How did the 10 commandments come about?
1300 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophet Moses, at the command of God, led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. God promised to lead his people to a place where contentment and happiness would reign - the Promised Land (promised, from the word “vow” - promise) Palestine. But before that, they had to renounce the slave mentality and corrupt life. And live according to the rules that the Lord Himself established - later known as the 10 commandments of God.
God showed many miracles to the Israelites to deliver them from Egyptian slavery. He sent ten plagues on Egypt: the water in the Nile turned to blood, toads and dog flies multiplied terribly, animals died, the bodies of the Egyptians were covered with abscesses, hail destroyed the harvest, darkness fell on Egypt within three days, all the Egyptian firstborns died. When the Egyptian army pursued the Israelites, God made the Red Sea dry land, and the people of Israel passed through unhindered, but the army perished in the waters of the sea.
Moses received the 10 commandments of God while communicating with the Lord on Mount Sinai. They were carved on two stone tablets by God Himself. But when the prophet Moses came down from the mountain, he saw that his people were dancing around the golden calf - an idol, forgetting about God and their duty to Him. In anger, Moses broke the tablets. God ordered to carve new tablets with inscribed commandments to replace those destroyed.
Prophet Moses receives the 10 commandments (fragment of an Orthodox icon)
About confession. Part I. The First Commandment of the Decalogue
FIRST COMMANDMENT: I AM THY GOD, YOU SHALL NOT BE BOSSES OR UNLESS ME
In Russian translation it sounds like this: “I am the Lord your God, may you have no other gods besides Me.”
What duties should we have in relation to God according to this commandment? FIRST DUTY . We must have true knowledge of God. Do we have this true knowledge of God? No, we do not have the correct concept of God, of the Orthodox teaching of our faith, of the Church of which we are members, of receiving Holy Baptism.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
And we still make excuses that we have nowhere to learn these correct concepts about God, that no one taught us or is teaching us this, but by this desire to justify ourselves we aggravate our guilt, for this is not true! We lead too inattentive, distracted lives and we ourselves do not want to draw the necessary knowledge from the sources that each of us has.
1 . Ask your conscience, do we value every service in church, do we listen to the prayers and chants that the Church prays? Here is a school for you, here is the most necessary, the most true theology, here is the most repentant prayer, the most inspired praises to God. Are we feeding our mind and soul with all this? No, Lord, forgive us!
We don’t like to come to church at the beginning of the service; we squeeze through people during the service, crowd together and talk loudly near the candle box, and move from place to place. We ourselves do not hear what is read and sung, and we disturb others; we do not draw anything from this source of true theology.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
And some still consider themselves too well-read and omniscient, they still listen with irritation and condemnation: “What, they say, he started talking about the same thing again,” completely forgetting that the priest standing on the pulpit is standing, as it were, on a stone rolled away from the door of the Holy Sepulcher, and the word of the gospel from the holy place cannot be without benefit. Even the most wretched word from the pulpit always teaches the truths of Orthodoxy.
Lord, forgive us who reject Your words!
2. We don’t read soul-saving books, making the excuse that they don’t exist now, and again this is an evil excuse! And the Book of all books. Holy Gospel, are we reading? Almost all of us have the Gospel, and if we still don’t, it’s due to the greatest negligence. Do we learn from this Book of Life? The Holy Church has established obligatory readings of the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles every day. Let's say that not everyone can follow and do this, but who is stopping us from reading at least one chapter every day? How many of us who repent today have at least once carefully read the Gospel, the Apostolic Acts and Epistles?
Forgive us, Lord!
Not only do we not read the Gospel at home, but we also don’t listen to it in church! Reverent behavior in church is always obligatory, and during the reading of the Holy Gospel everyone should freeze and listen attentively with their heads bowed. And it’s good for us if we don’t outwardly push ourselves at this moment (and this happens to us - Lord, forgive us ). It’s good if we don’t pass the candles and thereby distract the attention of others (repent to the Lord who is to blame for this - Lord, forgive us ). It’s also good if, taking advantage of the seemingly “empty” time, we don’t bother to adjust the candles or light the lamp (this also happens to us - Lord, forgive us ). It’s good if we don’t distract others with empty talk, and in this we are sinful. God !
But if we do not even outwardly violate this moment of worship, how many of us can sincerely say that we listen with utmost attention to the words of the Holy Scripture? Don’t the words glide across the surface of the ear, not reaching not only the heart, but simply the mind, which is wandering at this moment who knows where!
Lord, forgive our inattention, our insolence, our frivolity and coldness that we show in listening to the reading that the Church offers us during worship.
Having now brought repentance to the Lord, let us decide from this day on (this does not require a great mind or extraordinary feat), as soon as the reading of the Gospel in church begins, to stop all extraneous activities, all movement, bow your head and listen most attentively to the words of the Gospel.
Help us, Lord!
But if a person still squeezes past you, who has not heard confession today and does not know how to behave at this moment, do not angrily pull him back. And then, perhaps, having remembered it, after the service, explain with love and goodwill how to behave while reading the Gospel. This will be Christian!
We do not read books with religious and moral content. However, not everyone has them and they are difficult to get. But there are those among us who have them, but they stand on the shelves, and they are either too lazy or too lazy to read them: “I’d better sleep more.” And those who are more educated read the newspaper more readily than serious spiritual reading, while others do not read it themselves and do not give it to others: “What if they don’t give it to you, or you yourself want to read just at this time.” This is how greed overcomes!
Here it is also necessary to remember that there is nothing more unreasonable than appropriating other people’s books of spiritual content! What benefits can reading a stolen book have for the soul? If anyone is sinful and has such books, immediately, at the first opportunity, return them to those to whom they belong!
Lord, forgive us our foolishness and dishonesty!
3. Finally, one can also learn about God through conversations with well-read and pious people. What are we doing? We love to talk, we are tempted to go to our neighbor, friends and acquaintances, but not to talk about God, the soul and salvation. It’s shameful and scary to admit that we Christians often gather to judge our neighbors, indulge in card games, or even organize wine drinking. I went on a visit empty-handed and returned even more ruined.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
And this often happens to us after confession, on the day of communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
THE SECOND DUTY prescribed to us by the first commandment of the Law of God: to have true faith in God, hope in Him and love for Him.
1 . The most terrible sin against this duty of every person is atheism , that is, the very state in which a great many of our compatriots, our relatives, friends and acquaintances now find themselves. There is no need to even talk about how sad this is, especially for parents whose children are atheists! But we, who came here for confession, do we have a firm and undoubted faith in everything religious? Do we believe in immortality, that beyond the grave there is eternal life with retribution for earthly deeds? As scary as it is to admit, we don’t have a living faith that would permeate our entire consciousness, that would govern our actions.
Lord, have mercy on us who doubt Your existence, our immortality, and the coming Last Judgment!
2. Perhaps among those who repent now there are those who do not believe in the existence of the heavenly army of Angels and hordes of evil spirits. The latter is especially common among “educated” people. For some reason, it is a shame in our age to believe in the existence of real beings - evil spirits. And this is all that the enemy of our salvation needs! If there is no malicious influence, then why and from what should we protect ourselves with the Life-giving Cross, holy water, and the Jesus Prayer? Maybe someone doesn’t sufficiently reverence the Mother of God, the holy martyrs, the saints of God? Repent to the Lord!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
3 . There is another type of terrible sin against the first commandment - apostasy. God! How close we are to this state! And sometimes, perhaps, they were real apostates and not because of fear of torment, as sometimes happened in the history of Christianity, during the persecution of the Church, but only because of the fear, often imaginary, of losing this or that earthly well-being.
It happens that we, believers, hope to receive some kind of help from the Lord, for example, to get a better apartment, a better job, and we ask everyone to pray, but at this time we ourselves hide the icons in the closet, fearing that they will see our faith in God and refuse us. This is how crazy we are getting.
Have mercy on us, Lord!
Out of cowardice, when we go to see a doctor, we take off the cross, fearing that the doctor won’t treat us or won’t give us sick leave! And if at work a conversation suddenly turns up about faith in God, then the unfortunate, cowardly person is ready to disappear into thin air. If only, even from the expression of his face, no one would guess that he was a Christian - and the words of renunciation of Christ were already hanging on the tip of his tongue... Repent to the Lord those who recognize themselves in the painted image of a cowardly Christian!
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!
It's embarrassing to admit it, even to say it out loud. Not only young people, but also old people, who have already been freed from public duties, who have already earned both rest and pension, are also afraid to openly hang icons in their houses!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
Out of fear of showing our religiosity, we now often commit the sin of spiritual murder of our dying relatives by not inviting a priest with the Holy Gifts to bid farewell to the dying, ashamed of our neighbors. And woe to us if, through our fault, one of our loved ones went into eternity without repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
God! Forgive us these sins and do not be ashamed of us before Your Angels on the Day of the Last Judgment for our renunciation of You here on earth.
