BELLFLOWER, Calif., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- According to best-selling author Ray Comfort, the Catholic church has "messed up" with the Ten Commandments on their new confessional iPhone app. Comfort, who emphasizes the Ten Commandments in his TV program and his books, maintains that the Catholic church has omitted one important Commandment. He challenges anyone to check out the Roman Catholic Bible in Exodus 20: "You will see that they have dropped the Second Commandment for their iPhone app, then split the last Commandment into two to keep the count at ten. The purpose of the Ten Commandments is to tell us what is right and what is wrong, so how will Catholics know right from wrong if one Commandment has been deleted?"According to the Ten Commandments listed in Catholic.org, the Second Commandment is "You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them..." Comfort asks, "How can sincere Catholics know that God Himself forbids the bowing down to any carved image of anything on earth or in heaven? This would include images of dead saints, angels, and images of Jesus and Mary. I think those who created the app should be held accountable and explain the omission."
For years Comfort's ministry has taught that the biblical purpose of the Commandments is similar to that of a mirror. "They reveal to us that we are sinners, that we are unclean, so that we will go to the water of God's mercy for forgiveness. Most people are trying to earn their way to Heaven, but the Commandments show us that we are all guilty. The only way we can be saved from a very real hell is by trusting in God's mercy which was extended at the cross. The Bible teaches that eternal life is a free gift of God, not something we earn by keeping the Ten Commandments."
Ray Comfort co-hosts "The Way of the Master" television program, with actor, Kirk Cameron. See www.LivingWaters.com for details of their ministry.
CONTACT: Trisha Ramos, 1-800-437-1893, email@livingwaters.com, for Ray Comfort
11 comments:
The Catholic church has done this for years. I went to a catholic high school and we were taught the ten commandments with out the reference to idols. A couple of years ago I was at the Texas state fair and I saw a stone plaque with the catholic version of the ten commandments on it. Have a great photo of it if you want it.
Thankful I now read my bible and know what God wrote in his word.
Please, Heath. Email me it. I'd be interested to see the pic of the plaque (email [at] fishwithtrish.com) Thanks!
Hey Trish,
Mark shared the article with me about this new iPhone app.
I found it interesting to read this relating article on your blog. It's really frustrating and annoying when Ray willfully ignores the fact he's been corrected on this very same topic back on his blog on July 13, 2010 "How Many Commandments are there?". The comments and feedback no longer show - maybe because of his new commenting system. But either way he was corrected on this, Catholics DID NOT discard the commandment about idols and graven images. Y'all need to do your homework before making such accusations.
"Another charge sometimes made by Protestants is that the Catholic Church "hides" the second commandment. This is because in Catholic catechisms, the first commandment is often listed as "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), and the second is listed as "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." (Ex. 20:7). From this, it is argued that Catholics have deleted the prohibition of idolatry to justify their use of religious statues. But this is false. Catholics simply group the commandments differently from most Protestants.
In Exodus 20:2–17, which gives the Ten Commandments, there are actually fourteen imperative statements. To arrive at Ten Commandments, some statements have to be grouped together, and there is more than one way of doing this. Since, in the ancient world, polytheism and idolatry were always united—idolatry being the outward expression of polytheism—the historic Jewish numbering of the Ten Commandments has always grouped together the imperatives "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3) and "You shall not make for yourself a graven image" (Ex. 20:4). The historic Catholic numbering follows the Jewish numbering on this point, as does the historic Lutheran numbering. Martin Luther recognized that the imperatives against polytheism and idolatry are two parts of a single command.
Jews and Christians abbreviate the commandments so that they can be remembered using a summary, ten-point formula. For example, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants typically summarize the Sabbath commandment as, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," though the commandment’s actual text takes four verses (Ex. 20:8–11)." catholic.com
P.S. I've been a sincere Catholic for nearly 34 years now. If God forbids me bowing in front of a statue, or altar or the Eucharist (all forms of showing respect, not worshipping) then God forbids all of you to bow down in front of your Bible while you pray. This arguement of Ray is incoherent in my opinion. And he has yet to show me why his personal interpretation of the Scriptures is without err and correct over anyone elses including the Catholic Church.
@ Spence
This type of rhetoric has been around from years from the catholic church, to try to explain there position on the removal of the second of the ten commandments. But it has never been sufficient to justify why the 9th (in the Roman Catholic view) is almost the same as the 6th (RC) which is about adultery. The catholic Tradition is the only one that does this. If they are going to break exodus 20:17 into 2 why not break it into 6 pieces and specify each of the items specified there. Then the Catholics could have fifteen commandments.
Exodus 20:4-5 does not just prohibit the bowing down to graven images or the worshiping of them but also the construction of them it is really very clear if you read the text. It even explains what they are. So if you bow down to a statue to show reverence are you showing reverence to God or to the statue.
And FYI I have never seen a Christian bow down and worship a Bible. And a Bible is not a Graven (Carved or Sculpted) image.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, Exodus 20:4-5
I don't think a bible fits into this category anyway.
Insightful comment, Heath. Thank you for your post.
@ heath and trish
So basically you think the Catholic Church has some sort of conspiracy with how the commandments are numbered and that Catholics are idolators because we kneel or bow in certain instances?
I'm not going to deny that some Catholics may very well be idolators just as many Protestants may be. But it's not because of their actions of bowing or kneeling - it's because what is on their hearts. I wrote a whole blog post on this topic awhile back and if you have any sincere interest in learning that your accusations are false please read it. I won't post the website link because that is against trish's blog rules but if you Google "Spence Ohana Blog Misunderstood Series part III" my post with be the first or second to come up (this topic is part III). Feel free to leave me feedback or a comment on it.
Lastly please do know that as a Catholic the Church has taught me that she condemns the worship of idols, images, icons, statues, etc.
"The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) taught that idolatry is committed "by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to, or reposing confidence in them" (374).
"Idolatry is a perversion of man’s innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who ‘transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God’" (CCC 2114).
Thanks for your reply Spence, I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I thought there was some type of catholic conspiracy going on. That was not my intention.
I only believe that the Catholic church is wrong and are either intentionally or unintentionally misleading other.
This is far from my only concern with Roman Catholic Teachings and traditions, and not even my biggest one.
I grew up with Catholic teachings and went to a Catholic boys school, and am aware of many of the things you say. Once I actually started reading my Bible God convicted me of how many things that I had been taught we against what God has said in his word and were more the traditions of man. Much in the same way that the Pharisees added to the laws of God.
Do not take my word for it examine everything in light of God's word and see if it be true. Reject that that goes against scripture and do not hold fast to the traditions of man, but every word of God.
May the spirit of God light your path and so you all truth.
@ Heath, I appreciate the reply.
So are you implying that Catholics don't read the Bible? Because if they did they would come to the same conclusions and assumptions as you, Trish or Ray and know what the Catholic Church teaches is unbiblical?
Hmmmmmm interesting. What if I told you I have examined the Church's teachings in light of God's Word - and I found her teachings and Traditions to be in fact biblical.
Who is right?
I recall Trish discussing Martin Luther here on her blog - saying he got some things right but others wrong (you know the stuff where he still agreed with the Church).
You guys can disagree with me. I respect that as long as the discussion is done with honesty and integrity.
For me it comes down to this, who can interpret the Scripture without err? Through study and examination of the Scriptures, thoughts from the Early Church Fathers my answer would be His established, authoritative and visible Church can and will always.
Spence Ohana....I loved your well-reasoned defense of the truth! Good job!
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