Why did the Catholics change the ten commandments ?

Why did the Catholics change the ten commandments ? Most notably the second commandment .

The Catholic version of the second commandment .. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

The Protestant version of the second commandment ... 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

I am aware that images , idols and saints are an important part to the Catholic faith and I am left wondering if it is because of there desire to practice such forms of worship that caused them to change the ten commandments ?

catholics preceeded protestants (they left the catholic church in protest of what it was doing)

unless The Church changed the commandments after the protestant reformation, it was the protestants who changed the commandment.

im guessing they changed it to fit the jewish ten commandments better. judaism is where it all started anyways.


[edit on 5-11-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


It would seem that the Hebrew text , which predated the Catholics , also says not to " make images "

From: Rabbi Carvin Z. Potzaropf
Organization: Temple
Date: Friday, 16 July 1999
Subject: 10 Commandments

www.positiveatheism.org...


I am The Lord, your God.
No other gods, including images.
Do not take God’s name in vain.
Shabbat.
Honor parents.
No adultery.
Do not murder.
Do not steal (possibly Don’t kidnap).
No false witness.
Do not covet.

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


Bad presumption to say that something is more credible because it is older.

The Catholics did indeed change the Ten Commandments so that they could practice Idolitary.

I have only been to a Catholic Church once and guess what I put in the collection plate ... you guessed it, a copy of the ten commandments.

I was raised a Catholic but am Agnostic.

However I must say that Christians tend to bicker and argue over the most irrelevant things.
Maybe if you all concentrated on the things that unite you rather than that which divides maybe, just maybe, you would be able to do something positive in this world.

reply to post by StopComplaining


LOL how did that go over ?

Last time I was at a Catholic church ( was for a friends baptism ) they passed the collection plate around two times . The first time was about 30 min into the service and then again just before the service ended .

Also worth noting , the service didn't really cover the bible at all .

Originally posted by StopComplaining
reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest

 

Bad presumption to say that something is more credible because it is older.

The Catholics did indeed change the Ten Commandments so that they could practice Idolitary.

I have only been to a Catholic Church once and guess what I put in the collection plate ... you guessed it, a copy of the ten commandments.

when did i say anything about credibility?????????????????????????????????

i said the protestants probably changed to fit the jewish version better.
that or the catholic church changed the commandments after the reformation.
i have no idea if they did or not.


[edit on 5-11-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

reply to post by Freeborn


I was not aware that asking a question qualified as bickering ?

Nor did I think anything wrong with posting such a question in the appropriate thread .

To the point you rase about focusing on uniting religion , I am of the opinion that we will see that happen to the point of creating a new religion , a new world religion . But alas , now I am digressing from the posted topic .

Hey, I believe that Catholics go directly against the bible when praying to mother mary and all the saints. First off that is idoltry because they are praying to mother mary for forgiveness not god. Secondly they pray to saints for material objects and good luck.

What does it matter? Are any of you Catholic? Every Religion on this planet has changed something or everything to fit their own beliefs. After all, who wrote all these documents......MAN.
Just like the person said in their reply above....we have better things to do than argue over nonsense like this.

Peace

reply to post by Max_TO


I just feel that Catholics and Protestants spend far too much time arguing about their differences rather than concentrating on that which they have in common, which is the vast majority and core of Jesus's teachings, then maybe, just maybe, the Christian movement could become a force of good in the world, something that, imo, it has never been.

The one thing the vast majority of Christians seem to forget is that it is the acts and deeds of man upon which he will be judged, not on his observance of obsure and man made codes and practices.

As for a new world religion?
You can keep it!
Organised religion is the bane of mankind.
A new world religion may develop from a new world order.
I personally want neither.

If there is a God and a Judgement Day then I will be judged on my own acts and deeds, I don't need a priest, vicar, rabbi, iman or anyone to tell me how to live my life.

reply to post by ufoptics


If one is " religious " then is it wrong to look for answers to questions of faith ?

Perhaps a Catholic may post in this thread giving some valid reason as to why it was changed there by enlightening all of us , a bit unfair to chalk this topic up to infighting .

For the record the Protestants have also changed the ten commandments , thow shall not kill from the original , thow shall not murder .

reply to post by Freeborn


I may be wrong but I think there is a fair chance that you your self are not aware of " the teachings of Jesus " . I would also venture a guess that most Protestants in general are not aware of " the teachings of Jesus " .

The sermon on the mount is a good place to start and can be found easily found in mp3 format on the net .

reply to post by Max_TO


I was raised a Catholic and taught in a Catholic school.
I am more than aware of Jesus's teachings I assure you.

That I have completely disassociated myself from it and all organised religions was a personal and conscious decision made many years ago.

When I comment on matters religious it comes from the heart and not from man made codes and practices designed to control.

