honest. One thing I do know, I'll never be a Catholic and I'll never have no faith what so ever either. So, I tend not to philosophise it all much anymore - I don't believe there's much point since no one will ever have full proof and the answers to all life's religious questions. So I believe each religion has their Gods and should be allowed to worship them in peace and respect, simple as. You believe what you believe as long as it doesn't effect people's lives in a negative way, eg. Satanism and the constant door step preaching of Jahova's Witnesses (I'd love to understand Jahova's better, as all they seem to do to me is come to my house and try telling me the world is going to end. The must be more to the religion than that! ). Hope that helps
You're right aikiMac, I did leave out part of the commandment, but that is how the bible sets it out. The way I wrote it was what was given to me by my teacher *sigh* As you can probably tell I'm pretty confused about the many aspects of religion Does God have a gender...?....whats with the trinity?...how can Jesus talk to God if they are one and the same??...and does anyone have time for the immaculate conception..... Yeah I know what you mean Jon1983uk, my "teacher" said it refers to both, now I couldn't make sense of it so...meh My opinion is that although it may have relevance for other religions... in this day and age within the Christian community it doesn't have much relevance at all. Considering recent statistics that state the average christian scored very low for knowledge on the commandments...most christians do not know The Ten Commandments and many cannot even name three of them. Is there hope for any of us..?
Its not relavent, it dosen't do anything for us, dosen't enduce morality, dosen't increase productivity. not a damn thing. no value. I personally prefer George Carlins version of the 10 commandments. The 3 commandments. Be faithful to the provider of your nookie. Try real hard not to kill anybody. and KEEP YOUR RELIGION TO YOUR SELF!
Hi there. Anyway, onto relevance. They probably are after the material possessions thing, though it might be interesting to cover some different angles. Maybe to say that its not really relevant as many Catholics do actually perform something very close to idol worship with statues of the saints.
it is very simple It is very simple. God is saying that you are to worship only him... a modern application is the search for money.. how many people put careers first.. by not being with the family they are disrespecting god. thats just a basic example but i think its a good one. put god and serving god in various ways above all else.
Actually, Jesus does say that one must love him above all things to the point that it appears to be hatred of all else. Look at these two biblical passages: "Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.' "(Luke 14:25-26) "'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' "(Matthew 10:34-36) Here is the difficulty with Christianity. The New Testament was written when Christians expected Jesus to return soon, likely within their lifetime. The earliest Christian message, coming from Jesus and Paul, was that we are to throw everything away in this world. That is what it means to "take up the cross and follow me." Jesus was saying that in order to be a true Christian, you must live your life so that you also will be destroyed on a cross, or its equivalent. Jesus did not come to unite people or to preach a way of constructing a better society. Personally, I think the best view, accepted by some historians and scholars, is that Jesus believed that the end was here and that it was time for Israel to purify itself through a radical interpretation of the law. Jesus believed his own crucifixion was the event to bring about the Messianic kingdom. So, the Gospels are really quite radical. Now here is the problem. What do Christians do, when 3 centuries later, they are now the official religion of the empire and in charge of running society? When it appears that Christians are going to be in this world indefinitely and Jesus isn't coming back anytime soon, then the radical sayings of the Gospels have to be reinterpreted and downplayed. Now Christians have to worry about social issues, just war, and so forth. All of the social evils decried today existed in the Roman empire of Jesus' time. For example, abortion was a common practice. The early Christians didn't try to change Roman law, which permitted it. They simply held out their own standards that forbid it to members of the Christian community. In a sense, groups like the Amish are living the way the early Christians did. So, for a Christian who really wants to live out the New Testament vision authentically, the 1st commandment is a very radical and demanding law that requires absolute obedience. One must seek Christ alone, even to the point of death. This is why most of modern Christianity in the west, frankly, is not worthy of the name Christian. By the way, I don't exclude myself from this judgment. I am not a good Christian at all. I am as lukewarm and complacent as anyone.
Never said they'd have a problem, although they probably would. The statement was that the poster have never met anybody who worshipped more than one god. Hindus do. And interestingly enough, from an orthodox Jewish perspective, Xtians and not only not monotheists, they are fairly close to idol worshippers, so the interpretation does differ.
1. Actually, he did say that he would return within their lifetime, but didn't, he lied. 2. So he was wrong? 3. Religion is never a just cause for war. never will be, but that obviously dosen't stop people from using it as such. 4. Now this i really respect. To admit that takes balls, and to accept that you fall into that group as opposed to standing on a moral pedastool and looking down on everyone else is a very noble and realistic thing to do.
*bows head* Thankyou, thankyou and thankyou to everyone for contributing. :love: Everyone's responses have helped and hopefully this 20% contributer project to my school certificate will go well!
1. By generation it isn't known if he meant the fall of Jeruslem. If so "generation" is used in it's normal way. If he was refering to the "second coming", generation might indicate that the Jewish people as a race, as they were promised existence until the very end. It also may mean a future generation that will be alive at the beginning of these things he spoke of. 2. No. Accepted by what historians. Certainly not Christian scholars. 3. Not following you here guys. Sorry. 4. Well, that's actually what you should be doing if you are Christian. The not lording it iver stuff, I mean. No one is perfect.
