Are the Commandments just a suggestion?

Question

Specifically, what part of "you shall not kill" do religious people interpret as "you shall not kill, except in revenge, or when 12 people say it's okay, or when you feel like it's a good idea, or when you think you really have a good reason, or when someone says go kill that guy because he's got WMDs and just take my word for it he does"? Where in the Bible does God extrapolate that for you?

Answer 1

Somewhere between the bit about stoning teenagers, and the bit about stoning gays, and the bit about the angels infecting the earth with seven plagues and leaving everyone to die, and the army of god with crosses on their foreheads cutting through the ranks of sinners with righteous vigour.

Answer 2

God does not extrapolate it. Now there is in the New Testament sections where the Apostle Paul writes about the state having the power of the sword, meaning the responsibility to provide justice even if it means capitol punishment.
I take that commandment to not kill to mean that I am commanded to not go out and pre-meditate a killing and do it. The Bible does talk about times when someone may get killed as the result of negligence, in which case the killer could live in a city of refuge while they sorted it all out.
I do not view the the commandment as suggestions, but as commands. Now God does not do all the thinking and application for us in the Bible, so we have to use what He said, use our reasoning and rely on the counsel of others to help us apply what He said. One could make a good case that if one knew someone had WMD's and the willingness to use them, that to best protect and preserve life that those people needed to be killed. I fully understand that other Christians may even argue just as passionately that even that would be wrong. God does not give Christians one singel collective brain. We have to think things through and go with what we believe to be right based on what God says in the Bible and how we interpret that.

Answer 3

No they are not a suggestion. If we, all man kind, did these simple 10 things, we wouldn't have to deal with those who break them. The the commandments are about love, to love God and to love others.

But, since Satan still exists and has such an influence on man, and man does evil things, or things that are against the commandments, we have to deal with the consequences of man's sin.

Both the OT and the NT tell of God's love and tells of the consequences when man turns against God and does what he feels like.

Read the OT and you'll see clearly what God said. Unless I'm really incorrect in this, never did he say to let sin flourish or look the other way. But we are to deal with it, hopefully for those who listen to the Holy Spirit, it will be done in love and in the fruit of the Spirit and with wisdom. This isn't always done unfortunately.

Answer 4

The 10 Commandments say "Thou shalt not murder." There are clear death sentences for violations of God's law proscribed in the Old Testament, so there was clearly a distinction between murder and capital punishment. Further, after the ten commandments were given to the children of Israel, the following generation were commanded - by the same God that ordered they not murder - to carry out genocide on the original occupants of the Land of Milk and Honey. So now you can see that there is in the biblical example a distinction between murder and genocide, for God would not/could not command people to violate His own law...

Answer 5

They are called the 10 Commandments not the 10 Great suggestions.

Here is why.


Are you a good person? What a question, most of us believe that we are good people because we can look around and find someone that is far worse than we are. We can always point to the things that we think make us a good person.

But how good are we really? Dare we take this test and look at ourselves and see if we really are good? Hmmm.

If you are willing try this and see just how good a person you are.

The Good Person Test.

How will you do? Pass or fail?


Have you ever told a lie?
Doesn't matter how big or small, just a lie.
What does that make you? Before answering think about this, if I told you a lie what would you call me? A liar?

Have you ever stolen anything? Cost doesn't matter, a piece of gum, failed to give back an ink pen that you borrowed, anything.
What does that make you?

Jesus said, "You know the saying of old, you shall not commit adultery but I say that if look at someone to lust after them you have committed adultery in your heart.
Have you ever lusted?

Jesus said that hate is equal to murder.
Have you ever hated anyone?

See one day we all are going to stand before a Holy God on Judgment Day and he is going to judge us based on His Holy Law, the Ten Commandments. These are just 4 of them and how did you do? Guilty? I have broken all of these and more, what about you? How well will you do on Judgment Day?

If we break just one point of God's Law we are guilty of breaking all the law and Gods Wrath abides upon us all. Based on God's Law we are all guilty and all are deserving of punishment. But there is an out for us.

Jesus paid the price for each one of us, took on himself God's Wrath so we wouldn't have to face it on our own. Jesus was beaten, battered, bleed and died so we wouldn't have to face God's Wrath. He rose again so that we would life in his presence. Our crimes, His payment.

The real question is where will you stand on Judgment Day. Pay yourself or have it paid for you. Think about it.

Answer 6

Explain eye for an eye. And, by the way, you are getting at the real farce of separation of church and state. You can't judge people for making political decisions that are not in conformity with what you think are their religious values if you also tout separation of church and state. It doesn't matter what their religious beliefs are if people don't think they should be part of the political process.

Answer 7

If you read Hebrew, you would know that it says: "You shall do no murder". That is not the same as "you shall not kill"

You really oughta stay awake in Sunday School.

Learn a bit about the Just War Theory of St. Augustine, Plato and St. Thomas Aquinas before spouting off in areas where you have no clue.

Really. You're embarrassing yourself.

Answer 8

i don't think there's anywhere in the bible where it says that. you have the 10 commandments there for a reason. some people believe the story behind it actually happened, some people believe they are there to teach us morals and the right way to live a good life. i think people these days don't take it seriously. if you really think about it, all those 10 commandments are things you should be doing anyway. saying you don't believe in God, it's like saying you don't believe in Jesus. Jesus in his own way, worshipped God himself, and obviously believed in him. through him, we were given the 'our father'. why else would Jesus say that one of the two great commandments are to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind'? he obviously wanted us to believe that God does exist, and wanted us to believe in him. by that, you should see that the 1st commandment is what you should do, and the rest are the commandments that you should be doing. why would you want to take someone's life away if we're all sinners? no one's perfect. you've probably heard about Jesus with that woman that committed adultery. she was sentenced to be stoned in front of her children because she was caught committing adultery, and Jesus came out and said to them that whoever has never sinned in their life can throw the first stone at her, and no one did. she was set free, with the thought that she would never do that again. just think. with all the scenarios you gave, what do you think would happen to those who kill for those reasons? according to the bible, they would burn in hell for eternity. it's one thing to be given life, but it's another thing to take someone's life away. regardless of the reasons behind it. i guess it's more acceptable to people if one is dying and they tell them to kill them so that they won't have to live another day with that pain and suffering.

Answer 9

The Ten Commandments are just that Commands, else God would of called them The Ten Suggestions.

Answer 10

This world is in Satan's hands for the moment and people are under his influence.
He knows he has a short time left and he is doing what he can to keep people from finding satisfying answers from the bible to their questions.
If he succeeds, then men lose their lives at Armageddon.