A new survey is showing that many Christians are willing to drop four of the Ten Commandments from their life. According to a poll by YouGov, only six of the Ten Commandments are important to British Christians, with most saying the other four are not “important principles to live by” in the 21st century.
The six that folks are more inclined to follow are the ones that deal with relations with other people. “Unsurprisingly the commandment that the most Brits think is still important to live by is thou shalt not kill, at 93 percent,” said YouGov, “joint with thou shalt not steal. In the case of both commandments, they were seen as still important by 94 percent of Christians and 93 percent of those with no religion.”
Bearing false witness (telling lies) about others came third among all groups, with 87 percent of all Brits. Close to three quarters (73 percent) of the population at large say that not committing adultery is still a top life principle.
Honoring thy father and thy mother is still an important rule to follow for 69 percent of all Britons. The final commandment that holds majority support is the Christian God’s instruction that people not covet the possessions of others, at 61 percent.
The four commandments, which many Christians feel are less relevant today are the first four in the Decalogue, specifically those that deal with mankind’s relationship with God. Less than a third of Britons (31 percent) say that people should not worship idols (defined in the survey as statues or symbols).
Most people no longer mind taking the Lord’s name in vain. Less than a quarter (23 percent) of the overall population say that you may not use the word “God” in or as a curse. The first of the Ten Commandments – that I am the Lord thy God, You shall have no other God before me – is one of the least important according to the public. Only one in five Britons (20 percent) still believe that the Christian God’s monopoly on worship is still relevant in modern Britain.
Keeping the Sabbath Day holy is seen as the least relevant of the commandments in the modern era. YouGov says fewer than one in five (19 percent) Brits say keeping the Sabbath holy is still an important principle to live by.
The bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, told London’s Daily Telegraph: “In an age as busy, frantic and feverish as ours I would have thought that keeping the Sabbath, or at the very least observing a balance between work and rest and play was more important than ever. Sabbath is both a radical idea and a practically useful idea for it simply acknowledges that we need to rest and we need to play. Indeed, it says this is what we are made for.”
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19.
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