“Be calm, be loving unto others, be gentle, be peaceful, be merciful, give tithes, help the poor and sick and distressed, be devoted to Deity, be righteous, be good that ye may receive the Mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light Land.”

– Yeshu (Jesus) Pistis Sophia 102

Over the years, many conflicts have arisen around the ’Ten Commandments’, and what place they should have in public life. The most recent conflict was in Alabama in 2003 when a significant battle erupted over a monument to the Commandments and whether or not it should be allowed to remain on the footsteps of a government courthouse, from which it was ultimately moved.

Many people would say they ‘believe’ in the Commandments, but the immediate follow up question has to be: which one?

Here is a quick test: name all ten commandments.

Did you do it?

Now, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about The 10 Commandments; let’s compare what you think they are against FOUR different versions floating around out there:

Protestant

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

King James Bible, issued by the American Bible Society.

 

Catholic

1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.

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

3. Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day.

4. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.

5. Thou shalt not kill.

6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

7. Thou shalt not steal.

8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods.

Catholic Catechism by Peter Cardinal Gasparri, “published with Ecclesiastical approval” and bearing the imprimatur of Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop, New York. P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1932.

 

Hebrew – First Tables of Stone (Exodus 20)

1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

2. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of 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 unto 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 showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath in honour of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5. Honour thy father and thy mother; in order that thy days may be prolonged upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Bloch Publishing Company, New York, 1922.

 

Second Tables of Stone (Exodus 34) (“the words that were on the first”)

1. Thou shalt worship no other god (For the Lord is a jealous god).

2. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

3. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep in the month when the ear is on the corn.

4. All the first-born are mine.

5. Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh thou shalt rest.

6. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, even of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

7. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread.

8. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.

9. The first of the first fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God.

10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.

K. Budde, History of Ancient Hebrew Literature

 

Now, we have said before that the Bible is not infallible, and isn’t proof of anything, but this is pretty significant.

The foundation of morality that most of us have been raised with is highly variable, pending who you ask and what version you take as authoritative.

The point here is not to diminish the value of these Commandments; they still provide an excellent moral framework to live a successful spiritual life.  It should, however, provide the thinking believer with significant food for meditation on why these different versions exist, and what it means to you and your relationship with your Creator.

And finally, if you are wondering about the quote that opened this article it came from the book Pistis Sophia, originally translated and published by G.R.S. Mead in 1921.  It is supposed to be the record of what Jesus taught his disciples in private in his own words.  As with any other holy book, there is no way to know how ‘true’ it is, and whether or not these are Jesus’ actual words; but it is interesting to see the Messiah’s interpretation of the Old Testament Law that he came to fulfill:

 

Pistis Sophia Chapter 102

“Say rather to the men of the world: Be calm, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye loving-unto-men, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye gentle, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye peaceful, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye merciful, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Give ye alms, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Minister unto the poor and the sick and distressed, that ye may receive the mysteries |260. of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye loving-unto-God, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be ye righteous, that ye may receive the mysteries [of the Light] and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Be good, that ye may receive the mysteries [of the Light] and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“Say unto them: Renounce all, that ye may receive the mysteries of the Light and go on high into the Light-kingdom.

“These are all the boundaries of the ways for those who are worthy of the mysteries of the Light.

 

And for those of you who are REALLY into Hebraic law, try keeping all 613 Commandments!

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B. Dave Walters

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