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Are the 10 commandments equal?

Discussion in 'Off-topic Discussion' started by Deleted Account, Mar 18, 2019.

  1. Preface:
    Religion is a topic the bores me endlessly. But i do have this question bc idk. I separated from catholism temporarily to find my own religion, as I was born into religion. So I'm (slowly) looking into all options (including catholism). & I think it's something everybody should do, especially young dudes and gals born into a religion/cult/etc.

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    Are the commandments equally bad? So is #6 worse than #7? I would say so, in general. But it's not about opinion. Does it say so in the Bible, and if so, where?

    ** I would say according to the Bible and the times it was written. (So not my personal belief, but what would be the belief at the time the dudes wrote the book).**

    #1-4 is WORSE than #5. And this would be the biggest problem people would have with this theory. But murder was EXTREMELY common back in those times. And this isn't meant to start a debate, but the Church killed over 50 million people in the Crusades. Which to put in perspective, that's the WWII fallen soldiers on both sides. That's pretty wild to me. 50 million if not all, a large % of innocent people. But you know, I'm not using that against anybody I guess.

    So I imagine it being similar to nowadays. USA soldiers aren't "frowned" upon by the Church when killing somebody across seas, but frown upon crimes not in war. I'd imagine the same thing in the those days of the Crusades. But instead if it's in the name of Christianity, it's justified. & I don't think soldiers should be necessarily frowned upon.

    So I think it's in the order, just thinking about it. It's also same concept w/ 9&10, 1&2, 5&6-10, etc etc etc.

    Any insight?
     
  2. Damn maybe to hard of a question. I hope nobody got offended. I literally got in trouble in my Catholic church classes I took on Sundays as a kid for asking qiestions. They wanted all of us to listen and agree, instead of listen and question. I got the pleasure of getting talked down upon by the preist and the lonely self righteous ladies that spend their Sunday night's talking at children a few times for asking questions that scared them.

    Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the Crusades on this site. Sorry guys
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2019
  3. MLMVSS

    MLMVSS Fapstronaut

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    Sin is sin, so all are equally bad because it’s imperfection or it’s an unclean thing. However, repenting/fixing certain sins, such as bearing false witness, are easier or involve less steps than others like murder or adultery.
     
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  4. Is that your opinion or in the Bible, I'm asking bc idk. & how could they be equal but some be harder to fix. That doesn't really make sense to me. So if you bear false witness and go to confession, you'll have to say hail mary a couple times. But if you go to confession for murder, you'll have to say hail mary 20 times?
     
  5. Hros

    Hros Fapstronaut

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    Exactly for this reason, I'd say not all sins are equal, including those in the ten commandments. The ten commandments represent core religious principles, that's not to say those are the only laws/transgressions possible - there many others spread out in the Bible.

    As for levels of sins, well, in Judaism we have 3 major sins a person cannot transgress even on threat of death: adultery, idolatry and murder. On the other hand there are many other sins that you may transgress under threat of death or in order to save a person's life such as lying and stealing.
     
  6. MLMVSS

    MLMVSS Fapstronaut

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    In the Bible. Nowhere does it say in there that telling a little lie is good and you’ll still live with God if you don’t repent. Hence, whether you lied or you commit murder, you still sinned. Many verses also confirm the atrocity of sin, such as Romans 6:23 which states that Sin leads to death, but repentance and acceptance of Christ leads to life.

    View it like you would the criminal system. Whether you commit a misdemeanor or a felony, you still broke the law. Restitution is different for a traffic ticket vs something like murder, which can be viewed in a similar way when it comes to sin, but both involve legal infractions.

    Continuing this example, the Bible doesn’t say to commit misdemeanors rather than felonies. It says to not commit crimes at all.
     
  7. Right but the question is which sins are of lesser degree than the others.

    Let's use legal system, a traffic ticket is far less intense than if you get charged w murder. I got a no seatbelt ticket which I haven't paid yet bc I don't think its a morally right ticket. So now I technically have a warrant for it. Now the police department won't come track me down bc it's not a big enough crime. Now if I was charged and had a warrant for murder, a swat team would kick in my front door. There's a reason. Ones a bigger crime than the other.

    It is true that a murder case is harder to brush off, but murder in the eyes of the law is more intense than a no seatbelt or traffic offense. One has large jail time, while one doesn't at all.
     
  8. @MLMVSS I agree w what you're saying. Except the Bible doesn't say not to commit crimes. Crimes are a different entity completely than religious sins.

    But I agree the bible says not to break ANY sins. And im not claiming domes sins are fine to break. But if there's a correlation between the order of the commandments and the severity of the crime.

    This leads me to draw a conclusion that either theres a miscommunication or you didn't read my post. Hoping for the former
     
  9. brilliantidiot

    brilliantidiot Fapstronaut

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  10. @MLMVSS my bad man. I didnt realize after reading the link from @brilliantidiot that sins being of equal value, was a common belief among christians. I understand now, i do have to say i disagree personally. But thats not to say it's untrue, just my belief.