4. We have little true living faith, but we are extremely affected by superstitions. Superstition, “superstition”, empty, false faith. And what do we not replace true faith in the good Providence of God! We believe in some “happy” and “unhappy” days, in “hard” and “easy” days. We are afraid to start even a good deed on a “hard” day, without thinking at all that we may not live to see another day. We believe all sorts of dreams, interpreting them, guessing from them, being deceived by dreams, we begin to see some other “prophetic” dreams and through this we reach the point of darkness of mind and illness... Repent to the Lord!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
Be afraid to believe dreams, so as not to fall into delusion - a terrible spiritual disease! And we bring these superstitions to the temple and hold on to them more tightly than to true piety. And with our ridiculous remarks we violate the prayers of those around us. Here they are passing candles - who came up with the idea that they should be passed over the right shoulder, and not vice versa? (I don’t even want to clutter my brain with the memory of this.) You just need to pass the candles in such a way as not to break them, so as not to push the person who raised his hand to make the sign of the cross, and not to shove candles into him at that moment. Or do not pass them on at important moments of the service, but hold them in your hand for a while, and then quietly pass them on without any prejudice.
These superstitions were inherited from our distant pagan ancestors. This is the day of the Holy Trinity. What is going on in our cemeteries, on the graves where there are crosses! This is truly a dark day for our departed! Instead of prayer, instead of candles and incense, real pagan funeral feasts are celebrated at the graves on this day. And our deceased in the next world burn with the fire of grief and pity, like the evangelical rich man who asked the Lord to tell his brothers, still alive, what awaits them after death. If any of you celebrated these funeral feasts and collected a table at the grave, go to the cemetery and ask forgiveness from your deceased relatives for the terrible suffering that you brought to them with your foolishness, and never do this again on the holy day of the holiday, when the Church prays with a special kneeling by praying for the repose of our deceased loved ones, do not make this day the most painful for them. Now ask the Lord for forgiveness for your foolishness.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
We believe all sorts of signs and say that it is impossible not to believe, because they come true. But the Monk Seraphim answered in this case: “But you don’t believe, and they won’t be fulfilled!”
Lord, forgive us sinners!
5. Many sin against the first commandment of the Law of God, deducing some kind of omens from every case. Those who spread all sorts of rumors: about famine, flood, and some go so far as to indicate the exact date of the end of the world are grievously sinning before God. How can you guess something that even the Angels do not know, but only the Heavenly Father knows! We sin no less if we listen to and believe these impudent speeches and predictions.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
6. Wizards, sorcerers, sorcerers and fortune-tellers also sin against the first commandment - all these people who have abandoned faith in the power of God, and believe in the secret powers of creatures, especially evil spirits, and try to act in alliance with them to the detriment of others. If there are such sinners among you, you must repent personally, with the bitterest tears, before the Lord!
For participation in magic, the Church prohibits communication with her for 20 years, on a par with murderers. And those who are rigid and unrepentant are completely thrown out. Do not be consoled that now everyone can cross the church threshold and approach the Holy Chalice. People and a priest can be deceived, but who and how can deceive God! We said at the beginning of confession how you can inwardly excommunicate yourself from the Church, then outwardly, even though you don’t leave the church, grace will recede! Well, the most bitter example of the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for condemnation is the communion of Judas.
Repent while there is still time, before death has yet befallen you, and you have not finally fallen into the society of evil demons, to whose help and fellowship you have resorted until now. How scary it is! Just think: a Christian who has renounced Satan and all his works during the Sacrament of Baptism turns to communion with them. And he still dares to fearlessly unite with Christ, approaching Holy Communion without irrevocable repentance! Don’t think, everyone else standing here, that there are sinners, but we, thank God, don’t do magic! If any of you told fortunes or turned to sorcerers for help, or were treated, or treated someone with conspiracies, perhaps advised someone to turn to the “grandmother” for help, he is sinning no less than the sorcerers themselves, abandoning faith in the power of God and expecting help for themselves from these people.
You say: “Why, prayers are read and the sign of the cross is applied.” But listen to what St. John Chrysostom says:
“If the name of the Holy Trinity is spoken to the Sietsevs, if the saints are also called upon, if the sign of the cross is induced, the Sisevs must flee.”
The Holy Church excommunicates such people from Holy Communion for five to six years.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
We have such Sacraments of the Church as the Blessing of Anointing (or Unction), established by the Church for the treatment of ailments, we have a great shrine - baptism water, we have artos (Easter bread), and finally, in the Sacrament of Communion we unite with God Himself! And we have little faith in this, but running to the “grandmother” seems to us to be a real and sure remedy. Lord, we are completely mad and confused in the concepts of where is the light, where is the darkness, where is the truth, where is the lie!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
7. Lord, we are so mad that we make fortunes from the Holy Gospel, the Bible, instead of learning the truths of faith in them. We tell fortunes with cards, and maybe some of you are also interested in spiritualism, spin saucers, call on some spirits (obviously not saints) and ask them about various destinies and events. Repent to the Lord!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
This is all disbelief in the good Providence of God, this impudent curiosity, the lack of hope in God!
8. Many of us sin against the first commandment of the Law of God by loving one of the people more than God. It happens that we even say: “If he or she dies, I have nothing to live for, they say, all my life is in him,” - in this person, and not in the Lord, who gave his life for us!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
And sometimes you can hear the following words: “I love animals more than people.” What madness! It is true that it is said: “Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle,” but giving all your affection to animals is a sin. Whoever is guilty of this, repent to the Lord!
Lord, forgive us sinners!
9 . Sins against the first commandment of the Law of God include such sins as man-pleasing and human-reliance . Why is man-pleasing and flattery so terrible that the words of Holy Scripture say:
“...the Lord abhors a man of blood and flattery” (Ps. 5:7)
Yes because
“With our speeches we deceive those whom we flatter and with our praises we bring curses on the lives of those being praised and become the culprits of their eternal condemnation for the error into which we lead gullible people who believe our flattery.”
- says Saint Basil the Great.
Perhaps one of you pleases a person so much that you make him, as it were, your god. Nowadays even a mother grovels before her children, often neglecting her duties towards God to please them. It is necessary to go to church on Sunday, but adult children have arrived from the city, and the mother, to please her drunken son or son-in-law, remains at home, although there would be no damage to family relations if she went to church for two hours.
Of course, if it were one day, one exceptional time, then in the name of love for them it would not be a sin to stay at home, but this is repeated every Sunday, and churches, especially in rural areas, in parishes, are empty, and not because There are atheists living all around us, but because of our inability to live like Christians! Wouldn't the mother deserve more respect if the children knew that their mother would do everything for them, but on Sunday she has the right to go to church for two or three hours?
Lord, forgive us!
The sin of relying on man lies in the fact that we very often rely on ourselves and our strengths, on our prayers, fasts, various deeds, on our often imaginary good deeds, completely forgetting that only with the assistance of God’s grace can we be saved. Or we rely on someone more than on God, and thereby push God into the background from our lives, resorting to his help when everything else has already been tried. We cannot even imagine how serious this sin is and how it angers God!
“...Cursed is man,” says the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah, “who trusts in man...” (Jer. 17:5)
God! Forgive us, we did not even realize that we had brought upon ourselves Your curse! Repent to the Lord!
Finally, our THIRD DUTY , prescribed to us by the first commandment of the Law of God: to honor God, to serve Him, for example, through church and home prayer, by caring and trying to fulfill His commandments. God! We are all sinners before You by abandoning household rules, and by neglect and inattention to our lives. Let's look within ourselves! How many of you, having gotten up in the morning and carefully read your morning prayers, set yourself the goal of pleasing the Lord all day long by fulfilling His commandments? Where is it, Lord! Even if we read prayers, our thoughts are already far away, we are all already immersed in everyday worries. Few people will remember: after all, I am a Christian; Today there may be certain circumstances, how can I, with God’s help, live the day holy, peacefully and sinlessly.
Where are such pious thoughts?! Before we even have time to open our eyes, everything makes us angry, everything irritates us: we are rude to our mother, who got up almost an hour earlier than us to help us go to work, we walk around the apartment like an animal in a cage, we don’t look at our neighbors, we say hello through clenched teeth, we slam doors, yell at children who may be naughty - after all, they were woken up and dragged to the nursery at dawn, or pushed out to school.
Then, if we live in a big city, we find ourselves in transport crowded with people and completely lose our human appearance! At this point we get extremely irritated, push each other, swear, we say such barbs to each other, as if we were our mortal enemies all around. We don’t want to suffer any inconvenience or trouble! This is how, Lord, we begin almost every day.
Lord, forgive us sinners!
| Table of contents | 2nd commandment |
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Text of the 10 Commandments of God
1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Let you have no other gods before Me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in the sky above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water below the earth.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
4. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long.
6. Don't kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; neither his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. (Ex. 20, 2-17).
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TEN COMMANDMENTS
and sins that people do that are contrary to these commandments
Ten Commandments
1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Let you have no other gods before Me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water below the earth; You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days thou shalt work and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy livestock, nor thy stranger. who is in your dwellings; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
Exodus 20:2-17
INTERPRETATION:
FIRST COMMANDMENT
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Let you have no other gods before Me.
(I am the Lord your God; may you have no gods other than Me.) (I am the Lord your God; may you have no other gods besides Me.)
1. Do you have firm faith in the Word of God and the teachings of the Holy Church and do you have any doubts about the truth of the holy faith set forth in the Holy Scriptures?
2. Do you allow the idea that there is no afterlife at all?
3. Do you turn to God in prayer in every matter, hoping for His help?
4. Do you thank God for everything from a pure heart? Don't you sometimes grumble, condemning the works of His creations and His Providence?
