I honestly cannot answer than, even after 10 years of Christian schooling. :laugh:


My guess is that it is more political (like those laws that say we can't buy booze on Sundays) that it is supposed to be a day of "rest".

The reason most Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday (the Sabbath) is because Jesus's ressurrection was on a Sunday, the day heaven was opened for souls.

Everybody knows Saturday is for Riding and Sunday is for soccer. Besides, God makes me nervous when you get him indoors.

Another reason I don't cotton to religion. They tell you it's a sin not to go on the Sabbath. Then you find out they're not entirely sure when the Sabbath even is...

I remember our Pastor gave a lesson on it once but I don't remember it all except that it was determined that the Sabbath is Sunday and the calendars are different now than they were back in Jesus' day. I think God is more concerned about people's souls than when we celebrate the Sabbath though.

Also if u read Matthew 5, Jesus states he didn't come to do away with the law (the 10 commandments) but to in force it.

Actually, he said he came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5: 17). There is a huge difference in the two words

In my Bible, it doesn't say what day of the week God rested (in Genesis) except it was the seventh day. It doesn't say if that day was Saturday or Sunday. (Also, God created the heavens and the earth; not just the earth.) Anyway, I guess if I celebrate the Sabbath on the wrong day, God will tell me about it when I get to Heaven. In the meantime, I'll continue to celebrate it on Sunday.

I think it's kind of like working out: go whenever you can and the results, regardless of time of day/week are the same.

My only thought on this is "Why on earth would it matter"?! If you are a person of faith, worship on whichever day works for you/is set by your particular religion. I really don't think God's particularly bothered if that happens to be Friday,Saturday, Sunday, or any of the days in between.

My only thought on this is "Why on earth would it matter"?! If you are a person of faith, worship on whichever day works for you/is set by your particular religion. I really don't think God's particularly bothered if that happens to be Friday,Saturday, Sunday, or any of the days in between.

Because it's KIIIIIND of one of the Ten Commandments. Now we know I don't care. But if you guys don't either then can we agree there's no reason to post this outdated list of rules in front of schools and courthouses?

Since it doesn't matter and all...

As I recall, the Commandments talk about remembering/observing the sabbath, not which day that should be on... Interested to know which bit you think is outdated, though... Honour thy father and mother? Thou shalt not kill? Thou shalt not commit adultery? Not stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting that which belongs to someone else? Sounds like a pretty good set of rules to me!

My only thought on this is "Why on earth would it matter"?! If you are a person of faith, worship on whichever day works for you/is set by your particular religion. I really don't think God's particularly bothered if that happens to be Friday,Saturday, Sunday, or any of the days in between.

Because it's KIIIIIND of one of the Ten Commandments. Now we know I don't care. But if you guys don't either then can we agree there's no reason to post this outdated list of rules in front of schools and courthouses?

Since it doesn't matter and all...

As I recall, the Commandments talk about remembering/observing the sabbath, not which day that should be on... Interested to know which bit you think is outdated, though... Honour thy father and mother? Thou shalt not kill? Thou shalt not commit adultery? Not stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting that which belongs to someone else? Sounds like a pretty good set of rules to me!

Right they don't talk about what day it's on. That's the problem. If I told you it was a mortal sin not to rest one day of the week, one specific day, and then couldn't tell you for sure what day that was.. well what would you think of me?

And I said it was outdated because I was agreeing with you! You said it doesn't matter. It's a Commandment. YOU started the "Oh all the commandments aren't important" game, I was just playing along.

:grumble: Because it's fine when religious believers choose to ignore their own teachings. But non-existent-heaven forbid if someone else tries to. Hypocrites, the lot of you.

Also your pretty good set of rules includes no graven images or blasphemy. Where do you put graven images on the list of sins in comparison to say.. rape, slavery, incest, pedophilia or talking in the theater? All neglected by the Commandments.

