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| Jorgfe Registered user Username: Jorgfe Post Number: 255 Registered: 11-2005 |
Lutherans change the Ten Commandments? First some background. As many of you know, I have been going through the challenging process of transitioning from "Adventist to Christian", as Dale Ratzlaff calls it. This is a process that comes under the close scrutiny of other family members -- a process that I am sure many of you can relate to. We have had drilled into each of us the IMPORTANCE of the Ten Commandments -- otherwise known as the Law of Moses, Sin and Death, etc, in New Covenant terminology. Hebrews is quite clear about Christ being the "mediator of a better Covenant", and so on. As good SDAs we generally memorized the Ten Commandments, and most certainly knew which one was the fourth commandment -- on pain of receiving the Mark of the Beast! There is even a book currently being passed out by Seventh-day Adventist churches called "The Ten Commandments -- Twice Removed" that talks about non-Adventist attempts to change "God's Holy Law". As I have been working on leading my family out of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, we have discussed in great detail the differences between the various covenants, as well as the SDA church's preoccupation with trying to stay under the Old Covenant -- what Paul refers to as spiritual adultery. Part of this transition process includes taking our 11-year old son out of the local SDA school and enrolling him this year in a Christian school where the Bible, and the Bible only, is taught. I thought I had succeeded in that regard when I (and my wife) enrolled him in a local Lutheran school (Missouri Synod). I assured my wife that from everything I knew he would be receiving a solid Bible-based education, and that Lutherans were strong on "righteousness by faith", etc. He has a Bible class -- which I would expect, and am happy for -- especially since I know that they won't be teaching any Ellen White! Today he brought home a little book from Concordia Publishing House "Memory Book - Grade 6" so he could memorize Martin Luther's evening prayer. All this sounds real good -- especially for a transitioning Seventh-day Adventist who is trying to leave all the SDA "legalism" and Old Covenant thinking behind. Imagine my shock when I found a whole section of the book emphasizing the Ten Commandments! Even Jesus said all that was replaced by the two commandments he cited. And as mentioned above, and brought out in the Worldwide Church of God transition, we are to be living under the New Covenant. Why all the emphasis on the Old Covenant Law -- the very same problem that (at least) I have been criticizing the Seventh-day Adventist Church for? But wait! There is more. This official publication even changes the Ten Commandments -- something that we as Seventh-day Adventists were quick to fault the Catholics for! In my desperate attempt to find some way to justify to my wife and son this "changing" of the Ten Commandments, I got out my Bible to see if I was just missing something. After all the emotional energy I have expended trying to lead my family out of Adventism, this most unlikely situation comes out of nowhere. Here is how the Ten Commandments are re-written. I am still speechless. I can't believe it! Even the (non-Seventh-day Adventist) Holman Bible Dictionary I have matches the Bible. ==== Ten Commandments According to the Bible ==== 1. You shall not have any other Gods beside me, Ex 20:3, Deut 5:7 2. You shall not carve idols for yourselves, Ex 20:4-6, Deut 8-10 3. You shall not take the name of God in vain, Ex 20:7, Deut 5:11 4. Six days you shall work, but the 7th day is the Sabbath, Ex 20:8-11, Deut 5:12-15 5. Honor your father and mother, Ex 20:12, Deut 5:16 6. You shall not kill, Ex 20:13, Deut 5:17 7. You shall not commit adultery, Ex 20:14, Deut 5:18 8. You shall not steal, Ex 20:15, Deut 5:19 9. You shall not bear false witness, Ex 20:16, Deut 5:20 10. You shall not covet, Ex 20:17, Deut 5:21 ==== Ten Commandments According to "Lutheran Memory Book Grade 6" ==== 1. You shall have no other gods. 2. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. 3. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not murder. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. I don't believe it! It is patently obvious that #9 and #10 are both about coveting. And #2 (about graven images) has been removed! By whose authority do they just take out a commandment, and split out the last one into two to give the appearance of still having 10 commandments. Let's call a spade a spade. After trying so desperately to flee Adventism I don't have any idea how I am going to even explain this to my wife -- much less having to (once again) tell my son that some of what he is being taught (now from the Lutherans) is not the way that it is in the Bible either. And that doesn't even address the fact that the Bible PLAINLY states that we are under the New Covenant -- another point where I have invested a tremendous amount of energy in trying to share this (non-Adventist) concept with my family. In fact my son and I even diagrammed Romans 8. Certainly Martin Luther read Romans 8, didn't he? I am at a totally loss as to what to think, or how to explain this to the rest of the members of my family who are ready to remind me that Adventism may have its "warts", but so do all other religions. Choosing to live under the Old Covenant vs. the New Covenant, and deleting and changing the Ten Commandments are no minor thing. Any Adventist will be the first to tell us that! In all my research on these forums this anomaly was never mentioned -- or at least I never saw it. Are we going to follow the Bible, or not? And we are ready to "roast" Adventism for making similar changes? Remember that the moment we start rationalizing here, the same principle applies to Adventism. Gilbert Jorgensen | ||
| Borgch Registered user Username: Borgch Post Number: 1 Registered: 8-2006 |
You make some good points, Gilbert. It's becoming more and more apparent to me that true fellowship in Christ is not to be found in any institution, but rather in person-to-person contact within the sub-community that consists of true believers who worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Chad Borges | ||
| Jorgfe Registered user Username: Jorgfe Post Number: 257 Registered: 11-2005 |
It is especially difficult for a "transitioning" Adventist though because, in my case, I hear from my wife "Not all Adventists think the same.", "Quite a few Adventists don't believe in Ellen White any more.", and thoughts along the line of thinking that there are many different interpretations. And then from other Adventists -- "Adventism represents a diversity of opinions and interpretations.", "You have your opinion and I have mine.", "We all worship the same God.", etc. Isn't it Budhism that teaches that all roads lead to heaven? The interesting thing is that the exact same arguments that can be used to justify combining "tradition" and the Bible in other denominations, can also be applied to Adventism. I find that the response I get to questioning some of the un-Biblical thinking in Adventism (as I see it) is that it must be a problem with the way I was raised (as a faculty kid in the Adventist ghetto at Andrews University), and that "normal" Adventist thinking doesn't include (practically speaking) such aberrant beliefs as I associate with Adventism. In other words, most Adventists don't believe in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs anyway, so what is the big problem? The end result I am finding is that by their excusing these deviations in other denominations, our families have found the perfect mechanism for excusing it in Adventism -- which is precisely the reason why they see no need to leave! They can be a "Christian" in any denomination, including Adventist. And they have a valid point. Gilbert Jorgensen | ||
| Borgch Registered user Username: Borgch Post Number: 2 Registered: 8-2006 |
You're right. One can be a Christian and be affiliated with almost any denomination. Personally, however, I had to leave Adventism because I simply can no longer give that approval-by-forced-silence nod of assent when someone picks up an EG White book and begins to be drug down into spiritual despair by the implications made therein. I must object! Chad Borges |
