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Old 10-05-2005, 12:17 PM
Saiph Saiph is offline.
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Many people adore an idolatrous Christ (mormons, JW, ie.). That is not by necessity to be called worship. The whole point of the first commandment is proper worship of the true God right ?

In a nutshell, He said, do not make statues of me to worship. Hence the golden calf.

But I realize most people on this board probably buy into the silly interpretations of the Reformers on this point. They were awesome on most doctrines but, in my opinion, this one they got totally wrong, partly due to their abandonment of historical understanding on the subject.


Quote:
The protestant rendition reads:


1. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

10. Thou shalt not covet.



Whereas the Augustinian and traditional presentation of the commandments for memorization are:

1. I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord´s Day.

4. Honor your father and mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor´s wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor´s goods.

The early Christian church, received this catechetical tradition from the Church Fathers, especially Augustine. He relied heavily on the Decalogue as presented by Moses in Deuteronomy 5. Thus, until the late Middle Ages, children memorized the commandments in the order as we still know it from the Catechism. Even after the Reformation, Lutherans and Catholics agreed on this enumeration and arrangement.

Calvin and other Reformers, relying more on Exodus 20 and its presentation of the Decalogue, and wanting to make a strike against the statuary and icons in the Catholic Church, enumerated the commandments in a different way. Based on this new sixteenth-century re-presentation of the Decalogue, many denominations in America now teach the commandments much as they were seen on the Alabama monument.
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