Ten Commandment - Positively Stated

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I have attempt to restate the 10 commandments in a positive manner. I have tried to capture the breadth of the commandment in the positive form. I would appreciate comments.

Check it out at: Ten Commandments - positively stated .

Thanks, 🙂
 
I must admit I thought it would be too lovey dovey for me but it wasnt that bad. interesting, but also maybe pointless. I think God did just fine. Any restating of the comandment ultimately puts your spin on them and not Gods intended message. But it is fun to play with the ideas encompassed in the 10 comandments and one way to understand them is to re word them for understanding. I thought it was a little odd that you said you felt moved by the HS to write and publish these. and maybe not just have written it to help yourself or others on a faith journey.

how about writing them in teen, ebonics, redneck, hippie, liberal, conservative, elderly, technonerd.

how about just meditiating on the actual words the HS led the author of the BIBLE to write. Or is that God not positive enough for some?
 
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T.A.Stobie_SFO:
I have attempt to restate the 10 commandments in a positive manner. I have tried to capture the breadth of the commandment in the positive form. I would appreciate comments.

Check it out at: Ten Commandments - positively stated .

Thanks, 🙂
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Jesus already did that, in the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are the heart of Jesus’ commandment to love God and one another “as I have loved you”.
 
When i read them I thought (IMHO) they would be useful in explaining or in discussion of the commandments with middle and high school students (they of coarse should learn them as orginally written). I am wondering where the other posters feel they might lead others astray?
 
We should not play around with the wording of the Commandments. I’m happy to accept the words given to Moses by God.
In another thread somebody was wanting to change or update the Our Father.
There is no ambiguity in the words given by God. Why can’t we leave well alone?
 
My source for the positive statements is that I summarized the cathechism of the Catholic Church, which has the authority to interpret the 10 commandments and tell us what they mean.
 
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DAWNCUROLE:
When i read them I thought (IMHO) they would be useful in explaining or in discussion of the commandments with middle and high school students (they of coarse should learn them as orginally written). I am wondering where the other posters feel they might lead others astray?
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That was one of my objectives: to provide something that can be used with children to help them understand the 10 commandments.

For example, that “Thou shall not kill” includes not hurting others as well.
 
If anyone can restate them in a better way to communicate the full breadth of the commandment, I am open to suggestions. In coming up with what I did, I reviewed the Cathecism of the Catholic Church and what it says on each commandment.
 
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T.A.Stobie_SFO:
I have attempt to restate the 10 commandments in a positive manner. I have tried to capture the breadth of the commandment in the positive form. I would appreciate comments.

Check it out at: Ten Commandments - positively stated .

Thanks, 🙂
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I like it. Its a good way to expand on the "thou shalt not"s.

The "thou shalt not"s lay the invaluable foundation for the positively stated ten commandments.
 
You shall keep you heart pure.

typo

nice idea although its not your place to reword Gods message it would help people understand it better.

(I liked the keep sex holy part I have many friends who dont…)
 
Possibly helpful for very young children, but may be confusing when they need to memorize actual commandments.
 
Perhaps I’m missing something in this thread, but it seems to me that things have been blown all out of proportion.

The OP suggested a rewording of the 10 commandments to serve a specific educational purpose and make them more understandable. I don’t believe he was suggesting cutting out those pages of our bibles and replacing it with his text i.e. “rewriting scripture”.

In general, all commentary on the 10 commandments is some kind of restatement of them. If they stood alone, then no commentary would be needed at all. Of course, they don’t stand alone, which is also why the catechism has a few hundred pages devoted to explaining them in more detail.

Perhaps the OPs version, with the original side by side would be helpful in reaching certain people. And of course, the catechism is available for “backup.”
 
I think I understand what you are trying to do and I don’t disagree with your intent (at least as far as I understood it :D), but I didn’t care for the resulting presentation.

1 - Not all commandments are negative, but your document suggests otherwise.

2 - The categorization of the original text as “Traditionally Stated” might lead some to conclude that the original text is less than God-breathed.

3 - The juxtaposition of “Traditionally Stated” and “Positively Stated” suggests that there is something wrong with the “Traditionally Stated” text.

4 - If the target audience is children, I’m not sure that introducing the concept of “Holy Sex” is appropriate. Couldn’t the word “marriage” be substituted without loss of meaning?
That being said, I do like the idea of expanding on the meaning of the 10 Commandments by summarizing key points made in the CCC.

Perhaps just a 2 column document would be better. The first column contains the “10” and the second column explains their meaning as set forth (developed; understood; taught; etc.) by the Catholic Church. Then you would be free to use all the positive language you want without opening the door to misunderstanding.
There is a syntax error in “Sex is holy only (1) in covenant marriage between a man and a women as an act of sacrificial love and (2) must be open to new life.” The “only” is misplaced. Maybe split it into 2 sentences.
 
Evangel said:
1 - Not all commandments are negative, but your document suggests otherwise.
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I have enlarged the prelude to address this.
Evangel said:
2 - The categorization of the original text as “Traditionally Stated” might lead some to conclude that the original text is less than God-breathed.
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The phrase “Traditionally Stated” comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The bible has two variants of the 10 commandments, each with more words and slightly different.
Evangel said:
3 - The juxtaposition of “Traditionally Stated” and “Positively Stated” suggests that there is something wrong with the “Traditionally Stated” text.
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Do you have a better phrase than Positively Stated?
Evangel said:
4 - If the target audience is children, I’m not sure that introducing the concept of “Holy Sex” is appropriate. Couldn’t the word “marriage” be substituted without loss of meaning?
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In our very secular society young children hear the word “sex” all the time. One key point which children need to know is that sex is holy only in covenant marriage. This brings out that all sex is forbidden outside of covenant marriage and in fact is very harmful. If children come to understand the holiness of sex, they will be much more likely to avoid the casual sex advocated by our society.
Evangel said:
There is a syntax error in “Sex is holy only (1) in covenant marriage between a man and a women as an act of sacrificial love and (2) must be open to new life.” The “only” is misplaced. Maybe split it into 2 sentences.
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Changed “must be open” to “when open” . Does this fix it?
 
:thumbsup:Nicely done! As a catechist for high school and confirmation students, I found this to be a useful teaching aid for conveying the depth and richness of the moral principles embodied within the commandments. The content is directly in line with the CCC. Thank you for doing this.
 
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