The gospel commandments are nothing more than instructions, instructions to people by which they should be guided in their earthly life every day. They were not left in the form of a list or any other set of rules. These commandments are the instructions of Jesus Christ himself, delivered by him during sermons and subsequently written down by the disciples.
These instructions are often confused with the main Christian commandments given to Moses by God himself. Due to this confusion, disagreements often arise in understanding their number, as well as the essence, content.
What are the main Christian commandments?
These commandments are the pillar of faith, they are a kind of main set of Christian laws and regulations. In other words, each of the main commandments is a dogma, an inviolable prescription, which every believer must follow in life.
The main difference between theseprescriptions from those called "gospel commandments" lies in their origin. The main prescriptions of Christianity, according to the Bible, were drawn up by God himself, that is, the father of Jesus, and transmitted to people long before the birth of the Savior. In other words, Christ himself followed these moral laws and relied on them in his sermons.
Which book contains the main commandments?
These laws of God are ten. They are written in the Pentateuch, namely in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. The Pentateuch consists of the following parts:
- Being.
- Exodus.
- Leviticus.
- Numbers.
- Deuteronomy.
These books, often referred to as the Law of Moses, are the first five parts of the Bible. It is generally accepted that the first, lost version of the texts is presented in the book of Exodus, and restored in Deuteronomy.
On the origin of the main commandments
The Bible describes in great detail the history of the transfer to Moses of the tablets with the law of God carved on them, that is, with a list of commandments. It happened on the fiftieth day after the Jews left Egypt, on Mount Sinai, located on the peninsula of the same name.
The description in the Bible is filled with colorful details. The trembling of the earth, fire standing around the mountain, thunder, flashes of lightning are mentioned. The rumble of the elements blocked the voice of God, uttering the words of moral prescriptions, commandments. After everything was quiet, Moses descended from the mountain, holding two "Tables of the Covenant" in his hands. They are often referred to as "Tablets of Testimony".
After Mosesdescended from the foot of Sinai with the Commandments in his hands, he saw that the people he led out of Egypt forgot about God and indulged in revelry, feast and fun around the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf refers to idolatry. A similar name for an idol is often found on the pages of the books of the Old Testament when describing the actions of people who have departed from faith in the one God.
Seeing this, Moses fell into an indescribable rage and broke the tablets given to him. Of course, this action caused the strongest repentance, and not only in the soul of the prophet, but also among the people. Seeing the depth of sorrow in people's hearts, God commanded Moses to go up to Sinai again. These are again tablets and are described in the book of Deuteronomy. That's why it's named like that.
What are God's basic commandments about?
Moses was given ten prescriptions, designed to become a guide for every believer in life. They are extremely simple and well known:
- I am the Lord your God; may you have no other gods before me.
- Do not make for yourself an idol and no image of what is in the sky above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship or serve them.
- Don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work for six days and do all your work, and the seventh day, Saturday, is for the Lord your God.
- Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long on earth.
- Don't kill.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Notsteal.
- Don't bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Do not covet thy neighbor's house; Thou sh alt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
Different Christian denominations attach different importance to the texts of the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. However, these discrepancies are not particularly significant and do not have fundamental differences in understanding the essence of the commandments. Rather, disagreements serve as a topic for theological disputes.
The list of commandments, called the "Decalogue", is considered separately. These texts have significant differences from the generally accepted ones. They list direct instructions, a kind of rules of conduct. For example, the list of the Decalogue opens with a prescription stating that the sons of Israel should not enter into unions, including marriage, with the inhabitants of those countries where they find themselves. There are also lines calling for the destruction of altars and the burning of images of other gods. These precepts are also called commandments. However, as a moral life guide, a pillar of faith, a set of prescriptions from the book of Deuteronomy is still accepted.
What is meant by the gospel commandments?
This name refers to all the sayings that Jesus spoke during his sermons. They in no way contradict the commandments of Moses, that is, God's law, handed down to people on the tablets. The gospel commandments of Jesus Christ are a kind of explanation of the instructions set out on the tablets, additions tohim.
The sayings written down by the apostles from the sermons of Jesus are not a set of laws or rules. These are some kind of pointers, guidelines, listening to which and following them, a person will be able to live righteously and get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Which books describe these commandments?
The commandments of Christ are evangelical precisely because they were written by his disciples, the apostles. Of course, they receive a lot of attention in all existing Gospels. However, the most detailed and intelligible description of the sayings of Jesus in the books of Luke, Matthew and Mark. It is these gospels that are most frequently cited when it comes to Christ's commandments.
The main moral precepts, which received the name of the "Gospel beatitudes", are described in the books of Luke and Matthew. The Apostle Mark pays more attention to the entire Sermon on the Mount as a whole, without emphasizing.
What is the difference between the commandments of Moses and Christ's?
The basic precepts of Christianity list what leads to sinfulness. In other words, what a Christian should not do. The gospel commandments of Jesus, on the contrary, explain to people what properties of the soul, qualities of character must be possessed in order to live righteously and enter the Kingdom of God.