    The example in there the old Catholic lady actually said wearing no seatbelt is equivalent to rape which is wild/funny. Funny bc seatbelts weren't even invented in Jesus's time. But I see what you mean now
     
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  11. brilliantidiot

    brilliantidiot Fapstronaut

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    Yeah all sins are bad, and the avoidance of one by committing another is still sin (ie, wrong does not justify wrong), but there is definatily a hierarchy of sins. For example, I would have no qualms about lying to the nazis to save a jew, while the bible prohibits lying I think it could be excused in that situation. Or I'm not gonna obey my parents if they are telling me to rape etc..
    I would say that while all sins are bad, some are worse than others
     
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  12. Oh yeah, I would agree completely. I just didn't know what the Bible or the big "man" had to say about it.
     
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  13. The Bible says that God views all sin equally. Hopefully this analogy will help.

    If you have a glass of water and you drop in one drop of food coloring, the water is now tainted. Whether you put 1 drop or 50, the only way to make the water clean again is to pour it out and get a new glass. So regardless of how much you sin, or what sins you have committed, you (meaning all of us) have fallen short of God's standard of perfection, and the only way to fix it is for him to make you a completely new creation. A new glass of water.

    That being said, obviously some sins have worse or different consequences and outcomes than others. Murder, for example, obviously will effect you and those around you in a much more negative way than, for example, lying. But they are equal in the sense that either one of those sins would make you a "sinner" and in need of a Savior.

    Hopefully I explained that well.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2019
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  14. Toomuchh

    Toomuchh Fapstronaut

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    Doesnt matter cuz jesus will forgive you for all your sins

    Murder someone and feeling bad about it? All you need is some Jesus in your life, He understands.
    Tired of feeling guilty for cheating on your partner? Just invite Jesus in your heart and all is forgiven.
    Stole some shit and scared you'll get caught? Don't sweat it, no one can judge you but God.

    We all sin, so sleep easy because Jesus has your back. Everyone gets a mullegan if you believe in Jesus. Hell is a special place only for the non believers.
     
  15. I think there needs to be a distinction between a general state of sin, committing sin and pre and post justification. People are born into sin no? Original sin exists even without any active violation of any commandments. Therefore regardless of what you do or dont do you cannot be justified (unless you want to argue the act of baptism is actually a "work" that you perform, but that's a different arguement). After salvation some sins are worse then others in how they effect your relationship with God. Mortal or venial.
     
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  16. MLMVSS

    MLMVSS Fapstronaut

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    No worries, I probably did misunderstand what you’re saying. But I think Billy Graham states what I meant best:

    “It is always difficult and dangerous to attempt to list sins according to their degree of seriousness. In one sense, all sins are equal in that they all separate us from God. The Bible’s statement, “For the wages of sin is death …” (Romans 6:23), applies to all sin, whether in thought, word, or deed. At the same time, it seems obvious that some sins are worse than others in both motivation and effects, and should be judged accordingly. Stealing a loaf of bread is vastly different than exterminating a million people. Sins may also differ at their root.”

    That’s why I differentiated between sin itself and the restitution of the sin. Some sin takes us farther away from God than others, but if we don’t repent of sins based on the commandments, then we are distanced away from God, no matter how near or far.

    But I get what you mean: you want to know which are more serious.

    From what I know, it all comes down to intent. Although murder is much, much worse than lying, having the intent to lie is more evil than unintentionally killing someone (from an accident or whatnot). Although, to be fair, the commandment states murder specifically, and murder is always intentional.

    Also, it’s human nature to like gradualism and resist noticeable changes that we don’t want. We don’t like sudden change in most cases, as much as we don’t want to admit it, due to lack of control, uncertainty or surprises. You probably wouldn’t go out one day and say “Hey, I’m gonna kill someone!” (Sure, some with certain mental disorders, stress or other factors may, but God knows their situation and is a fair judge in the end). It’s just unthinkable to do something so evil. It’s too major of a change for us. But, add a slew of coveting, lying, disrespect and perhaps stealing here and there, and we gradually descended ourselves into a gargantuan mess that just might make doing the more heinous sins more logical in that mindset.

    So, those are the reasons why I stated what I did. On the one hand, something’s small, yet logical enough to commit over and over. On the other hand, another thing could be potentially damning in and of itself, but we know better (in most cases) than to commit it.
     
  17. @MLMVSS well stated and summerized. Good job.
     
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  18. You did, thanks
     
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  19. This reminds me of the argument that Saint Augustine made about free will and original sin that, due to how late it is for me, I will post the video I head it from and let you check it out instead of trying to explain it in a half-sleepy state.

     
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