5. Did you reveal your doubts about faith to others with the intention of creating the same doubts and unbelief in them?
6. Did you lose faith in God’s Providence when you saw how evil triumphed and virtue was oppressed? Didn’t he admit the thought or say: “Why am I more sinful than others? Why do unbelievers prosper while believers suffer tribulation?”
7. Have you ever been an atheist, or have you not sympathized with atheists in your soul?
8. Did you blaspheme the name of God, the Mother of God or the saints?
9. Are you guilty of the sin of heresy, or sympathy with heretical or sectarian teachings?
10. Did he sometimes approve of schismatic, unauthorized meetings outside unity with the Orthodox Church?
11. Have you ever experienced cowardice or despondency, or even despair in your salvation with the loss of all hope in God’s mercy due to any serious sins you have committed?
12. Do you know the truths and commandments of the Orthodox faith well and do you try to fulfill them?
13. Do you allow negligence in reading the Word of God? Are you trying to read the Holy Gospel, the works of the Holy Fathers and other saving books?
14. Do you allow yourself to be careless with the books of the Holy Scriptures? Do you read books that are contrary to the teachings of faith and good morals and do you engage in such conversations?
15. Have you ever turned to wizards or sorcerers and fortune tellers of the future? Haven't you guessed yourself? Didn't he cast spells on the Bible and Psalms?
16. Have you sinned with some kind of superstition, for example, mixing herbs to protect against illness or misfortune, conspiracies of diseases, belief in an inevitable fate, in blind chance, in black, heavy, light days; the false belief that misfortune will happen from meeting a priest, or other superstitions?
17. Do you not have excessive faith in all dreams indiscriminately?
18. Have you lit candles for the repose of the living?
19. Aren't you too lazy to pray to God? Did you miss morning and evening prayers, before and after meals, before starting and at the end of any work? Were you overwhelmed by blasphemous thoughts during prayer?
20. Did not the creature love more than the Creator: father, mother, wife, husband, son more than God? Have you become addicted to anything to the point of forgetting God?
21. Did you not commit the sin of man-pleasing, that is, did you flatter someone or approve of their bad deeds?
22. Did you not trust in man more than in God?
23. Have you turned sacred words into a joke, a stupid meaning and blasphemy?
24. Did you reject obvious truth and assert anything against your conscience?
25. Are you not guilty of the sin of ingratitude to God for His countless benefits to you?
26. Have you allowed disbelief in the miracles that often occur in our lives and are performed by the power of God?
27. Have you sinned by holding a free opinion about Divine objects, contrary to the teaching of the Orthodox Church?
28. Have you sinned by having unrealistic dreams and building arrogant and happy plans for your life, as well as by stubbornly seeking imaginary happiness, without faith and without God?
29. Have you sinned by arrogance, that is, by relying on your own abilities, strength, labors, virtue or wealth, etc., and not on the mercy of God?
30. Have you sinned by being careless about your salvation in an unreasonable hope in God’s mercy?
31. Have you sinned by lack of devotion to the will of God, obedience to the orders of God’s Providence, by a stubborn desire for everything to be only according to your will?
32. Have you sinned by intolerance and grumbling in illness, misfortune, and in general, when God does to us not what we would like (for example, we often sin by grumbling about bad weather, which also depends on the Providence of God)?
33. Did you have a passion for any person or thing greater than the love for God?
The first commandment, prohibiting the aforementioned sins, obliges us to acquire correct knowledge of God, His will, to firmly believe in Him, to hope in Him, to love Him with complete devotion to His will, with gratitude, reverence and with filial fear, lest we offend Him in any way. something. Are you trying to expand these virtues in yourself?
SECOND COMMANDMENT
You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
(You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below on the earth, and the tree in the waters under the earth; do not submit to them or serve them.) (Do not make yourself an idol or any image of what is above in heaven , and what is in the earth below, and what is in the water, and under the earth. Do not bow down to them, and do not serve them.) Sins against this commandment:
1. Deification of icons and calling them “gods” and “deities.”
2. The representation of God in the form of some thing and the conviction that He is in His essence the same as in the images.
3. Inattention to holy icons, failure to keep them clean.
4. The use of an icon that has completely lost its image (even a parental blessing with it cannot serve as an excuse here).
5. The belief that some places and things save in themselves.
6. Placing portraits, paintings and things next to icons without any gap or distance.
7. Consider the temples of God equal with other public houses.
8. Omitting the duty to light lamps and candles in front of icons, which is commanded by God Himself and the Holy Scriptures (Exodus 30:7-8) and approved by the Ecumenical Council.
9. Lack of a home for holy icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and holy saints of God.
10. Possession and keeping in the house of things spoken by sorcerers.
11. Consider the worship of holy icons and holy things as idolatry.
12. Negligent attitude towards holy icons, towards the Cross of the Lord, which is expressed in the fact that unconsecrated objects are placed in shrines with icons, dust is not wiped off from holy icons, and they are applied to icons while drunk or in bodily uncleanness.
13. Walking without a cross on your chest. Tying to the cross any of the things of everyday life, unconsecrated.
14. Careless depiction of the sign of the cross (with gloves or carelessly, with all fingers at once, or they cross themselves, placing the fingers on the forehead, on the chest, but do not reach the shoulder, which takes away all the meaning and worthy honor from the sign of the cross, and the power of prayer ).
15. Wearing all kinds of jewelry: beads, necklaces, chains, medallions, etc.
16. Going to church and touching shrines in bodily uncleanness (women and girls during menstrual purifications) and while drunk.
17. Long-term non-communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
18. Negligent preparation for confession (without proper fasting according to the rules of the Holy Church). When going to confession, he did not reconcile with people and did not forgive them for the offenses caused.
19. Intentional concealment of sin during confession due to shame in front of the confessor.
20. Coldness and insensitivity during confession. Lack of heartfelt repentance.
21. Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ unworthy or with little preparation. Communion without the fear of God, without reverence, contrition of heart, with the omission of the full rule, without reading the prescribed prayers and canons on the eve of communion.
22. Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, despite the prohibition of the confessor.
23. Leaving church immediately after communion, without listening to prayers of thanks.
24. Getting drunk on wine on this day, eating too much, playing cards and not restraining oneself from conjugal affection, etc.
25. Veneration of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord as simple bread and wine.
26. Rendering Divine honor to God, the Mother and the angels, or any of the saints.
27. False foolishness, false pilgrimage, false hermitage among the world and false wearing of the clothing of monastics or clergy.
28. Failure to fulfill penance imposed by the confessor, as well as arbitrary change in it or self-permission from it after the death of the confessor.
29. Prayer for something unreasonable or directly contrary to God, for example, for God to punish the offender, to send wealth for a luxurious life, etc.
30. Anger during prayer, and also immediately after arriving from church.
31. Taking on work for one’s salvation beyond one’s strength.
32. Wishing oneself death or sorrow.
33. Binge drinking and drunkenness. Visiting pubs.
34. Solitary eating, secret eating.
35. Preparing home-made intoxicating drinks and distributing them.
36. Addiction to tobacco, smoking, chewing tobacco, etc.
37. Card games and other games of chance.
38. Addiction to worldly spectacular and riotous amusements.
39. Self-love, conceit; gluttony, insatiability; anger, anger, irritability; losing one's temper, disorderly, unreasonable screaming, screaming; love of money, passion for money, love of greed, passion for accepting gifts; ambition, exaltation and self-aggrandizement, desire for honor.
40. Contempt for sacred things: blessed water, myrrh, prosphora and a careless attitude towards them (do you keep them with you, do you sprinkle them in your house, do you eat them with pure faith?)
41. Love for things that are revered by schismatics, heretics and atheists, but which in themselves do not deserve attention.
42. Doxology, love of ranks and passion for breastplates.
43. Predilection for all kinds of things, jewelry, decorations, outfits.
44. Panache, decorating oneself with fashionable clothes, fragrances, jewelry, embellishments for one’s own greatness and the seduction of others.
45. Pride, arrogance, competition in foolish matters and amusements, boasting, pompousness, vanity, conceit, dishonesty, talkativeness, jokes, stupid speeches.
46. Enslavement of oneself to any passion, such as: drunkenness, unbridled voluptuousness, servility to the spirit of the times, pursuit of fashions, and imitation of all empty tastes and unkind customs in violation of God’s commandments, with loss of purity.
47. Hypocrisy or feigned piety to achieve some earthly goods, benefits, and not to please God.
THIRD COMMANDMENT
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
(Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.) (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.)
Sins against this commandment:
1. Forcing others to worship and swear in vain.
2. Murmuring against God.
3. Taking the oath without fear of God.
4. Double-minded or crafty oath.
5. The use of the name of God is often unnecessary, without reverence, in jokes, in fairy tales and songs, and the same use of the name of the Mother of God, holy angels, saints of God.
6. Oathbreaking.
7. A reckless oath, or when they call on God to be the mediator of their crime: a spell, for example, in the name of God to each other to commit some crime.
Persistent fulfillment of an unreasonable and thoughtless oath.
8. Cursing yourself with different words, such as “wither my hands” or “so that I don’t see the light of God,” etc.
9. Worship unnecessarily, in simple conversations, as well as forcing another to worship.
10. Testimony of oneself to the Mother of God or one of the saints, when, for example, they say: “The Mother of God will be a guarantee for me” or “I vouch for the Wonderworker Nicholas,” etc.