The law of God was given to people in ancient times. Even during the life of Christ, the times of the Old Testament were already considered days long past, a very distant past. Man at that time was much weaker spiritually than in the first years after the onset of our era. He was much closer to primitiveness and could not alwaysto keep "in check" their own primitive impulses, nature. Accordingly, the direct purpose of the main Christian commandments was to keep people from the primitive and sinful properties of their nature - from anger, inability to value someone else's life or property, greed, desire for base bodily pleasures and other similar things.
Gospel commandments appeared in much later times. They have become a kind of evolutionary stage, the next step in the spiritual development of people. They are not designed to keep from sinfulness or to show what is evil, bad. These instructions are addressed to people who are already enlightened, who understand what virtue is and what is its opposite. These prescriptions show people exactly how to live, act and think in order to approach Christian holiness and gain the Kingdom of God.
Why are Jesus' commandments called "blessed"?
The simplest explanation for this name is that it came from the content of the texts of the prescriptions. The lines of the commandments begin with the words "Blessed are those …". But there is a more complex explanation of this name.
The Gospel commandments of the Beatitudes got their name in accordance with their purpose, purpose. In other words, the name tells people that following these precepts in their ordinary daily life will lead them to eternal bliss.
How many of these commandments?
On Orthodox icons with complex, composite plots9 gospel commandments are depicted. The same number of Jesus' covenants is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. However, it is rather difficult to imagine that Jesus, who actively preached during his life, constantly talked with his disciples, with people who came to him and with the Pharisees, limited himself to only nine instructions.
Of course, Christ spoke much more, only the famous Sermon on the Mount, mentioned in each of the Gospels, contains a much larger number of sayings. The nine precepts are the main gospel commandments. In other words, these are the covenants that express the essence of Christianity.
However, when wondering about the number of testaments left by Jesus, we must not forget that they did not reach our days directly, but through the prism of perception and understanding of the teachings by the apostles, who were ordinary people. The Gospel of Luke, for example, presents the commandments of Christ quite differently. According to the authorship of Luke, there are four commandments of the "Blessed" and the same number of reverse them, called the "Commandments of Sorrow."
The theological works often mention the Ten Gospel Commandments. In this case, we are not talking about the basic instructions left by Jesus, but about what he said in the Sermon on the Mount. Most of it concerned the explanation and commentary on the basic laws of God, transmitted on the tablets to Moses.
What do these commandments say? List
About how to live in order to find eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven, the gospel commandments tell people. The list of them, according to the authorship of Matthew, looks like this in brief (all commandments begin with the word “Blessed”):
- poor in spirit, as the way to the Kingdom of Heaven is open to them;
- mourners as they will be comforted;
- meek, for they shall inherit the earth;
- those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied;
- merciful, because they themselves will find it;
- the pure in heart shall see the Lord;
- those who humble themselves are called to become sons of God;
- expelled because of righteousness - the kingdom of heaven awaits them;
- reviled for their faith, they will receive a great reward after life on earth.
It is not very easy for a modern person to understand the meaning of the Christian commandments listed in the Gospels without additional explanation. Especially often questions arise regarding the meaning of the first commandment, which speaks of the poor in spirit.
What is the first commandment about? Interpretation
What is meant by poverty of spirit? Can spiritual poverty open the way to the Kingdom of God? Why, then, develop, strive for righteousness, protect the soul from the fall? These and other similar questions invariably arise in everyone who has read the gospel commandments. The interpretation of the expression "poor in spirit" is quite multifaceted. But all existing options for understanding this phrase come down to one thing - we are not talking about poverty or underdevelopment of the soul.
The most famous is the interpretation of the meaning of this expression, given by John Chrysostom, the theologian and archbishop of Constantinople. Its essence is thatthe speech in the commandment is about the presence of humility as a spiritual quality. Other theologians also interpret the first commandment of Jesus in the same semantic vein.
Bishop Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) in a work called "Ascetic Experiences" supplements the interpretation of John. The bishop writes that spiritual poverty, which is spoken of in the first commandment, is nothing but a humble conception of people about themselves. That is, the absence of conceit, the presence of sincere trust in the Lord, inner modesty.
What do Bible scholars think of these commandments?
Bible studies is a separate scientific direction within which ancient religious texts are studied. This discipline arose not at all because of a skeptical attitude towards religion, but out of necessity. Without exception, all texts, including the Bible and the Gospels, have been repeatedly copied and translated, adapted and interpreted. Accordingly, therefore, discrepancies are quite large.
Bibleists, studying the existing versions of texts and subjecting them to scientific criticism, determine what was most likely inscribed in the primary sources. Of course, scientists could not ignore the gospel commandments.
When studying the Gospels, it was found that in the original source, with a high degree of probability, only three commandments were mentioned. They talked about the poor, the hungry and the mourners. The rest of the prescriptions are considered by biblical scholars to be derivatives of these three, a kind of additions or options for interpretation, clarification.
