I'm interested to know why the catholic faith omitted a commandment?

Question

I live in a predominately Catholic country (I;m English) and wondered why the catholic faith ommitted the 2nd commandment (I think it's the 2nd one) that refers to worhshiping false gods, carving and worshiping statues in his likeness etc? From my understanding they actually split one of the other commendments so it still all reads as 10.

Their seem to be a lot of areas that are against the teachings of Jesus ie why do they confess to Priests in order for them to wipe their slates clean? only Jeuss can do this.

This is not a question with a hidden agenda, I'm just very curious is all.

Answer 1

A footnote to Exodus 20:17 (NWT) gives this explanation

**“This division of the Ten Commandments, vss 2-17, is the natural division. It agrees with the first-century C.E. Jewish historian Josephus . . . who divide[d] off vs 3 as the first commandment, vss 4-6 as the second commandment and vs 17, which forbids all covetousness, as the tenth commandment. Others, including Augustine, consider vss 3-6 as one commandment but divide vs 17 into two commandments, the ninth against coveting a fellowman’s house and the tenth against coveting his living possessions . . . Augustine’s division has been adopted by the Roman Catholic religious system.”

The New World Translation follows the “natural division” of Exodus chapter 20 as presented above. Thus the prohibition against making and bowing down to images receives due emphasis as the second commandment.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church combines the prohibition on other gods and the prohibition on graven images into the first commandment. The ninth commandment prohibits coveting your neighbor's goods, and the tenth prohibits coveting your neighbor's wife. This system was established by St. Augustine and is also used by Lutherans. Other protestants make the matters of false gods and graven images into separate commandments. The following seven are bumped up one and the tenth commandment prohibits coveting in general. Jews, who stated the whole thing have yet a third system. The first commandment is: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." Christians consider this merely a preface. The second commandment combines the false gods and graven images and the other eight are the same as the protestant system, which was derived from the Jewish system. Although Muslims don't explicitly acknowledge the ten commandments, there are a series of commandments in various parts of the Koran which are analogous to the protestant system.

So when someone says that the Ten Commandments should be displayed in government buildings, ask him whose commandments he means. If you gives you the wrong answer, he's a heretic and should be killed.

Answer 3

If you count the "thou shall not..." you'll end up with about 13 commandments.
Now, Catholics have 10 commandment and Protestants too. However, Protestants divide the first commandment in two parts 1- You shall not have other gods and 2- you shall not make graven images and worship them
Well, that is the same thing, because by making an image and worshipping it you have anoter god..
The problem with the protestant version is that when you get to No. 10, they have two statements made unto one: you shall not coveat your neighbour's possessions and you shall not coveat your neighbour's wife, so this puts the woman on the same level as a "posession", or ar object that belongs to the man.
The Catholic version is more rational because it makes those two statements two different commandments, because it is not the same thing to desire a thing (envy, or greed), than to desire a human person (lust, adulterous desire)

Answer 4

Sigh. We didn't omit ANY of the commandments. We don't worship false gods, which is what the commandment says. It doesn't say "Thou shalt not carve statues in my likeness, etc."

We DON'T worship them! Do you have any photos of your family in your house? Do you worship them? Of course not! They are simply reminders of those who you love. It is the same principle with Catholics. We have paintings, photos, and statues of those we love surrounding us and reminding us of what they mean to us and what they have done for us. No one worships them! The mere idea of worshiping a statue is ludicrous!

The practice of going to a priest for confession dates back to the early Middle Ages in Ireland. Ireland was filled with Monasteries but had few local priests to perform the sacraments, especially mass. So, on a Sunday, the monks would go to the towns and villages to say mass and do other sacraments that the people needed.

Some of these local discovered that the newer monks, the novices, had a spiritual adviser who would help them on their faith journey. These people wanted this sort of advise, too, and part of this advising included an examination of their sins and how to avoid doing them again.

At the time, Spain, which was the most influential country in Catholicism, insisted that this was a heresy because, as you stated, only God can forgive sins. There was a fight over it for some time until the next Council in which it was debated by the Church. The Church came to the conclusion that Jesus gave the apostles the ability to forgive sins when he said to them "Sins that you forgive are forgiven; sins that you hold bound are held bound." Priest are the successors of the apostles since all Bishops are first priests. Therefore, the power that Jesus gave to the apostles was passed onto to his priests.

That said, many in the Church has screwed this up and shortened the spiritual counseling to a quick confession. The Church, especially since Vatican II, has gone back to spiritual counseling within the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

I hope this explains things.

Answer 5

The Church did not and has never omitted any commandment. We are all still bound by them and must abide by ALL of them, including the one about idolatry. People try to accuse us of worshiping idols all the time but sorry, they're wrong.

Confession is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ. He gave the apostles the power to forgive sin. This is how priests are able to absolve it. It is the Holy Spirit, through the priest, that forgives us. The priest has no power on his own to do this.

Answer 6

Don't know about Catholics in England, but we still have 10 commandments and one forbids having false gods before you. Understand that religion per se, is an interpretation, made by men (& women) and then related to others. As it passes through each level suttle changes occur, so the end result may not be exactly like what was first initiated. Since it is the preist who ultimately teaches the interpretation of god's teachings, it follows suit that they are a conduit to and from god. So we tell the preist (as god's mediary) our sins, he passes them on and relates to us god's penance. This doesn't seem any crazier than those who go to church, declare to god they are sorry for any sins they committed, and are immediatly "Cleansed" of any sins.

Answer 7

Images and Statues
Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.

Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."

Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.

Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).

Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.

Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.

Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.

I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.

2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.

1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.

2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.

Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.

Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

Answer 8

a catholic church has all of the commandments. They do not believe that worshiping statues of saints or jesus is worshipping false gods since the saints are not gods and jesus is god. They confess to a priest bc jesus gave his apostles the power to forgive sin and do as he does in his name.

Answer 9

The Catholic Church did not omit any commandments. Here are the 10 Commandments as they appear in the Catechism of the catholic Church. I have also included links so you can read for yourself:

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
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
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a1.htm
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a2.htm

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
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
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a3.htm

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not kill.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a5.htm

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not commit adultery
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not steal.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a7.htm

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a8.htm

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a9.htm

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's. . . . You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a0.htm

For the second question, we confess our sins to a priest because Jesus gave His disciples hte authority and power to forgive and retain sins. Please read John 20: 21-23.

Answer 10

There are actually three versions of the Ten Commandments, Jewish, Catholic (and Lutheran), and Protestant taken from Exodus Chapter 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy Chapter 5:6-21.

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 B.C.E.)

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 C.E.)

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 ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

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

+ Protestant Ten Commandments (about 1600 C.E.)

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.