11. Failure to remember and fail to keep the vows and promises of holy baptism, as well as vows given upon union with the Orthodox Church.
12. Failure to fulfill vows given to God or a holy saint during difficult circumstances, for example, during illness or dangerous cases.
13. Wrong vows, when, for example, they take upon themselves vows that are physically and morally impossible to fulfill or pronounce vows that they cannot fulfill without first asking the consent of their elders, husband, etc.
14. Unauthorized cancellation or change of this vow.
15. Pronunciation of the name of God, the Most Holy Theotokos, holy angels, holy saints without any reverence. Their use in idle and empty words: “Oh, my God!...” or “Oh, Lord, I forgot...” or even in anger: “Christ is with you, come to your senses!...” “God is with you, go away.”
16. Frequent mention of the enemy of God (blasphemy).
17. Blasphemous and reckless judgment about the actions of God's Providence.
18. Concealing a sin during confession or retelling something false.
19. Using papers on which the name of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and saints is written as plain paper and throwing it away as garbage.
20. Blasphemy, that is, mocking any sacred objects or words of Holy Scripture or turning them into a joke.
21. Inattention during prayer.
22. Contempt for piety and pious people, calling it hypocrisy.
23. Shyness to appear pious, shyness to cross oneself, to pray among worldly people, or to defend the glory of the name of God or sacred objects before wicked people, blasphemers. The Savior says: “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; six days thou shalt work and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy livestock, nor thy stranger. who is in your dwellings; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
(Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: six days you shall work, and in them you shall do all your work; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, is the Lord your God.) (Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall work, and do all your work , and the seventh day, Saturday, to the Lord Thy God.)
The sins against this commandment are:
1. Insulting or desecrating Sundays and holidays, organizing parties and festivals around the holiday, going to shows.
2. Singing riotous and often extremely indecent songs on a holiday, and sometimes at the very late hours of the night.
3. Waiting for Holy Easter and other holidays not with the thought of the Lord, but only with carnal thoughts and preparations, for example, to dress better or to be treated better, etc.
4. Rarely going to Church until the omission of three Sundays in a row. At the Ecumenical Council it was determined and written: “If a layman, not having any urgent need or obstacle that would cause him to be removed from the church for a long time, but being in sin, does not come to church for three Sundays in a row, then he is subject to excommunication.” If failure to attend church for three weeks results in excommunication from the Church, then absence from church on one Sunday is also guilty.
5. Failure to fulfill the duty of devoting Sunday and holidays to pious deeds, such as home readings of the Word of God and other soul-saving books among the family, home conversations about spiritual subjects, etc.
6. Ordinary work on Sundays and holidays: for example, building, digging, washing, washing, starting to clean the apartment or starting to dig around the farm, in the garden, etc.; engaging in immodest games, revelry, and drunkenness on these holy days.
7. Trading on Sundays and holidays.
8. Celebrating the Christmas holidays in a non-Christian way: assumptions of “dressing up,” when, for example, people change a person’s appearance to someone else’s, wear masks or tell fortunes with wax, through a mirror, etc.
9. The same non-Christian celebration of Easter: drunkenness, failure to attend divine services, stupid games, riotous amusements, etc.
10. Non-Christian celebration of name days. Name day is everyone's personal holiday. On this day you should go to the temple of God and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the Liturgy. This is a truly Christian way of celebrating your name day.
11. Drinking or eating before the end of the Divine Liturgy on holidays or Sundays.
12. Failure to observe Wednesday and Friday and the four fasts, as well as failure to fast on special days established by the church: the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the eve of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany.
13. Conversations, extraneous daydreaming and looking around during the divine service. Leaving the temple before the end of the service.
14. Saturation during fasting and fasting food.
15. Breaking any fast (especially the Great Fast) by eating modest food.
16. Consumption of fish and wine during those days of fasting (especially Great Lent) when there is no permission for them.
17. Fasting with grumbling.
18. Distracting others from fasting, when, for example, guests are indiscriminately served light dishes on a fast day and are dissatisfied when a fasting guest refuses them, or, having received lodgers, they do not prepare a fast table for those who want to observe fast days.
19. When fasting physically, failure to observe mental fasting.
20. Secular amusements and pleasures during Lent, especially during Lent.
21. Drowsiness and habit of sleeping long and waking up late.
22. Complete idleness is this “mother of vices,” which, as the Holy Scriptures say: “taught people many vices.”
23. Not going to church out of laziness.
24. Going to church involuntarily or out of curiosity, and not out of a heartfelt desire to participate in the Divine service.
25. Begging due to laziness or drunkenness.
26. Indiscriminate giving of alms and abuse of it, such as giving money to someone asking for vodka.
27. Standing irreverently in church during prayer: inattention to reading and singing, wandering in thoughts or talking and laughing in church.
28. Did you, out of laziness or neglect, abandon the prayers prescribed by the Church in the morning, in the evening, before eating and after eating? Also, before starting any business, you need to ask God for blessings and help, and at the end of the work, you need to thank Him for the help sent down or success in the business.
29. Aren't you lazy to pray? Prayer is the breath of our soul.
Just as a body without air, a soul cannot live piously without prayer.
30. For a long time, have you avoided partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ for the purification of your soul out of carelessness about your salvation?
31. Aren’t you lazy to work on simple, everyday days? Have you always diligently, regularly and conscientiously performed the work assigned to you by others, especially in your position?
32. Don’t you spend a lot of time in idleness, distraction and feasting?
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
(Honor your father and your mother, may it be good for you, and may you live long on earth.)
Sins against this commandment:
1. Rough treatment of parents, reproaches and slander to them.
2. Murmuring at parents.
3. Neglect of parental prayers and parental blessings.
4. Reluctance to pray for parents.
5. Children curse their parents.
6. Fleeing from parental instructions or quickly forgetting their instructions.
7. Leaving parents homeless in their misfortune, illness and old age. Disrespect for parents, disobedience to them, failure to provide food, especially in old age or illness, failure to remember them in prayers for repose after death.
8. Preventing parents from going to church and prohibiting them from preparing Lenten food for themselves during Lent, reluctance to give alms through the hands of elderly parents and all kinds of embarrassment for them.
9. Raising hands against parents, even if they were drunk.
10. Failure, according to Christian custom, to pay the last debt to parents after their death and failure to remember them, especially on the days designated for this.
11. Violation of a parent's will.
12. Contempt, hatred, envy of parents towards their children.
13. Hatred, envy, pride and disobedience against one’s mentors, superiors, confessors, all superiors and elders, and in general against the spiritual and monastic order.
14. Honoring parents more than God, being indignant for them during fasting days and not attending church.
15. Neglect of your grandparents.
16. Having rude feelings towards your siblings.
17. Enmity and litigation with relatives.
18. Physical neglect of oneself during pregnancy and the resulting early and stillbirth.
19. Not baptizing your children.
20. Falling asleep at the baby's breast.
21. Negligent care of children, which is expressed in leaving them completely unattended, as a result of which the child can burn, be mutilated, etc.
22. Failure to raise your children in faith and piety.
23. Not teaching your children from an early age to pray and go to church.
24. Leaving a child for a long time without Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
25. Biased love for one of the children.
26. Neglect of the virginity and sobriety of their children, when, for example, they allow them to reach the point of loss of chastity and drunkenness, and when they give them all sorts of freedom, do not monitor their behavior, and do not care about Christian upbringing.
27. Failure to punish children for unkind deeds, or, conversely: too frequent and cruel penalties from them.
28. Failure of parents to pray for their children, small and adult.
29. Embarrassment of children in deeds pleasing to God, for example: in zeal, going to church more often, keeping them at home for the sake of household fuss and distracting them with various other activities.
30. Cursing children.
31. Intentional humiliation in front of children by the father of their mother, and by the mother of their father.
32. Murmuring about having many children or a large family.
33. Deprivation of children of any support or inheritance.
34. Teaching children false arts or empty and unnecessary things that are alien to the law of God and spoil children's modesty and clear conscience.
35. Forcibly forcing children into marriage.
36. Setting a bad example for children in deed or word.
37. Neglect of adoptive parents about their godchildren and their Christian upbringing.
38. Disrespect for your godparents.
39. Ingratitude towards your parents and direct repayment of good to them with evil.
40. Disrespect for older people, for example: insulting respectable old age or ridiculing it.
41. Weakness and inaction in managing subordinates, or, on the contrary, cruelty and pretentiousness.
42. Violation of the inferior power of other persons by one’s own power.
43. Restriction of subordinates in the performance of their Christian duties.
44. Setting seductive examples to subordinates.
45. Disrespect for the diocesan bishop.
46. Sins against parish priests:
a) condemnation and disobedience of a priest;
b) insulting a priest by word, deed or false denunciation;
c) choosing another parish for yourself, bypassing your own parish church.
47. Trying to find out and spread bad rumors about the priest.
48. Insult, disrespect, as well as condemnation and disobedience of one’s spiritual father. Failure to confess your sins to him due to forgetfulness, or negligence, or false shame.
49. Disrespect for monks.
50. Contempt for the poor, condemnation of them, refusal of alms to them.
51. Coldness towards your relatives.
52. Disrespect for spiritual and civil superiors, disobedience to them, grumbling at them, reproaching them or judging their actions.
