Did you know that people who go to church on a Sunday are committing Blasphemy? Why might you ask?

Question

Jesus said "You must not pray in public, keep your religion to yourself" from the sermon on the mount. Check it out for yourself, it is in black and white in the bible.

(Matthew Chapter 6 versus 5 and 6)

further proof from Youtube
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LEt20PgKmcU

Answer 1

first off, blasphemy normally refers to more of a taking upon yourself the attributes of God thing...

Second off, I suppose if you take Matthew 6: 5-6 as referring to all prayers, then you're right; but it's not, it's referring to personal prayers, if it weren't so, then explain to me how it is that Christ (being sinless) could pray with the little children and his disciples present (see Matthew 19:13)? Matthew 6: 5-6 refers to personal prayers, not prayers as a family, or a church.

Third off, it depends on how you interpret it, in my bible, Matthew 6: 5 says "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward."
verse six goes on to say that one ought to pray in secret. What this is saying isn't that one shouldn't pray except in their closet where no one can see, it's telling you to pray for the sake of prayer, not to "be seen of men." As it is in so many cases, here it's not so much about what you do as why you do it.

Fourth off: you cite something on youtube as proof? At best, a video may only provide evidence, and, even if the proof is terribly convincing, the fact that you cite "further evidence on youtube," well, let's just say that just undermines the ethos of your argument; it's like saying "further proof on this tv show," except that any idiot with an internet connection could have made it.

Answer 2

It would be completely wrong to get 'religious' about this. The early church spent a lot of time meeting together and praying together. That's in the Bible in black and white too. Stop stirring! Jesus only meant that those people who do their praying out loud in order to impress men should learn to keep it to themselves. There are many types of prayer, some are personal and should be done in private, others are corporate, bringing the church together to pray about issues relevant to the whole body.

Answer 3

Apparently, the apostles didn't get the message.

Act 4:31 And they having prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness.
Act 4:32 And of the multitude of those who believed, the heart and the soul were one. And no one said any of the possessions to be his own, but all things were common to them.

And neither did Paul and Silas:

Act 16:25 And having prayed, toward midnight Paul and Silas praised God in a hymn. And the prisoners listened to them.
Act 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the jail were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and all of the bonds were loosened.

He was speaking of personal prayer between you and God. Don't make a show of it or do it so others will think you are really spiritual.

Answer 4

Pat Connell (or whatever his name is ) seems very intelligent but he is taking a small part of a bigger puzzle and dramatizing it and taking it too literal. Mathew 6:6 and on is referring to the people who pray just to be seen by other people so that everybody thinks they're religious if you read on or before you'll discover this. At the time ppl were praying in public to seem pious thast what it means when it says "dont pray in public.

Answer 5

If you want to understand Scripture, you must read the WHOLE Bible, not just bits and pieces. Jesus was only pointing out to us that just because we pray in public, we are not righteous. The Pharisees prayed in public for the wrong motivation. They were looking for Man's approval instead of God's. By the way, Jesus prayed in public to teach us how to pray, raise the dead, and heal the sick. Jesus said that we would do these same works as He did and even greater works. Jesus commanded that we go and teach all nations.

Answer 6

It's a long held piece of Bible scripture, and not the most astonishing, but it catches out most Christians.

In Mathew 6, Jesus clearly tells his disciples not to pray in public. Those who favour of school prayer, National Day of Prayer, etc. should take his advice.

But its Paul (1 Tim.2:8) - a bloke who never actually met the guy, and was responsible for having Stephen stoned to death, that disagrees with Jesus, telling his followers to "pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands."

And if you follow that, then all the women on this site should shut up too, foar after Paul tells us to pray everywhere, he then tewlls women how they should dress, and finishes with

2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

so the Bible clearly tells you to shut up, and not preach to us men!

If you want to be really predantic, then all christians are breaking the 4th Commandment every time they go to church on a Sunday, which is a far greater sin than blasphemy...
:

You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

The Sabbath, of course, is the 7th day of the week, the day on which God rested after creation. However, Christian believers in the early days of the Church established worship on the 1st day of the week, Sunday, rather than Saturday.

It was 300 years after Jesus's death, the sabbatical edict of Constantine in A.D. 321 - a man who brutally murdered hundreds - the son of a general and a serbian whore, pope -

Because the day of the sun, was the day which the Gentiles solemnly adored that planet and called it Sunday, in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it). Thus it was a dy of worship to the sun, and the Christians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear carelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice that might be otherwise taken against the gospel.

So you break the 4th commandment, and take you sabbath on a pagan day of worship to the sun!

Answer 7

This simply means not to boast about the fact that you are praying. It means you shouldn't do it merely to get attention but only if there is a desperate need for prayer. For instance, 3 of my kids and 3 of a friends and me the only adult in a grocery store oh yeah I need my lil silent prayer to get through that and then it should be but a whisper if that much is actually needed. He can hear your thoughts so a whisper isn't really needed.

Answer 8

Church is a place to learn about Jesus. We aren't really praying in public there-no one hears what we pray but us because we pray it inside our heads. Someone could be praying for a cure from a disease, getting their grades up (kids), or to accept Jesus Christ. No one knows, so we technically aren't praying in public.

:)

Oh, and also... YOUTUBE? As PROOF? You can put total junk there. My friends and I put stuff there all the time. LOL.

Answer 9

Yes because your supposed to go to church on Saturday because thats the Sabbath, I don't know how people came about to going to church on Sunday, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and when does the week start, of course on Sunday.
Hmm I have to agree with that, people got it all wrong when they started going to church, because people were supposed to read the bible and come up with their own conclusions, but the reason churches came about is because the Bible was published but everyone didn't know how to read, the few who did read read it aloud and explained it using their views to people that didn't know how to read, which is how the church started, I think thats what Jesus meant when he said don't pray in public because people will force you to view the Bible as they do which is not always right

Answer 10

He Meant personal prayers....
(Matthew 6:5-6) 5 “Also, when YOU pray, YOU must not be as the hypocrites; because they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the broad ways to be visible to men. Truly I say to YOU, They are having their reward in full. 6 You, however, when you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you. . .