In this essay I am going to working my way though the 10 commandments, trying to get a equal perspective on there significance to today's society; then I shall make up my own mind. The first commandment says "I am the Lord thy God", which translates as "put god first in your life. " To believers this rule is very important even 3000 years later. Its called the Christian Faith because you have to have faith. If you believe in God you should want to put him first and follow Jesus because he is the Son of God and because what he did on the cross.
If you had the choice between going to church on a Sunday and going out, they should want to go to church because its what Jesus did. God should be your main priority, so that means in your school, work, friends, money ect you should try and make God involved and they should revolve around God. A non-Christian might think there is no God so why put him first. Most people don't believe in God because they can't see him. But I once heard a great description; "God is like the wind, you cant see it physically but you can see the effect of it and it working in things. You can see the wind working in fans ect, like you can see God working in people.
I believe this rule is not relevant to society any more, because it only really affects the Christians, its in the top 4 religious rules of the commandments. It could affect society if the people wanted it to, and became believers. But as science has evolved less and less people have belief. As the new cultures have evolved we have seen a lot more people grow up with a very selfish attitude "I can have and do whatever I want".
I think if you asked this question in Jesus time everyone would have said it was very relevant because everyone did what Jesus said, but because society moves on, not that many people care anymore. I think this commandment is quite important to me, I wish I could stick to it, but its so hard with everything else going on and our busy culture nowadays. The second commandment is "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me", this law interpreted as "Don't love anything more than you love God. " I think this law is very relevant to the minority because its one of the four religious commandments instead of the 6 moral commandments.I think the is rather irreverent to the main society because people worship and are obsessed with things like celebrities, money and image. The third command is "Thou shalt not take the Lord thy God in vain", in modern language this indicates "Give respect to everything that is Holy, especially the name of God.
" Its culturally changed because not many people think God is not important to society, most people swear from an early age upwards and don't think it matters. Some people just don't care and when we were given the Gideon bible in year 7, they just ripped them up and lit them on fire in science and the teacher just watched.I try not to swear because I believe in God and I think that his name shouldn't be used that way. I don't think the commandment is very relevant to society because most people don't think they're harming anyone when they say it and it's just a word. The fourth commandment states "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy", This implies that you need to keep one day free for worship and rest. To believers this mean when God created the world he had the last day as rest, therefore he made it for everyone to worship and relax preparing for the next week.
There was originally a law that no one could work on a Sunday, but then people thought against it and argued why should they when there is no God. So where then allowed to open shops for 6 hours on a Sunday. Now anyone can do what they want, but some businesses don't open because they need to recuperate, after a hard weeks work, not for God. With the busy lives people lead today, and work Monday-Saturday. Sunday is their only day off so they use it to shop and buy food ect. Society does what they want on Sunday, they don't want to stay in and pray.
As a believer I think that Sunday should be a day of rest, you should go to church. But I don't think you shouldn't be allowed to go out shopping. God wants us to enjoy ourselves and I don't see shopping as an over tiring event. I just like to meet up with friends, that I can't see on Saturday because they have dance or whatever. Even if I didn't do that I would be less rested by doing homework, which is harder.
I still go to church, I can just have fun as well; being a Christian doesn't have to boring.The fifth commandment declares "Honour thy mother and thy father" which means have respect for you parents. This rule is relevant to society because most people do have respect and love their parents, they go day in day out to visit them at the old peoples home. Although, on the other hand some children skive school and get there parents sent to prison and they just don't seem to care.
As a Christian I think I should stick rule and its quite important because we wouldn't we here if it wasn't for are parents and all the things they do and give up for us.God wants us to have good relationships because they tend to improve our lives, if we can have good relationships it builds on the relationships we have with him. The sixth commandment says "thou shall not murder", this means don't take anyone else's life. This law is so relevant to society because once it was given to Moses, people started to take it seriously.