53. Ingratitude towards benefactors for their benefits. Disrespect for elders due to dignity.
54. Burdening people with something.
55. Carelessness about food, health, education and especially the moral education of one’s children, allowing them to spoil or, on the contrary, treating them too harshly and various insults.
56. Neglect about the welfare and salvation of one’s subordinates, allowing them to suffer poverty or become corrupted and perish.
57. Do you try in your life, at work and in your family to conduct affairs in such a way that through your Christian piety you can serve as a good example for others?
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not kill. (Dont kill).
Sins against this commandment:
1. Offense caused to workers in clothing, food, pay, which is a mortal sin before God.
2. Use of contraceptives, medications, or detoxification of the fetus.
3. Committing abortions.
4. Desire for revenge, disposition to anger, quarrel, fight, riot.
5. Delivering the weak into the hands of the strong.
6. Intentional murder of a neighbor.
7. Intentional poisoning of seriously ill people to alleviate their bodily suffering.
8. Corporal punishment of someone by cruelty to the point of death.
9. An attempt on someone’s life that was not carried out only due to random obstacles.
10. Suicide or only an attempt on one’s life, combined with decisive actions, or even just the thought of taking one’s life.
A complete list of sins in a separate file in pdf format. https://yadi.sk/i/mmTO7CT4iYAhK
First commandment
God points to Himself as the one true God and forbids giving divine honor to anyone else. God created man, gave him life, and after death calls him to his heavenly chambers. This commandment took first place for the reason that only God, and no one else, should be the main value of a person’s life.
Sins against the first commandment:
– atheism (denial of the existence of God);
– polytheism (veneration of various deities instead of one God);
– heresy and schism (incorrect and perverted interpretation of true religion);
– despair (when a person ceases to hope for help and salvation from God);
– witchcraft (appeal to demonic forces);
– superstition (supernatural origin and meaning are attributed to ordinary situations and events).
WHAT ARE SINS AGAINST THE FIRST COMMANDMENT?
In order to better understand and more accurately observe the first commandment, you also need to know the sins against it. 1. Atheism, when people whom the Psalmist rightly calls insane, wanting to get rid of the fear of God’s judgment, say “in their hearts: there is no God” (there is no God) (Ps. 13 :1). 2. Polytheism, when many imaginary deities are recognized instead of the One True God. 3. Unbelief, when, recognizing that God exists, they do not believe His Providence and Revelation. 4. Heresy, when people mix into the teachings of faith opinions that contradict the Divine Truth. 5. Schism, i.e. willful deviation from the unity of worship of God and from the Orthodox Catholic Church of God. 6. Apostasy, when they renounce the true faith out of human fear or for worldly benefits. 7. Despair, when there is no hope at all of receiving grace and salvation from God. 8. Magic, when, abandoning faith in the power of God, they believe in the secret and, for the most part, evil forces of creatures, and especially evil spirits, and try to act with them. 9. Superstition, when they believe some ordinary thing, as if it had Divine power, and instead of God they rely on it or fear it; for example, they believe in the old book and think that only by it can one be saved, and not by the new one, although the new one contains the same teaching and the same worship. 10. Laziness in regard to the doctrine of piety, prayer and public worship. 11. The love of a creature is greater (more than) God. 12. People-pleasing, when they please people in such a way that for the sake of this they do not try to please God. 13. Reliance on man, when someone relies on the ability and strength of his or her own or other people, and not on the mercy and help of God.
WHY ARE HUMAN PLEASE AND HUMAN HOPE CONTRARY TO THE FIRST COMMANDMENT?
Man-pleasing and human-reliance are contrary to the first commandment, because the person whom we please or in whom we hope and forget God, in some way is for us another god, instead of the True God.
506.The Holy Scripture says this about pleasing people: “Even if I had pleased men (if I still pleased people), Christ’s servant would not have been” (Gal.1:10).
507.The Holy Scripture speaks about trust in man: “This says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and the flesh of his arm will be established on him (and the flesh will be his strength), and his heart will depart from the Lord” (Jer.17:4-5).
HOW TO FULFILL YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO GOD?
In order to better succeed in fulfilling his duties to God, a person must deal with himself in this way: he must deny himself. “Whoever wants to come after Me,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “let him deny himself” (Mk. 8:34).
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DENY YOURSELF?
To deny oneself means, according to the explanation of St. Basil the Great, the following: “The one who has put off the old man with his deeds, who is decaying in deceitful lusts (who is decaying in deceitful lusts), is denying himself. All worldly attachments are also denied, even if they can hinder the intention of piety. Complete rejection consists in being impartial to life itself, and having condemnation (thinking about) death, so as not to rely on oneself” (Long Moral Answers, 8).
DOES A PERSON WHO DENIED HIMSELF HAVE CONSOLIATION?
A person, when he denies himself and is deprived of many natural pleasures, can have grace-filled, Divine consolation, which even suffering itself cannot disturb. “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5).
Second Commandment
God forbids the veneration of idols and idols (any objects, creatures and phenomena of the surrounding world: the sun, moon, stars, animals, plants), as pagans do, and deification of them.
It is worth noting that icons and the saints depicted on them are not idols. Orthodox Christians respect icons as depictions of the image of God, the Mother of God and saints. We pray not to a material object, a board with a picture, but to the one who is depicted on it. Saints are people who set us an example of how we can preach and profess love for the Creator and our neighbors throughout our lives.
Sins against the second commandment:
– man’s deification of his creations and worship of them as a deity (for example: an artist worships his painting as the highest of creations);
– worship of wealth and raising money to a level above God;
– veneration of the icon as a material object.
About Christian life. Ten Commandments of God's Law (1-6)
Author: Slobodskoy Seraphim, Archpriest
About Christian life
A real, good Christian life can only be had by one who has the faith of Christ in himself and tries to live according to this faith, that is, by his good deeds he fulfills the will of God. Good deeds are an expression of our love, and love is the foundation of all Christian life. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16 ). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ). This is how God showed His love for people in action.
And that love that is not accompanied by good deeds is not true love, but is love only in words.
That is why the Word of God says: “ Faith without works is dead ” (James 2:20 ).
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! God! He who does the will of My Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven ” (Matthew 7:21 ).
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works , which God prepared in advance for us to walk in” (Eph. 2:10 ).
We also received from God special means in order to distinguish between good deeds and bad (evil) deeds. These means are: the internal , or conscience, and the external , or the commandments of God.
Conscience
is called the internal spiritual force in a person, or the manifestation of the spirit in a person. Conscience, as the internal law of God (“the voice of God”), is inherent in all people.
Conscience is the inner voice that tells us what is good and what is evil, what is fair and what is dishonest, what is fair and what is unfair. The voice of conscience obliges us to do good and avoid evil. For everything good, conscience rewards us with inner peace and tranquility, but for everything bad and more evil, it condemns and punishes, and a person who has acted against his conscience feels moral discord in himself - remorse or torment of conscience.
But conscience, as a spiritual power of a person, requires development and improvement in connection with other spiritual forces of a person, namely: with his mind, heart and will. The mind, heart and will of man have darkened since the fall of the first people, hence the voice of conscience turned out to be weak and insufficient as a manifestation of spiritual strength. And if a person does not develop spiritual strength in himself, then the inner voice of conscience in a person can gradually fall asleep and die (“unscrupulous” person).
From this it is clear that the internal law of conscience alone is not enough for a person. Even in paradise, God revealed His will to the first people. Consequently, even in an innocent (righteous) state, an external Divine law was necessary for man. It is even more necessary after the Fall.
In order for a person to always be “guardian of his conscience,” the Lord God gave us an external law , that is, the commandments of God.
This law was given in its simplest form in the Old Testament - in the Sinai legislation, through the prophet Moses. The main 10 commandments of this law were written on two tablets , or stone tablets. These commandments were deepened and exalted in the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount, in His nine calls or beatitudes. But regarding the Old Testament ten commandments, the Lord confirmed that they must be known and fulfilled.
The Savior said: “ Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill ” (Matthew 5:17 ).
To the question of one young man: “What good thing should he do to have eternal life?” “The Lord says directly: “If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19, 16-19).
However, the Lord taught to fulfill these commandments much more perfectly than they were understood before Him. Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ inspires believers to avoid violating the commandments not only in deed, but also in their very thoughts and desires, demanding from them purity of heart.
Ten Commandments of God's Law
1. I am the Lord your God; let there not be any gods for you, unless Mene .
2. Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below on earth, and the tree in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them.
3. You have not taken the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: you shall do six days, and in them you shall do all your work; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, shall be to the Lord your God..
5. Honor your father and your mother, may you be well, and may you live long on earth.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Don't commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not listen to your friend's false testimony.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor's..
The Ten Commandments of the Law were placed on two tablets because they contain two types of love: love for God and love for neighbor.
Pointing to these two types of love, the Lord Jesus Christ, when asked which commandment is greatest in the law, said: “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets ” (Matthew 22 :37-40).
Loving God
we must first of all and most of all, because He is our Creator, Provider and Savior - “ In Him we live, and move, and have our being ” (Acts 17:28 ).
Then must follow love for our neighbor, which serves as an expression of our love for God. He who does not love his neighbor does not love God. The Holy Apostle John the Theologian explains: “ Whoever says: “I love God,” but hates his brother ( i.e., neighbor ), is a liar; For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see ” (1 John 4:20 ).
