I have long not understood why people believe the 10 commandments are from god. Explain?

Question

1. "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me..."
2. "Do not make an image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..."
3. "Do not swear falsely by the name of the LORD..."
4. "Remember [zachor] the Sabbath day and keep it holy"
5. Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. "Do not murder"
7. "Do not commit adultery."
8. "Do not steal."
9. "Do not bear false witness against your neighbor"
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Answer 1

Do Buddhists believe in a creator god?

No, we do not. There are several logical reasons for this. The Buddha, like modern scientists, sociologists and psychologists, believed that religious ideas and especially the god idea have their origins in fear. The Buddha says:

"Gripped by fear men go to sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines." *Dhammpada 188

Primitive man found himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him. Finding no security, he created the idea of god in order to give him comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a god gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will hear them explain that they believe in god because they prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this seems to support the Buddha’s teaching that the god-idea is a response to fear and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we cannot change. He replaced fear, not with irrational belief but with rational understanding.

The second reason the Buddha did not believe in a creator god is because there does not seem to be any evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming that they alone have god’s words preserved in their holy book, that they alone understand god’s nature, that their god exists and that the gods of other religions do not. Some claim that god is masculine, some that she is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their god but they laugh in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of another god. It is not surprising that with so many different religions spending so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their gods that still no real, concrete, substantial or irrefutable evidence has been found. Buddhists suspend judgement until such evidence is forthcoming.

The third reason the Buddha did not believe in a creator god is that the belief is not necessary. Some claim that the belief in a god is necessary in order to explain the origin of the universe. But this is not so. Science has very convincingly explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the god-idea. Some claim that belief in god is necessary to have a happy, meaningful life. Again we can see that this is not so. There are millions of Atheists, free-thinkers and Buddhists, who live useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a creator god. Some claim that belief in god’s power is necessary because humans, being weak, do not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence indicates the opposite. One often hears of people who have overcome great disabilities and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties through their own inner resources, through their own efforts and without belief in a god. Some claim that god is necessary in order to give man salvation. But this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of salvation and Buddhists do not accept such a concept. Based on his own experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding.

But if there is no creator god how did the universe get here?

All religions have myths and stories which attempt to answer this question. In ancient times, when man simply did not know, such myths were adequate, but in the 20th century, in the age of physics, astronomy and geology, such myths have been superseded by scientific fact. Science has explained the origin of the universe without recourse to the god-idea.

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Answer 2

Short answer: Faith.

They were given by God to Moses, according to the scriptures (the Holy Bible). So if you believe the scripture are of God, and therefore without error, then you must believe the commandments are as well. And if you believe in the 10 commandments you must believe in He who set them.

Exodus 20:1-17 (New Living Translation)
1 Then God instructed the people as follows:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
3 "Do not worship any other gods besides me.
4 "Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish.
5 You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.
6 But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.
7 "Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
8 "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work,
10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God will give you.
13 "Do not murder.
14 "Do not commit adultery.
15 "Do not steal.
16 "Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.
17 "Do not covet your neighbor's house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns."

Answer 3

I believe Jesus explained the difference between keeing the commandments(outward man) and living them(inwardman). Paul 's conclusion in Roman's chap.7 is what?Is the law sin? God forbid verse 7.Verse 12Wherefor the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just,and good.In my opinion PaulIStrying to show the difference between the flesh and the spirit. With the spirit (the inward man)he delightsin the law of God,yet he sees another force at work within himself(the flesh)Verse 14For we know that the law is spiritual; butIam carnal sold under sin.There is the turmoil of wanting to do right yet finding himself doing those things he would not do. He sums it inverse 25I thank God throughJesus Christ our Lord.So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. The sermon doesn't end there. It goes on through chap. 8.Which desribes how we are to walk after the spirit and not the flesh. T4

Answer 4

Part of the confusion here is that people do not understand the role of Moses as the mediator of this law.

The law came from God, but it is not "God's law" in the context people insist. This is the law of Moses (part of it). Even Jesus refers to this as the law of Moses.

What might help put this in proper perspective is to understand the nature of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree was made by God, but it wasn't a good idea to partake of it.

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Answer 5

Read the 42 Negative Confessions aka Innocent Declerations in the Book of the Dead. The Ten Commandments are just the Cliff Notes. They don't like to hear that...but I notice the people who say that have never actually read the Book of the Dead....

Answer 6

Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe the Bible was inspired by God. The Bible states in Exodus that God handed down the ten commandments to Moses.

Answer 7

Well these commandments are taken from the bible which were written by prophets who of which were inspired by god to write these. (2 Peter 1:21) For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.

Answer 8

Because they believe in God...and for many thousands of years these used to be what we based our moral behavior on....now..no one care ..their is no morals...on rules...and now all the commandments are being gone against and look at the state of the world....most serve the devil, and had rather than to serve God......everything good is now bad , and everything bad is now considered good, so whats better, when we had morals or the way we are now?

Answer 9

Egypt and the Hamurabi code perhaps a bit earlier

Answer 10

The first answerer is right. The Egyptian text also contains many more commandments that didn't make it into the Bible.