The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:4-21. In my research on catechisms, I was not a bit surprised that all of the catechisms I've reviewed have sections on the Ten Commandments. I did get confused, however, when I found there are different ways to number the Ten Commandments. None of the commands given by God to the Israelites through Moses has been removed, but they are separated differently.
What are the Ten Commandments?
How did God give His Law?
When God created people, He wrote the Law on their hearts. Later he arranged the Law in Ten Commandments, wrote it on two tables of stone, and made it known through Moses. (Romans 2:14-15)
Bible narrative: God wrote His commandments directly for the Israelites (Exodus 19-20; 31:18). There are three kinds of laws in the Old Testament: the moral law, which tells all people their duty toward God and other people;...
What do Catechisms Teach?
My last article, What are Catechisms?, briefly described the purpose of using catechisms: to teach Christian doctrine in a way that's easy to understand.
Some of the catechisms are obviously related, such as Martin Luther's Small Catechism and Large Catechism (both 1529), and the Westminster Shorter Catechism and Larger Catechism (both 1647). Other catechisms may build on an existing catechism, such as...
What are Catechisms?
The word catechism comes from the Greek word κατηχέω (Katecheo; Strong's G2727), meaning "to instruct" or "to teach". Catechisms are used primarily in reference to teaching Christian doctrine, although they may be used in other contexts.
Κατηχέω is used several times in the Greek New Testament:
- Luke 1:4 (ESV) - that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught
- Acts 18:25 (ESV)...
How Many Languages Have Part of the Bible?
Most people don't realize there are many languages in the world. English, Chinese and Spanish showing up in the top five isn't surprising. Would you have guessed Hindi is number three and French is number five? Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese and Indonesian round out the top 10. There are far more languages in the world than that. In last week's article, How Many Languages Exist?, I used the estimate of 7,139 languages, from...
How Many Languages Exist?
In 1999, a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) resolution recommended February 21 be celebrated as International Mother Language Day. International Mother Language Day was first observed in 2000, but not formally approved by the United Nations General Assembly until 2002. This resolution is not unique, as there has been a significant effort to preserve all languages.
- 1999: UNESCO proclaims 21 February...
Why do Christians Sing?
For some people, singing is simple entertainment, a distraction from everyday life. For many people, singing is a pleasurable experience, but it also has positive effects on life. It can help us temporarily forget events we may be worrying about. Singing can improve memorization skills, as we learn the words to a song. Singing with a group of people improves socialization skills, whether it's a duet or a large congregation. Singing causes people to...
What is the Shema Yisrael?
The phrase Shema Yisrael comes from the first two Hebrew words of the verse Deuteronomy 6:4 (Hebrew שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל), transliterated as šemǎʿʹ yiś·rā·ʾēlʹ. The words mean "Hear Israel", and this passage is frequently referred to as the Shema. Strong’s Concordance assigns the number 8085 to the Hebrew word šemǎʿʹ and translates it as "hear". "Hear" is...
What’s Next for BibleQuestions.info?
I don't know what I'll be writing about next on BibleQuestions.info. I've spent over a year writing about Greek New Testament manuscripts and Textual Criticism, and I've decided to take a break. I will probably write some individual articles, or maybe a short series. Writing a long series take an enormous amount of time to do the research.
I'm currently working on a series about English Bible Versions, but the topic will take a lot more time than...
Is New Testament Textual Criticism Important?
Before I started writing this blog just over two years ago, I didn't know what textual criticism was. I knew there were many English Versions of the Bible, but I assumed most of the differences were just choices in the specific English words the translators used to reflect the original Hebrew or Greek word. That was clearly a naïve view. New Testament Textual Criticism (NTTC) tries to determine if the Greek New Testaments we have today are...