The common misconception is that Catholocism was the 1st and only church (which is irrelevent, because TRUTH is what matters). If one actually cared about the subject matter and did a slight bit of reseaech, they will find this was not the case (even in Europe). Here are a few topics to search for: "Waldenses", "Albigensis", "Coptics". The first Christian churches started in Greece, Israel, North Africa 300+ years prior to Constantine. The reformation wasn't simply about rebelling from the Catholic system, but actually about returning to Orthodox Christianity.

Problem for the Catholics is that we still have all the manuscripts that the Bible was translated from. One of many examples of how they remove material to fit their pagan system, is the removal of Acts 8:37. It pretty much spits in the face of their infant baptism policy.

And to anyone else that wants to get on their soapbox about "we need to just come together in agreement, we're all Christians..." Perhaps you should first look at the differences, and then you will see that Biblical Christianity and Roman Catholocism are irreconcileable. Do a search on: "infused vs imputed righteousness (grace vs works)", "Is Mary co-redemptrix?", "The mass is a re-sacrifice of Christ", "Praying to saints is heresy", "Jesus, not the pope is the head of the church", "The lie of purgatory"... Again all of this can be easily researched, but I guess it is easier to just sit back and wallow in ignorance. What possibly is more important than eternity?

Originally posted by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest
unless The Church changed the commandments after the protestant reformation, it was the protestants who changed the commandment.

The Roman Catholic Church did not change the way they are written in the Bible, they only changed how they follow them doctrinally. The reason for this is simple enough. The Roman Catholic Church came from the Roman Empire, and many of the Romans were still Pagans when the Church became the “State” Religion. Since they did not want to have a internal religious war, and since they did not want to go against all the decrees of the pervious emperors, they canonized certain pagan rituals into the Catholic Church of the time. That is why we still have pagan holidays like Easter and Christmas in many Christian Religions. This included allowing for Idols, or graven images. The Chruch itself used such images to express its influence, power, and authority over the people for the next thousand years until the protestant reformation. Personally, it is not something I agree with, and I am glad that many of the Protestant Religions went back to the original teachings of the Bible. Catholicism, to this day, follows both the Bible, and tradition (Pagan Roman tradition), you can ask any Catholic this and they will agree minus the part were I call it “pagan” tradition.

Originally posted by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest
Im guessing they changed it to fit the jewish ten commandments better. judaism is where it all started anyways.

I've always thought the commandments were conveniently 'borrowed' from the Egyptian book of the dead:

BIBLE

Have no other gods before me

Make no idols

Do not misuse the name of God

Keep the Sabbath holy

Honor your mother and father

Do not kill

Do not commit adultery

Do not steal

Do not lie

Do not covet another’s property




BOOK OF THE DEAD

I do not tamper with divine balance

I stop not a god when he comes forth

I do not offend the god who is at the helm

(Egyptians had no Sabbath)

I do not harm my kinsmen

I do not kill

I am not an adulterer

I do not rob

I do not tell lies instead of truth

I do no wrong or mischief to others

reply to post by Max_TO


I would also like to say that I suspect that the vast majority of both Catholic and Protestants are totally unaware of even the most basic differences in their belief systems yet cling to their own denomination despite not even living a 'Christian' life.

Of course, I only speak of here in Britain....it may be very different in other countries.

Gawd.

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Old Testament, in Exodus 20
and Deuteronomy 5. The Catholics edit the two slightly different versions together in their catechisms:

www.newadvent.org...

Taking God's name in vain is proscribed by Deuteronomy 5: 11.

Other issues arising:

Numbering of the commandments is not attested in the Bible at either location. There is some consensus that there are 10 of them, however.

Catholics use images in their worship, they do not worship the images. If the image is of a saint, then they don't worship what the image depicts, either. Protestants are often unreliable sources of information about Catholic practices.

The Exodus prohibition about idolatry is conjunctive in form. That is, don't make graven images and worship them. Does that mean do neither, or just don't do both?

And, of course, neither the Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox churches are sola scriptura. Any Catholic or Orthodox mass, however, re-enacts what many Protestants call the Lord's Supper, and that is the organizing principle of the entire service. Last I heard, the Lord's Supper is in the Bible somewhere.

reply to post by Freeborn


I was wrong and I trust you to be right given the reply to my comment that I thought there to be a good chance that you might not be aware of the teachings of Jesus .

Thank you for correcting me .

The following comments are meant as a post and not a direct reply to you Freeborn .

I asked the original question because I do " believe " . I am also interested in religion and old texts and truly find it fascinating and was interested in asking the original question to learn not to offend or bicker .

I was hoping for more theological answers but alas this like most threads based on a Christian faith based questions have resorted to " picking on the topic " .

Funny how some will label a debate as " arguing " simply because its based on a topic that there only interest is to discredit the topic .