By loving God and our neighbors, we thereby reveal true love for ourselves , because true love for ourselves consists in fulfilling our duties to God and our neighbors. It is expressed in caring for one’s soul, in cleansing oneself from sins, in subordinating the body to the spirit, in limiting personal needs. We must take care of our health and take care of the development of our mental strength and abilities in order to better demonstrate our love for God and our neighbors.
Thus, self-love should not be shown at the expense of love for one's neighbor. On the contrary. We must sacrifice love for ourselves to love for others. “ Greater love has no one than this, if someone lays down his life (that is, sacrifices his life) for his friends (his neighbors) (John 15:13 ). And love for oneself and love for one’s neighbors must be sacrificed to the love of God. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks about it this way: “ Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up his cross (that is, who refuses all life’s hardships, sufferings and trials that the Lord sends, but follows the easy, lawless path) and follows Me is not worthy of Me ” (Matthew 10:37 -38).
If a person loves God first of all, then naturally he cannot help but love his father, mother, children, and all his neighbors; and this love will be sanctified by divine grace. If a person loves one of them, without love for God, then such love can even be criminal, for example, such a person, for the well-being of a beloved friend, can deprive the well-being of others, be unfair, cruel to them, etc.
So, although the entire Law of God is contained in two commandments of love, in order for us to more clearly understand our duties to God and neighbor, they are divided into 10 commandments. Our duties to God are prescribed in the first four commandments, and our duties to others in the last six commandments.
About the first commandment of the Law of God
1. I am seven, the Lord thy God: let there be no gods for thee, except Me..
I am the Lord your God; and you shall have no other gods besides Me.
Az
- I; let them not be for you - you must not have them; bozi - gods; inii - others, others; unless Me - besides Me.
With the first commandment, the Lord God points man to Himself and inspires us to honor Him - the One True God. Apart from Him, we should not render Divine veneration to anyone.
Name: "Lord", from the word "to dominate"; the name “God”, from the word “rich in mercy”, good! As omnipotent, God commands; as merciful, He reveals Himself and His holy will. In order to honor the Lord God, we must know Him, that is, learn the knowledge of God.
Knowledge of God
is the most important of all knowledge. It is our first and most important duty. All scientific human knowledge, if it is not illuminated by the light of knowledge of God, loses its true meaning, its meaning and its purpose. Instead of good, such knowledge brings a lot of evil into life.
To acquire the knowledge of God, that is, in order to learn to know the true God, we must:
1. Read and study the Holy Scriptures (the Word of God), which imparts to us the true and most perfect knowledge of God.
2. Read the works of the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church, which is necessary for the correct understanding of Holy Scripture and saving oneself from perverted, incorrect understanding.
3. It is possible to frequently visit the temple of God, because all church services performed in it represent a visual teaching about God and His works.
4. Listen to pastors' sermons and read books of religious and moral content.
5. Study God's creation - nature, as well as the history of the human race, which show us the wondrous actions of God's providence.
This commandment also imposes on us certain duties of worship of God. We have to:
1. Believe in God , that is, have a sincere and firm conviction in His existence.
2. Walk before God , that is, always remember God and do everything as if before the eyes of God (act carefully), and, at the same time, do not forget that God sees not only our deeds, but also our thoughts.
3. Trust in God, love God and obey God , always be ready to do what He commands, and not grumble when He does not do to us what we ourselves would like. After all, only God knows what and when to give us - what is useful for us and what is harmful.
The highest form of love for God is reverence , or fear of God , that is, the fear of moving away from God through our sins.
4. Worship God, glorify and thank the Lord God as our Creator, Provider and Savior, remembering all His gifts and mercies to us.
5. Fearlessly confess God , that is, admit before everyone that He is our God, and not give up your faith, even if you have to suffer and even die for this confession.
Sins against the first commandment:
1. Atheism - when people completely deny the existence of God. The prophet David calls such people foolish: “ the fool in his heart: there is no God” (Psalm 13 :1).
2. Polytheism - when, instead of the One, true God, many imaginary deities are recognized.
3. Unbelief - when people, recognizing the existence of God, do not believe His Divine Providence and Revelation.
This unbelief often comes from incorrect education and upbringing, from pride and conceit, from being carried away by bad examples, from a disdainful attitude towards the leadership of the Church and from a sinful life.
4. Heresy - when people come up with or invent teachings that are contrary to Divine truth, or persistently and deliberately distort Divine truth.
5. Schism , - that is, willful deviation (separation) from the unity of worship of God - from unity with the Orthodox Church.
6. Apostasy , when people renounce the true faith, fearing persecution, ridicule, or for the sake of any earthly calculations, or out of enthusiasm for false teachings.
7. Despair , when people, forgetting about the infinite mercy of God, do not hope to receive help and salvation from God.
The most terrible examples of despair are suicides.
8. Magic , when people, abandoning faith in the power of God, turn to various secret and evil forces.
9. Superstition , when they believe in some ordinary thing, attributing to it supernatural power.
10. Laziness in prayer and in any godly deed.
11. Love for creatures is greater than for God.
12. People-pleasing , when they care more about pleasing people than God.
13. Reliance on man , when they rely more on themselves or on other people than on the mercy and help of God.
The commandment of God does not contradict our duty to honor the holy angels and holy saints of God and pray to them, since we honor them not as God Himself, but as faithful servants of God who have pleased God with their lives. Holy angels and saints of God are close to God and can be our helpers in prayer before the Lord God. We must ask for their help and intercession in the firm hope that the Lord, for their sake, will sooner hear our sinful prayers. The Word of God says: “ Pray for one another so that you may be healed; The fervent prayer of the righteous can accomplish much ” (James 5:16 ) “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him all are alive ” (Luke 20:38 ).
About the second commandment of the Law of God
2. Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below, and the tree in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them..
Do not make for yourself an idol, or any image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the waters under the earth: do not bow down to them or serve them.
Don't create
- don't do it; idol - an idol that is worshiped instead of God; any - any; likeness - an image (drawn or made of wood, stone, metal); elika — that; grief - above; bottom - below; underground - below the ground, i.e. below the earth's surface, below the shores.
By the second commandment, the Lord God forbids idolatry, that is, he forbids making idols for veneration, or venerating likenesses or images of what we see in the sky (sun, moon, stars) and what is on earth (plants, animals, people) , or is in the waters (of fish). The Lord forbids worshiping and serving these idols instead of the true God, as the pagans do.
With the prohibition to venerate idols and idols, one must in no way confuse the Orthodox worship of holy icons and relics, for which Protestants and various sectarians often reproach us. When we honor holy icons, we do not consider them gods or idols; for us they are only an image, an image of God, or angels, or saints. The word icon is Greek and means image . When we venerate icons and pray in front of an icon, we pray not to the “material icon” (that is, paint, wood, or metal), but to the One who is depicted on it. Everyone knows how much easier it is to turn your thoughts to the Savior when you see His Most Pure Face, or His cross, than when there is an empty wall or stove in front of you.
Holy icons are given to us for the reverent remembrance of the deeds of God and His saints, for the reverent lifting of our thoughts to God and His saints. Through this our heart is inflamed with love for our Creator and Savior. Holy icons are for us the same holy books, only written, instead of letters, with faces and things.
Even in the Old Testament, Moses, through whom God gave the commandment prohibiting idols, at the same time received a command from God to place golden sacred images of cherubim on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle (i.e., the mobile Jewish temple). The Lord said to Moses: “Make them at both ends of the mercy seat... There I will reveal myself to you and speak to you above the mercy seat, in the midst of the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, about everything that I will command through you to the children of Israel” (Ex. 25 , 18, 22). The Lord also commanded Moses to weave images of cherubim on the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, and on the inside of the fine linen curtains (made of expensive woolen material), which covered not only the top, but also the sides of the tabernacle (Ex. 26 : 1-37).
In Solomon's temple there were also sculptured and embroidered images of cherubs on all the walls and on the church curtain (1 Kings 6 , 27-29; 2 Chronicles 3 , 7-14). And the cherubim on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant were renewed (2 Chronicles 3:10 ). When the temple was ready, “the glory of the Lord (in the form of a cloud) filled the temple” (1 Kings 8:11 ). The images of cherubim were pleasing to the Lord, and the people, looking at them, prayed and bowed.
There were no images of the Lord God in the Tabernacle and in the Temple of Solomon because during more than half of the Old Testament life people were not privileged to see the Lord. There were no images of the Old Testament righteous, because then people were not yet redeemed and justified (Rom. 3 , 9, 25; Matt. 11 , 11).
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself sent a miraculous image of His Face to the Edessa prince Abgar: the so-called image not made by hands . Having prayed before the miraculous image of Christ, Abgar was healed of an incurable illness.
St. Luke the Evangelist, a doctor and painter, wrote and, according to legend, left behind him icons of the Mother of God. Some of them are located in our fatherland - Russia.
The Lord glorified many of the holy icons by working miracles.
Animals depicted on icons, even the image of the devil, do not desecrate holy icons if this is necessary for a visual depiction of historical events. After all, mentioning their names does not desecrate the Holy Scriptures.
The veneration of holy relics does not contradict the second commandment. In holy relics we honor the gracious power of God, which acts through the relics of saints.