The first six of the Ten Commandments where a starting base for the laws we have today. This is the 2nd worse crime I think you can commit and if someone does kill someone they are hated.The society also thinks it wrong and 3000 years later it stuck. It doesn't mean people don't do it though, when Adam and Eve ate from the tree in Garden of Eden they sinned, from then on no one could be perfect, people are always going to do wrong its just how we are made, the point is its your choice to do it and its is obviously important to society because otherwise they would have the punishment of life in prison for it. As a Christian I believe that is very wrong to kill someone out of Gods creation. As a normal person in society I know its wrong and how much damage it can do.
When I was doing my homework about crime I found out that my Granddad have not died of a heart attack he had actually been killed, but my parents never told me. It was really weird to think that if those people hadn't have killed him, he could still be here doing the job he loved, helping millions of people and he could still be coming to family gatherings, and my mum wouldn't cry every fathers day because she had no one to write to. This rule is relevant to society because it puts a few people off killing because of the prison sentence and its for our safety.The seventh commandment "thou shall not commit adultery" which translates as keep your sexual love for the person you are married to. This is relevant to those who believe because they see it as protection from God, if they stick to this rule than they can avoid problems like teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, dropping out of school and unstable relationships ect. In the culture we live in many people just go out get drunk and wake up with a different person each weekend.
To most of our society they feel this rule spoils there fun and therefore just ignore it.The eighth instruction was "Thou shall not Steal" which means keep your hands off what does not belong to you. This is still relevant to parts of the society but not because the bible says it is, because the law says it is. People think that its not morally right to steal, because they have put themselves in that position and realised how annoyed they would be if someone was to do that to them.
Others know its wrong but have no over option. This rule is not relevant to society from this source, when someone steals they don't think "oh no what is God going to do? They wonder how long the police will sentence them. Although, without these rules being set from God, someone might not have got the idea of setting it in the law and realising that it was actually wrong.Without this rule though, our whole society would be a shambles, everyone would just walk in and take things from shops, without paying.
Businesses would go out of business, resulting in a lower quality of life for family unless they turn to crime to. The ninth rule is "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour" this translates as "Don't lie about others. Believers trust in this rule because it was set by God, and they can see all the other sins it can lead to. Non-believers would try not to its hurts there friends, which can just cause problems for them individually ect. As a whole society this rule is relevant people try and follow it because there is no reason not to.
On the other hand there is no punishment (unless lying to police or in court), so people can use this to there advantage and just use it to cover up there own mistakes.People do try and follow it because of the personal consequences that's why I think its relevant. The final commandment is "Thou shall not covet" this means don't get jealous of what others have. This I think, is one of the hardest commandments, its seems so simple, but we are all born with the feeling we want to be like others, or want that car or house ect. I don't think this is relevant to society because everyone just naturally does want what others have.
A book written 3000 years ago isn't going to change that. I would call myself a Christian, because I believe there is a God.I know there is a God and I believe in Jesus. I'm not the best Christian though, I ignore God sometimes and do the times that I want to do, that I know are wrong but I know that ill be forgiven, Which kind of defeats the point of it. I believe in Christian teachings because they make the world a better place for example no murder ect, but some of them I don't have quite as much faith in. The Christian belief is about giving things up, its not all just given to you on a plate and im not sure I can quite give up those things just yet.
I do try and believe in the 10 commandments like not saying "Oh my God" or killing anyone. Whether they are relevant to Society is a different story, the last 6 are definitely they are all of morals that the law has been based on, so they are relevant to society because people try and stick to them and the justice system is based on it. The first four are not really relevant to anyone except Christians, they base their whole lives on these rules, because they believe in God, if you don't then its very irrelevant.Overall I think the ten commandments are relevant to those who choose to believe in them, but at the end of the day no one can force you so its individually a desion everyone ahs to make. I think that it was a good thing that they were sent to us because even if they don't that the religion side to it, the rules that have been used for the law and our for our well being saves us from getting hurt and hatred ect.
In my personal opinion everyone of those laws is still relevant because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes.
