Terra Bassham, age 16, of Casper, Wyo., for her question:
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
According to the Bible's Old Testament, God gave Moses a set of rules, or commandments, of action or conduct for man to follow. According to Exodus 31:18, the precepts were etched on two stone tablets by God himself and delivered to Moses on Mt. Sini. They came to be known as the Ten Commandments.
In anger over his people's abandonment of their faith, Moses destroyed the tablets, which were made of clay. God ordered Moses to hew and inscribe new tablets. He did so and deposited them in the Ark of the Covenant.
Two versions of the commandments axe given in the Bible, but they are both the same in substance. One version is in Exodus 20:2 17 and the second is in Deutezonomy 5:6 21.
Most Protestants and Orthodox Christians divide the commandments in the following way: (1) prologue and prohibition of the worship of any deity but God; (2) prohibition of idolatry; (3) prohibition of the use of the name of God in vain; (4) observation of the Sabbath; (5) honoring one's father and mother; (6) prohibition of murder; (7) prohibition of adultery; (8) prohibition of stealing; (9) prohibition of giving false testimony; and (10) prohibition of coveting the wife or property of one's neighbor.
Lutherans and Catholics follow St. ine's division, which was established in the Fourth Century: the prologue and the first two prohibitions are combined and the last is divided into two that prohibit, individually, the coveting of a neighbor's wife and his property. In Jewish tradition, there is also a bit of a difference in the order of the commandments.
Most theologians agree that the Ten Commandments actually embody principles that are common to all humanity.
Medieval philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventuze believed that all the commandments are a part of the natural law and for this reason they are known to be correct by all thinking people. They suggested that God simply reminded Moses of humankind's obligations.
Large sections of the Ten Commandments are found in the laws of other ancient peoples. In the religion of the Egyptians, for example, there are prohibitions against theft, murder and injustice; a person who has violated any of these prohibitions is not permitted to eater the Shrine of Osiris, the god and judge of the dead.
Many religions believe that the thoughtful messages outlined in the Ten Commandments were already engraved on the hearts of humans long before they were written on clay tablets. In the Bible's New Testament, all of the commandments are mentioned but they are never listed as "ten." Rather, they are integrated into and subordinated to the commandment of love.