For us Christians, idolatry, in the form to which all pagans are devoted, is impossible. But instead of gross idolatry, there is a more subtle idolatry among us. Such idolatry includes serving sinful passions, such as: covetousness, gluttony, pride, vanity, etc.
Covetousness
, this is the desire to acquire wealth. The Apostle Paul says that “covetousness is idolatry” (Colossians 3 :5). For a selfish person, wealth becomes like an idol, which he serves and worships more than God.
Gluttony
, this is a delicacy, gluttony and drunkenness. The Apostle Paul says about such people who place sensual pleasures from food and drink above all else; that “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3, 19).
Pride and vanity
. A proud and vain person has an excessively high opinion of his own merits - intelligence, beauty, wealth. The proud man honors only himself. He considers his concepts and desires above the supreme will of God Himself. He treats the opinions and advice of other people with contempt and ridicule and will not give up his views, no matter how false they may be. A proud and vain person makes an idol out of himself (both for himself and for others).
By prohibiting these subtle vices of idolatry, the second commandment thereby instills the following virtues: non-covetousness and generosity ; abstinence, fasting and humility .
About the third commandment of the Law of God
3. You have not taken the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Didn't accept
- do not use, do not pronounce; in vain - in vain.
The third commandment is forbidden to pronounce the name of God in vain, without due reverence. The name of God is taken in vain when it is pronounced in empty conversations, jokes and games.
Prohibiting in general a frivolous and irreverent attitude towards the name of God, this commandment prohibits sins that arise from a frivolous and irreverent attitude towards God. Such sins are:
god
- , that is, the frivolous use of an oath in ordinary conversations;
blasphemy
- - impudent words against God;
blasphemy
- when sacred objects are spoken of jokingly or mockingly;
violation of vows given to God, perjury and false oath in the name of God.
The name of God must be pronounced with fear and reverence, in prayer, in the teaching about God and in a legal oath or oath.
This commandment does not prohibit a reverent, legal oath. God Himself used an oath, as the Apostle Paul recalls in his letter to the Hebrews, saying: “People swear by the highest, and an oath as evidence ends all their disputes. Therefore, God, desiring to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of His will, used an oath as a means” (Heb. 6, 16-17).
About the fourth commandment of the Law of God
4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: six days shall you do, and in them shall you do all your work; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, shall be to the Lord your God..
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (i.e., to spend it holy): work for six days and do, in continuation of them, all your works, and dedicate the seventh day - a day of rest (Saturday) to the Lord your God.
Hedgehog
- to; sanctify - to sanctify, to dedicate to the service of God, to holy and pleasing deeds to God; six days do - six days work, work; and create in them - and do in continuation of them; all your deeds are all your deeds.
By the fourth commandment, the Lord God commands us to work six days and attend to our own affairs, to which one is called; and dedicate the seventh day to serving God, to holy and pleasing deeds to Him.
Holy and pleasing to God deeds are: caring for the salvation of one’s soul, prayer in the temple of God and at home, studying the Law of God, enlightening the mind and heart with useful knowledge, reading the Holy Scriptures and other soul-helping books, pious conversations, helping the poor, visiting the sick and prisoners in prison, consolation of the sad and other good deeds.
In the Old Testament, the seventh day of the week was celebrated - Saturday (which in ancient Hebrew means “rest”) - in remembrance of the creation of the world by the Lord God (“on the seventh day God rested from the works of creation”) In the New Testament, from the time of St. apostles, the first day of the week, Resurrection, began to be celebrated - in remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ.
The name of the seventh day must mean not only Sunday, but also other holidays and fasts established by the Church, just as in the Old Testament the name Saturday also meant other holidays (Easter, Pentecost, Tabernacles, etc.).
The most important Christian holiday is the “Festival and Celebration of Celebrations” - the Bright Resurrection of Christ , called Holy Easter , which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the spring full moon, in the period from March 22 (April 4 n.st.), to April 25 ( May 8, New Art.).
Then follow the great, so-called twelve holidays, established in honor and glory of God and our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother, the Virgin Mary:
1. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - September 8 (September 21 AD).
2. Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple - November 21 (December 4, New Art.).
3. Annunciation , i.e. angelic announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her - March 25 (April 7, New Art.).
4. Nativity of Christ - December 25 (January 7 N.S.).
5. Presentation of the Lord - February 2 (February 15 N.S.).
6. Epiphany (Epiphany) - January 6 (January 19 AD).
7. Transfiguration of the Lord - August 6 (August 19 AD).
8. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) - on the last Sunday before Easter .
9. Ascension of the Lord - on the fortieth day after Easter .
10. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (Pentecost), or the day of the Holy Trinity - on the fiftieth day after Easter .
11. Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 14 (September 27 AD).
12. Dormition of the Mother of God - August 15 (August 28).
Of the other holidays, the most revered are:
Circumcision of the Lord (New Year of the Old Style) - January 1 (January 14 of the Old Style).
Protection of the Mother of God - October 1 (October 14 N.S.).
Icons of the Kazan Mother of God - October 22 (November 4, New Art.).
The Nativity of John the Baptist - June 24 (July 7).
The beheading of John the Baptist is August 29 (Sept. 11, AD).
St. First Apostles Peter and Paul - June 29 (July 12 N.S.).
St. Apostle John the Theologian - May 8 (May 21, new style) and September 26 (October 9, new style).
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - May 9 (May 22 n.st.) and December 6. (December 19th Art.).
Fasts established by the Church:
1. Great Lent or Holy Pentecost before Easter .
Lasts seven weeks : 6 weeks of Lent itself and the seventh week of Passion - in remembrance of the suffering of Christ the Savior.
2. Nativity Fast before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
Starts on November 14th (November 27th New Style), from St. Apostle Philip, why is it otherwise called the “Philip Fast.” (40-day fast).
3. Dormition Fast before the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
Lasts two weeks , from August 1 (August 14, New Style) to August 14. (27 August New Year) incl.
4. Apostolic or Peter's fast before the feast of St. Apostles Peter and Paul.
Begins a week after the Holy Trinity Day and lasts until June 29 (July 12 AD). Its duration depends on whether Easter occurs earlier or later. Its longest duration is six weeks, and its shortest is a week with one day.
One-day posts:
1. On Christmas Eve - the day before Christmas .
December 24 (January 6 N.S.). A particularly strict fast, among the days of the Nativity Fast (the custom is not to eat until the first star appears).
2. Christmas Eve - the day before the Epiphany of the Lord .
January 6 (January 19 N.S.).
3. On the day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist .
August 29 (September 11, new style).
4. On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord , in remembrance of the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross.
September 14 (September 27 new style).
5. Wednesday and Friday of every week.
Wednesday - in remembrance of the tradition of the Savior by Judas. Friday - in remembrance of the suffering on the cross and the death of the Savior for us.
Fasting on Wednesday and Friday does not occur only in the following weeks: on Easter week, on Christmastide (from the day of the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany), on Trinity week (from the feast of the Holy Trinity to the beginning of Peter's Lent), on the week of the publican and the Pharisee (before the Great Lent) and in the Cheese or Butter Week just before Lent, when only milk and eggs are allowed.
During fasting, one must especially decisively abandon all bad habits and passions: anger, hatred, enmity; one must move away from the distracted, cheerful life, from games, shows, dances; there is no need to read books that arouse unclean thoughts and desires in the soul; you should not eat meat, milk, eggs, but should limit yourself to lean foods (i.e., plant foods and, when permitted, fish), consuming this food in moderation. During a multi-day fast, one must confess and receive Holy Communion.
Both those who are lazy and do not work on weekday six days, and those who work on holidays, violate the fourth commandment.
Those who, although they stop worldly activities and work on these days, spend them in nothing but fun and games and indulge in revelry and drunkenness, without thinking about serving God, violate it no less. It is especially sinful to indulge in entertainment on holiday, when we should be at the all-night vigil, and in the morning at the Liturgy. For us, Orthodox Christians, the holiday begins in the evening, when the all-night vigil is served, and devoting this time to dancing or other entertainment means mocking the holiday.
About the fifth commandment of the Law of God
5. Honor your father and your mother, may it be good for you, and may you live long on earth.
Honor your father and your mother, so that it may be good for you and that you may live long on earth.
Honor
- read; yes - so that; good - good; may you be long-lived - may you live long.
With the fifth commandment, the Lord God commands us to honor our parents and for this he promises a prosperous and long life.
Honoring parents means: loving them, being respectful to them, not insulting them with words or deeds, obeying them, helping them in their labors, taking care of them when they are in need, and especially during their illness and old age, also praying for them to God, both during their life and after death.
The sin of disrespect for parents is a great sin. In the Old Testament, whoever slandered his father or mother was punished by death (Mark 7:10 ; Exodus 21:16 ).
Along with our parents, we must honor those who, in some respect, replace our parents. Such persons include: shepherds and spiritual fathers , who care about our salvation, teach us faith and pray for us; civil leaders who take care of our peaceful life and protect us from oppression and robbers; educators, teachers and benefactors who try to teach us and give us everything good and useful; and, in general, those older in age who have life experience and therefore are able to give us good advice. Therefore, those who do not respect their elders, especially the elderly, sin; who are distrustful of their experience, indifferent, and sometimes with ridicule treat their comments and instructions, considering them “backward” people, and their concepts and views “outdated.” Even in the Old Testament, the Lord said through Moses: “Rise up before the face of the gray man, and honor the face of the old man, and fear the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:32 ).
