Catholics only - explain why the 10 commandments were changed and this one omitted?

Question

'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.'

BTW, I am Catholic, but this bothers me somewhat

You are way off Mr. Mister

Answer 1

There are actually three versions of the Ten Commandments, Jewish, Catholic (and Lutheran), and Protestant.

With the new revelations of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the early Catholic Church, a slightly different emphasis was placed on different commandments.

Then 1500 years later, the Protestant in objecting to certain Catholic practices, once again changed the emphasis of the Ten Commandments.

+ Jewish Ten Commandments (before 1000 BC)

1. I am the Lord your G-d who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.
2. You shall have no other gods but me.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your G-d in vain.
4. You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
5. Honor you mother and father.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Source: http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Torah/Ten_Cmds/ten_cmds.html

+ Catholic (and Lutheran) Ten Commandments (about 100 AD)

1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or 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; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it, you shall not do any work.
4. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
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 desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ***, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Source: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt1ind.htm

+ Protestant Ten Commandments (about 1600 AD)

1. You shall have no other gods but me.
2. You shall not make unto you any graven images
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
4. You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5. Honor your mother and father
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness
10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor

Source: http://www.biblicalheritage.org/Bible%20Studies/10%20Commandments.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

--Is Catholic--

The Traditional Protestant 10 Commandments are
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 your neighbor's wif or his goods.

The Traditional Catholic 10 Commandments 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 Christians used the Catholic version. This can be seen in the writings of the Church fathers especially in Augustine who pulls his numbering from Deuteronomy 5. This was standardized and always taught. Even in the early reformation, the Lutherans used the Catholic numbering.

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. This is the origin of the Protestant numbering.

That is the basic history.

As far as the idols part goes, saints are not idols, they are people who are quite alive and well. Besides the whole idea of "no carved images" as Protestants believe it means is not what the Jewish people thought it to mean. Consider that the Ark of the Covenant had golden cherubim on it. And when you read Josephus’Antiquates of the Jews, the Jewish temple was decorated not some empty box. So, there is indeed a proper usage of imagery in Judaism.

But the important thing to remember is that saints are real people, not simply carvings nor pictures. Humans were created in the image of God and the human form was glorified by God both by the incarnation which permenantly joined the human nature to the the divine nature of the 2nd person of the Trinity, as well as the glorification of the human nature at the resurection.

Answer 3

The primary difference in the Catholic version of the decalogue and the protestant version stems from the different source documents that were used.

The Catholic bible used the Greek, the protestant used the Hebrew.

Furthermore, the commandments were specifically readopted into the new covenant church, as the old law had been officially fulfilled and set aside by Christ himself.

The church possessed the God given authority to adopt all ten, none, or to make up new ones, if it deemed it expedient.

It was only in the 15th century that the novel and heretical idea of scripture being the only faith authority, began to take hold.

According to Jesus and according to scripture, the Catholic church, which Jesus personally founded, is the only church that has been endowed with the authority to bind and loose.

From where did the others get their authority? Where did protestants get the authority to begin to preach strange, new gospels and introduce their own versions of things?

Certainly not from scripture!

Answer 4

Catholics didn't change the commandments. Protestants simply combined the 9th and 10th commandments and added one.

If you think about that added one

(You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.)

you don't really need it, because it fits in with the first commandment "I am the Lord, your God you shall not have any Gods before me"



P.S. I hope you understood that and i hope it helps

Answer 5

Since I don't see any Catholics answering your question, I'll take a guess and say that it was inconvenient for the men who valued traditions over what the Bible has to say. Consider this passage and see if there is any correspondence.

1 Timothy 3:1 Faithful is this word: If anyone aspires to the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 It is necessary, therefore, for a bishop to be irreproachable, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well-behaved, hospitable, skillful at teaching;

Did you know that it wasn't until around 1,000 AD that the Catholic church decided that Priests couldn't marry and it is rumored that this came about because the church was losing property through inheritance when Priests died?

You can talk all about how it's better for a Priest to be devoted to God and not have the distraction of dividing his devotion between God and a wife, but what does the Scripture say?

It is necessary, therefore, for a bishop to be...the husband of one wife,...because....one ruling his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence; (for if one does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 1 Timothy 3:4-5

And again in the passage where Paul writes about a person being divided in devotion, he also writes...Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2

Answer 6

how about the title of nobility act that started the war of 1812 when the english came and burnt the white house because we made a law that no one could be an attorney and run for public office, and no two people of the same faction can be in the same court case, as well as it is treason to recieve a title of nobility from a foreign nation.... so why do we have BAR attorneys here who swear an oath the the BAR (british accredited registry that DBA in USA as the ABA and subsidiaries of each state BAR. how are these attorneys not being hung, or the catholic bishops in america? the reason is americans are idiots, they dont even know what a cestui que trust is, they dont know why their names and status are changes under CAPITUS DOMINUTIO MAXIMA (look in a law dictionary, i like bouviers law dictionary) then look at the legal definition of person, and the definition of people. what about that, is anyone on my page, AMERICA WAS STOLEN, ROBBED, and you were too. your name is all caps so your a corporation (person) not a people.

Answer 7

Omitted a 10 commandment?

I see where someone say they added 9 & 10 together. hahahahaa

okieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Lets talk about the other 3 Jesus Himself added.

There are 13 commandments. Not 10.

any suggestions as to how 3 disappeared?

Theye didn't. They are not be followed. why?

Answer 8

It should bother you, they also changed the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday, hmmmmmmmm, didn't God say keep the Sabbath day holy, hmmmm, Jesus said "I didn't come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill it." Jesus said "If you love me you will keep my commandments." He also said "YOu shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." The truth is out there find it for yourself so you will know it is truth.
I'm not catholic but history tells me it.

Answer 9

Think for a moment and keep an open mind when I tell you this.


God was not Catholic or Christian. How could he have been the Bible was not yet a tangible item.

Answer 10

There is a commandment thow shalt not worship false idols.
I think that covers your statement.