Are the ten commandments important

Answer 1

A:The Ten Commandments have a mystique for Christians that is not really there for Jews. Because of this mystique, Christians are likely to attribute greater importance to the Ten Commandments than most Jews would. They are similar in concept to many ancient religious codes, and still have some relevance today, although only in the most general terms:

• The first three commandments are essentially different ways of saying to worship no other god, rules which are still important to believers.
• The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, and is almost never honoured.
• The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother, a useful social rule usually observed out of filial love rather than by bringing to mind a commandment. In any case, whether we honour our parents is not something that can usefully be enforced by commandment unless we return to stoning children to death for striking their fathers.
• The sixth commandment, do not kill, is too general and too obvious to need to be stated in this way. It is the law that ensures we do not kill others, not the commandment, so this is no longer important.
• The seventh commandment, do not commit adultery, is too ill-defined. For example, in Old Testament times it was adultery for a man to have sex with the wife of another Jew but, although married himself, not with a single woman, widow or prostitute. The commandment was intended to protect the property rights of Jewish men and is not important today unless we redefine it to suit modern norms.
• The eighth commandment, do not steal, is too general to be the foundation for modern ethics. It is the law that ensures we do not commit robbery offences, fraud, tax evasion and so on, not the commandment, so this is no longer important.
• The ninth commandment, do not bear false witness against your neighbour, would have originally been intended for some situations now seen as perjury, but has not formed the basis of our criminal law in respect to perjury. It is also commonly seen as a commandment against telling lies, but would only be important today if it affected behaviour, which is doubtful.
• The tenth commandment says not to covet that which belongs to your neighbour, including his wife and slaves. Wives are no longer thought of in Western society as a man's property and slaves are no longer permitted, thus reducing the importance of this commandment.