must the 10 comandments be followed literally?are there exceptions where going against them is acceptable?

Question

why dont all the christians in the U.S ask government to stop death penalty? (dont kill is a commandment)

Answer 1

Don't murder is a commandment, friend.


The Jews had the death penalty for many crimes. This penalty was commanded by God to purge the evil from society.

Answer 2

The Ten Commandments are to be obeyed literally and completely. Jews and Christians alike hold the Ten to be fundamentals of their religions. The Commandment: "Thou shall not kill" is thought to mean thou shall not commit murder. The Israelites killed thousands for hundreds of years after God gave the Commandments to Moses. Christians have never been bashful about going to war either.

But the death penalty is a different matter. There were a number of offenses that could get a person stoned to death in ancient Israel, including adultry. If that law was applied today half the world's population would be wiped out. I understand your delimma. I also question how Judeo-Christians could support state sanctioned murder. It has no deterrent effect. So it must exist for revenge. And Jesus said: "I will repay sayeth the Lord." Therefore those Christians and Jews who support putting a person to death must be hypocrites.

But then what do it know. I'm just a reprobate old sinner.

Answer 3

If one believes in that faith which subscribes to the Ten Commandments then yes they should be literally followed they were after all the law and covenant that the god of Abraham made with him. They were given directly by god to man. All commentary on the Ten Commandments are mans and the excuse of being divinely inspired does not justify man reinterpreting what was supposedly written by the hand of god. That's why the reinterpretations are called Mosaic Law and not god's law. The "good people" will always find an excuse to justify breaking the commandments.
The death penalty is NOT different and the semantics of juggling the word murder as opposed to kill is also one of those fine little loop holes people seeking vengeance and retribution like to bandy about. Those are in fact Mosaic Law and NOT gods which was embodied in the Ten Commandments

Answer 4

I feel the 10 commandments are definite guides. I also feel that in some circumstances they are not to be enforced and are looked upon as acceptable to break in some circumstances. But it must be in very few I feel. For example, do not steal....This I feel God would forgive or find acceptable for someone to steal food who is poor and hungry. Your question on Do not Kill, I find is also acceptable if there is no way the person is innocent. In that case that person took a life, in the bible an eye-for-an-eye does apply to life also but it was put in the hands of the courts because in our own hands it would happen too much and without searching for the truth. Some people can never be reformed.
I use to feel the same way you do and sometimes do but the more terrible things I see, the more I understand why it happens. Most of these people have rap sheets so long and the victims they left behind are much longer. By the time justice happens, these types of people have negatively impacted 100's and even thousands of lives.

Answer 5

While interpreting the Bible is a controversial topic..I'll go for it.

The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites as literal law (among many other commandments). The Ten Commandments were followed, or the punishment was death. This was, of course, Israel--a country that was totally lead by God.

Christians today do not (and cannot) live in a society totally lead by God today, He has been silent since the completion of the Word (only in the literal sense). The world would also reject such a governmental system. We look for His guidance by his Holy Spirit and the Bible. When becoming born again, we have the Holy Spirit in us and working in us. This Holy Spirit leads us to know how to do good, cleanses our lives and help us to live lives pleasing to God. This means all of the laws in the Old Testament that we can follow in our modern world. Many of the laws, however ancient they may be, still have truths that can be applied to our lives.

The death penalty is not what the Ten Commandments refers to. God dealt with wrongdoers often with death. Thou shalt not murder is a commandment not to kill someone out of anger or malicious intent. It is a common sense thing. The Bible even gives terms in which an individual who commits manslaughter may be saved from the death penalty that was instituted for anyone who killed another man. So the death penalty is something that is viewed as justice being given. The death penalty cannot be rejected by Christians by simply saying that the Ten Commandments says not to kill. God dealt with criminals with death. He appointed men to do it also, showing how men can be judges when dealing out justice. This may be done today only by the legal system in the U.S., a Christian judge can give the death sentence on the basis of the law of the land.