My only thought on this is "Why on earth would it matter"?! If you are a person of faith, worship on whichever day works for you/is set by your particular religion. I really don't think God's particularly bothered if that happens to be Friday,Saturday, Sunday, or any of the days in between.

Because it's KIIIIIND of one of the Ten Commandments. Now we know I don't care. But if you guys don't either then can we agree there's no reason to post this outdated list of rules in front of schools and courthouses?

Since it doesn't matter and all...

As I recall, the Commandments talk about remembering/observing the sabbath, not which day that should be on... Interested to know which bit you think is outdated, though... Honour thy father and mother? Thou shalt not kill? Thou shalt not commit adultery? Not stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting that which belongs to someone else? Sounds like a pretty good set of rules to me!

Right they don't talk about what day it's on. That's the problem. If I told you it was a mortal sin not to rest one day of the week, one specific day, and then couldn't tell you for sure what day that was.. well what would you think of me?

And I said it was outdated because I was agreeing with you! You said it doesn't matter. It's a Commandment. YOU started the "Oh all the commandments aren't important" game, I was just playing along.

:grumble: Because it's fine when religious believers choose to ignore their own teachings. But non-existent-heaven forbid if someone else tries to. Hypocrites, the lot of you.

Also your pretty good set of rules includes no graven images or blasphemy. Where do you put graven images on the list of sins in comparison to say.. rape, slavery, incest, pedophilia or talking in the theater? All neglected by the Commandments.

Ah, sorry - I misunderstood your intentions!

Hey, I don't have any problem with non-believers doing whatever they like (with the obvious caveats about not killing people/burning my house down etc ), provided they also let me get on with living my life as I see fit. Like a lot of non-extreme Christians, I very much subscribe to 'Live, and let live", and for what it's worth, I'm not mentally condemning all the non-Christians in the world to eternal damnation in a fiery pit either - that's not how I believe it works!

Also like a lot of non-extremists (I loathe the misuse of the word 'fundamentalist' to describe extremists of any kind - most of the time, extremist views have absolutely nothing to do with the fundamentals of any given set of ideas), I view the Bible not as a document to be taken literally, but as a guide, and in the context of its' historical background. I know, for example, that graven images were a big feature of pre-Commandment religions, so I view that particular commandment in that understanding - a point of difference, and a breaking away from the habits and customs of another belief-set. One element of a document having more historical than current relevance, however, does not 'outdate' the whole. And, for the record, I never said the Commandments didn't matter, but that I suspected which specific day you chose to worship/proclaim the sabbath was a matter of supreme indifference to God. I'm many things, but a hypocrite is not one of them.:flowerforyou:

That said however, these commandments, if not read literally and without thought/understanding, can easily be found to apply to all sorts of modern-day scenarios. Replace 'graven images' with the worship of 'material goods'(which in my view is more the spirit of the original anyway - worshipping the transcendent elements of life/God, rather than the outer representation of it/Him), and it still makes perfect sense. Imprecations against blasphemy can easily be equated with modern imprecations against racist/sexist/other disrespectful and offensive language. Arguably, by insulting one of God's creations for being as they were created, you are insulting Him, just as surely as if you take His name in vain. Obviously, if you don't believe in God, that element disappears, but I like to think most atheists would agree that insulting someone for being as they were born is a no-no anyway - it's still a good rule.

The other specific things you mention are all covered in one form or another by commandments against covetousness (this is a great umbrella - wanting/taking what does not belong to you doesn't just mean property - slavery, rape, incest, paedophilia all come under this one), adultery, theft etc (except for talking in the theatre, for which people should be shot!:laugh: ), and; as tsh0ck pointed out "the greatest commandment is love" , which, if understood fully, pretty much sews it up.

Christianity is not just a product of the Old Testament, but rather the evolved product of both Old and New, the latter of which moderates and humanises the sometimes-harsh approach of the older book. Rather than changing the essentially-sound rules, it strips it back to the basics "love thy neighbour as thyself". A soundbite, if you like, that covers the gamut of human experience.