But if it happened that our parents or leaders demanded from us something contrary to the faith and the Law of God, then we must say to them, as the apostles said to the Jewish leaders: “Judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God” (Acts. 4 , 19). And he must endure for faith and the Law of God whatever follows.
About the sixth commandment of the Law of God
6. Thou shalt not kill . Dont kill.
The sixth commandment of the Lord God prohibits murder, that is, taking the life of other people, and of oneself (suicide), in any way.
Life is the greatest gift of God; therefore, to deprive oneself or another of life is the most terrible, grave and great sin.
Suicide is the most terrible of all sins committed against the sixth commandment, since in suicide, in addition to the sin of murder, there is also the grave sin of despair, murmuring against God and daring rebellion against God's providence. In addition, suicide eliminates the possibility of repentance.
A person is guilty of murder even if he killed another person accidentally, without intent; and such a murder is a grave sin, because in this case the one who killed is guilty of his negligence.
A person is guilty of murder even when, although he does not personally kill, he contributes to the murder or at least allows others to commit murder. For example:
1. A judge convicting a defendant whose innocence he knows .
2. Anyone who helps others commit murder by his order, advice, assistance, consent, or who shelters and justifies a murderer and thereby gives him an opportunity for new murders.
3. Anyone who does not save his neighbor from death when he could easily do so.
4. Anyone who exhausts his subordinates with hard work and cruel punishments and thereby accelerates their death.
5. Anyone who shortens his own life through intemperance and various vices.
He also sins against the sixth commandment who wishes death to another person, who does not provide help to the poor and sick, who does not live peacefully and harmoniously with others, but, on the contrary, harbors hatred, envy and malice towards others, starts quarrels and fights with others, upsets others. All the evil and strong who offend the weak sin against the sixth commandment, which also happens among children. The Gospel law of Christ says: “ Whoever hates his brother (neighbor) is a murderer ” (John 3:15 ).
In addition to physical murder, there is an even more terrible and responsible murder: this is spiritual murder. A type of spiritual murder is temptation , that is, when someone seduces (seduces) a neighbor into unbelief or onto the path of a vicious life and thereby exposes his soul to spiritual death.
The Savior said: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the man through whom temptation comes" (Matt. 18, 6-7).
To avoid sin against the sixth commandment, a Christian must: help the poor, serve the sick, console the sad, alleviate the condition of the unfortunate, treat everyone meekly and with love, reconcile with those who are angry, forgive insults, do good to enemies and not set a disastrous example in word or deed. others, especially children.
Fighting in a war cannot be equated with criminal murder. War is a great social evil , but at the same time, war is also a great disaster allowed by the Lord to correct and admonish the people, just as He allows epidemics, famines, fires and other misfortunes. Therefore, the murder of St. The Church does not consider human sin as a private sin, especially since every warrior is ready, according to the commandment of Christ, to “ lay down his soul (give up his life) for his friends ,” in order to defend the faith and the fatherland.
Among the soldiers there were many saints glorified by miracles.
However, in war there can also be criminal killings, this is when, for example, a warrior kills an enemy who is surrendering, who has raised his hands, commits atrocities, etc.
The death penalty
the criminal also belongs to the social form of evil and is a great evil, but it is permissible in exceptional cases, when it is the only, in fairness, way to stop numerous murders and crimes. But the rulers who carried out this execution are responsible the justice The death penalty for a hardened criminal is often the only means of repentance. And without the will of God, not a hair will fall from a person’s head.
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Third Commandment
It is forbidden to pronounce the name of God without reverence or between words in conversation. In biblical times, God and the names He bore were inextricably linked. And if the Lord is holy, then His name is holy, which must be treated with reverence and reverence.
Sins against the third commandment:
– frivolous use of an oath in ordinary conversations;
– blasphemy and blasphemy (when they talk about God jokingly and mockingly);
- violation of oaths given to God.
Fourth Commandment
God commands that after six days of work, the seventh should be devoted to serving Him. In the Old Testament, the seventh day of the week was celebrated - Saturday, as the day of the end of the creation of the world. In the New Testament, the first day of the week began to be celebrated - Sunday, in memory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nowadays, a belief has spread among people that it is strictly forbidden to work on holidays and Sundays. Clarification is required: service to God cannot be replaced by work these days.
Sins against the fourth commandment:
– disrespect for Sundays and holidays, failure to attend Sunday services;
- violation of fasts.
Seven deadly sins
There are seven mortal sins in Christian teaching, and they are called so because, despite their seemingly harmless nature, if regularly practiced, they lead to much more serious sins and, consequently, to the death of an immortal soul that ends up in hell. Deadly sins are not
are based on biblical texts and
not
a direct revelation of God; they appeared in the texts of theologians later.
First, the Greek monk-theologian Evagrius of Pontus compiled a list of the eight worst human passions. They were (in descending order of severity): pride, vanity, acedia, anger, sadness, avarice, lust and gluttony. The order in this list was determined by the degree of a person’s orientation towards himself, towards his ego (that is, pride is the most selfish property of a person and therefore the most harmful).
At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory I the Great reduced the list to seven elements, introducing the concept of vanity into pride, spiritual laziness into despondency, and also adding a new one - envy. The list was slightly reordered, this time according to the criterion of opposition to love: pride, envy, anger, despondency, greed, gluttony and voluptuousness (that is, pride is more opposed to love than others and is therefore the most harmful).
Later Christian theologians (in particular, Thomas Aquinas) objected to this particular order of mortal sins, but it was this order that became the main one and remains in effect to this day. The only change in Pope Gregory the Great's list was the replacement of the concept of despondency with sloth in the 17th century. Also see a brief history of sin (in English).
Due to the fact that representatives of the predominantly Catholic Church took an active part in compiling and finalizing the list of the seven deadly sins, I dare to assume that this is not applicable to the Orthodox Church, and especially to other religions. However, I believe that regardless of religion and even for atheists, this list will be useful. Its current version is summarized in the following table.
| № | Name and synonyms | English | Explanation | Misconceptions |
| 1 | Pride , pride (meaning “arrogance” or “arrogance”), vanity . | Pride , vanity . | Excessive faith in one's own abilities, which conflicts with the greatness of God. It is considered a sin from which all others come. | Pride (meaning “self-esteem” or “feeling of satisfaction from something”). |
| 2 | Envy . | Envy . | Desire for another's properties, status, opportunities, or situation. It is a direct violation of the tenth Christian commandment (see below). | Vanity (historically it was included in the concept of pride), jealousy . |
| 3 | Anger . | Anger , wrath . | Opposed to love is a feeling of strong indignation, indignation. | Revenge (although it is not complete without anger). |
| 4 | Laziness , laziness , idleness , despondency . | Sloth , acedia , sadness . | Avoidance of physical and spiritual work. | |
| 5 | Greed , greed , stinginess , love of money . | Greed , covetousness , avarice . | The desire for material wealth, the thirst for profit, while ignoring the spiritual. | |
| 6 | Gluttony , gluttony , gluttony . | Gluttony . | An uncontrollable desire to consume more than is required. | |
| 7 | Voluptuousness , fornication , lust , debauchery . | Lust . | Passionate desire for carnal pleasures. |
The most harmful of them is definitely considered pride. At the same time, the belonging of some items on this list to sins (for example, gluttony and lust) is questioned. And according to one sociological survey, the “popularity” of mortal sins is as follows (in descending order): anger, pride, envy, gluttony, voluptuousness, laziness and greed.
The article “7 Deadly Sins and Health” may seem interesting, considering the impact of these sins on the human body from the point of view of modern science. And, of course, the matter could not do without a “scientific” justification for those natural properties of human nature that were included in the list of the worst.
Fifth Commandment
God obliges us to honor parents, take care of them, and for this he promises caring children a long life. In the Old Testament, honoring parents was so important that anyone who slandered (condemned) father and mother was sentenced to death.
Sins against the fifth commandment:
– beating the father or mother;
– disobedience to parents (except for cases where the actions and demands of parents contradict the Holy Scriptures);
– indifference to parents, reproaches and evil words towards them;
– neglect of parental blessing;
– leaving prayer for parents.
Sixth Commandment
God forbids murder. You cannot take the lives of people and yourself. Only God gives life and takes it away. The exception is war, where a person has to kill in defense of his homeland, his loved ones, and children.
Sins against the sixth commandment:
– murder;
– committing an abortion and pushing for it;
– suicide;
- temptation to sin your neighbor;
– incitement to murder and incitement to suicide;
– leaving a neighbor without help in a situation of mortal danger.
Seventh Commandment
God forbids spouses to cheat on each other, and for unmarried people to enter into illegal cohabitation - to commit fornication. Adultery and fornication begin not from the moment of physical intimacy, but much earlier, when a person allows himself to dream about something lustful, to look at someone else’s husband or wife with lust.
Sins against the seventh commandment:
– treason;
– reading books and watching films of an erotic nature;
– temptation;
– handjob;
– fornication;
– marital jealousy;
– divorce without good reason;
– avoidance of marital intimacy as a reason for the second spouse to seek physical intimacy on the side.