That being said, the Bible does not promote any sort of governmental system. That is part of the reason why Christianity has survived in the world for so long. It is only because of the distortion of the Word by others that people think that the Bible gives commands or advise for a government controlled by humans. This is part of the reason Islam is at odds with the rest of the world today, the Koran calls for the destruction of any oppressive regime. Jesus paid taxes to the oppressive Roman government when he was in the world. Our duty as Christians is to spread the love and knowledge of Christ to others, not to be politicians seeking to change the government.

So the answer is yes, the Ten Commandments can be followed literally only in our lives. Christian follow the Ten Commandments as our moral standards (again in our personal lives). Living in a democracy, we can express our concern for the destruction of justice by the giving up of the death penalty. We cannot say, however, that the Bible calls for this in governments, but we see the death penalty in the Old Testament, and do not think that it is considered murder at all.

Answer 6

Jesus said to still keep the commandments that were given. just there were a couple that he said were the most important. the Bible says thou shall not murder. and i am not for the death penalty. however christians are against it as well just like abortion but it does not matter what we think. people still do it anyways. even though they have killed some on death penalty and later with forensics ended up proving that the person was innocent. by that time it was too late. instead of getting rid of it all they did was post pone it. before if you were found guilty you could be put to death a week later. now they wait like 15 to 30 yrs.

Answer 7

Do not Murder is the commandment.......not do not kill.
If that was the case animals could not be killed for food.

"“You must not murder." -Exodus 20:13

{“You must not murder.” Heb., lo’ tir·tsach′. Note that the Heb. verb ta·harogh′, “should kill,” is not used here. }

However, I have made several posts regarding the Mosaic Law which the 10 Commandments are a very small part of.

If you are to keep the 10 commandments you MUST keep the rest of the law as well.....which is now impossible to do.

"For whoever observes all the Law but makes a false step in one point, he has become an offender against them all. 11 For he who said: “You must not commit adultery,” said also: “You must not murder.” If, now, you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of law. " -James 2:10-11

If you are to keep "all the law" you must also keep all the other commands that are not apart of the 10 Commands as they are ALL part of the Mosaic Law. Minus the 10 you will need to step up to 603 other laws.

"However, the Christian Greek Scriptures plainly show us that the Mosaic Law was "abolished", "blotted out" by the perfect sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He actually fulfilled the law as the purpose of the Mosaic Law was to "make transgressions manifest" so that humans would understand that they need a redeemer.

"Why, then, the Law? It was added to make transgressions manifest, until the seed should arrive to whom the promise had been made;" -Galatians 3:19

"He kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us; and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake. " -Colossians 2:13-14

"By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples in union with himself into one new man and make peace; 16 and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself." -Ephesians 2:15-16

Answer 8

The Ten Commandments are part of "Old Testament" Law, which Jesus excused everyone from by sacrficing himself. Quite apart from which, the original scripture does not say "Thou shalt not kill", it says "Thou shalt not murder"...

God Himself says "an eye for an eye", and kills lots & lots of people in the OT.

And the US is not a "Christian" nation, so should not follow Christian Law! If you think it is and it should, I hope you have stoned to death all non-Christian members of your family as commanded by God in Deuteronomy13, verses 6-10

Answer 9

Technically speaking, they should be followed to the letter, if we go by the Bible. Apparently, there is no excuse for breaking the word of God and I tend to agree, if I believed in Him.

You must read the Bible to understand that there are laws in the Bible regarding criminals and wrongdoing.

Not being a Christian is not excuse for not reading something you want to know up, as I am an atheist myself and I have read the Bible many times myself.

Answer 10

Of the 613 Commandments, you can break all but TWO to save a life.

Life is sacred and not only can you break 611 of the Commandments to save a life, you are required to do so.
For example, if all you have to eat is pork and it is eat the pork or die, then you are required to eat it. If you must bear false witness to save a life, then you are required to do so. If you must do some work on Shabbot to save a life, such as make a fire to keep someone from freezing to death, then you must do so.

However, there are two commandments that you can not break under any circumstances.

You shall not worship any other G-d but G-d. ------- If you give up your faith, you die spiritually. One does not give up one's spiritual life (soul) in order to save his physical body.

You shall not commit adultery. ----- Next to your relationship with your G-d is your relationship with your spouse. If you commit adultery to save your life, you do so at risk of your relationship with your spouse. Your own life is not more important than that relationship.