Understanding the Ten Commandments is crucial to the practice of Christian
Science.
That is why they are included in the foundational lessons
of the Sunday School pupils.
I believe they should also be a continual
part of the study and daily practice of all
students of Christian
Science, no matter their age or experience.
Most of my research
and study of the Ten Commandments is summarized in
Commandments. That
book is for parents to share with their children, and
includes 120
ready-made daily lessons for them to read and use together.
On this
web site, I will be posting further ideas about each of the Command-
ments
for a more general audience, although with a Christian Science
point-of-view,
as well as some basic suggestions for teaching them to
children, both
at home or in Sunday School.
You will find the full version of the
Ten Commandments from Exodus 20, King
As I finish new lessons on each
of the Commandments, I will add to the list of links
below. If you
have anything to share, I'd love to hear from you.
INTRODUCING THE
COMMANDMENTS TO LITTLE CHILDREN:
If you're just starting to teach
the Bible to your own very young children, make sure
they first understand
the concept of God. See the
First Lessons page for ideas.
Before
starting to teach the Ten Commandments separately, the children should
be
told the story of Moses and the Exodus of the Children of Israel.
Also, you need to
make sure the children understand the concept of
rules and commands, and why they
are useful to us.
To teach them about
Moses, I recommend getting a good children's Bible story book.
You
can also try telling the story of Moses in your own words directly
from the Bible.
To introduce a discussion of Moses, you might ask
your child if they know the story
of the day they were born. (Hopefully
it is a sweet story). After discussing the events
surrounding their
first meeting with their earthly family, and you have their attention,
you can tell them about a baby named Moses, who had a very exciting
adventure
floating down a river after he was born. He was found by
an Egyptian princess and
raised in the royal household! If they are
ready to listen, go back and tell them about
the sad times in Egypt
for the Hebrew people, and why it was important for God to
send someone
special to help them escape from the terrible situation they were
in.
That morally courageous person was Moses. He represents the same
moral courage
that we all need in order to escape the bondage of sin.
Then, when they understand
how important Moses was, go back and tell
the story in detail, perhaps using the
Bible storybook.
Now, it may
take a few days worth of story telling to get to the part where Moses
receives the Ten Commandments. But I feel it is important that they
relate Moses to
the Ten Commandments, and see the courage and
bravery he needed in order to
obey God, the Great I Am. They need
to see the special relationship Moses had
with God.
The children's
movie, The Prince of Egypt tells the story of Moses in the form of
an animated musical. It stops after the Red Sea event, but does have
a quick
epilogue showing Moses coming down a mountain with the stone
tablets. If your
kids watch this to learn the story of Moses, you
will need to explain to them that
the movie makers add things to the
film that did not actually happen in real life.
But the movie will
give the kids a flavor of the times, the locale, and the basic
events
and situation of Mose's life.
Before delving into the actual Ten Commandments,
go over the concept of rules
with your children, and why they are
important in society. If they have a favorite
game, have fun for a
while discussing what might happen if everybody changed
the rules
and no one was playing with the same rules. Chaos! Unhappiness.
Frustration.
Or, ask them what would happen if one person in the game did not
want
to obey the rules, or cheated. How would that make the others feel?
Is it
fair? Does it bring true happiness to the one who cheated to
win?
You can also take the child to a place where you can observe
an intersection of
roads for a while, one which has either stop signs
or a traffic signal. Discuss why
the signs are there, and what might
happen if one or more of the signs were
removed; what might happen
if someone ignored or did not see the signs? Explain
that the signs
can keep everyone safe, if obeyed. They keep the cars from running
into each other, and give everyone a fair chance at moving through
the intersection.
The traffic signals are a form of love, and we should
be grateful for their presence.
Disobeying or ignoring traffic
signals is a form of selfishness and ingratitude, and
can be harmful.
When
you are sure your children understand the reasons for rules, you can
talk to
them about God's rules and commands. Although the Ten Commandments
were
given to the Hebrews thousands of years ago, they are still useful
to us today.
Many of these Commandments are the basis of some of the
laws of our land, such
as the laws against stealing and killing, and
telling lies about others. But, because
the Commandments are from
God, they also have a spiritual meaning that can help
us in our spiritual
and moral growth.
The lessons on the Ten Commandments should not be
a one-time event. We need to
remind our children as often as we can,
that these rules were given to us by God to
keep us from harm, until
we have awakened to our true spiritual nature. The "Devil,"
or the
false beliefs of mortal mind which hate the Christ, Truth, would want
us to go
to sleep and forget the rules of God. We must stay awake
and not let ourselves be
mesmerized by the evil beliefs which would
tempt us to break the Ten Command-
ments. Our job is to glorify God
on earth, or rather, to let God shine through us, and
prove that
He is all-powerful. He is our Father-Mother, and we honor Him by being
obedient.
The essay, "Becoming a Living Monument to the Ten Commandments,"
is something
I prepared in response to current events (Fall 2003),
and includes summaries of
ways to practice each of the Commandments.
Following
the links is a collection of citations from the writings of Mary Baker
Eddy
regarding the Ten Commandments.
(Lessons on the 8th through 10th Commandments
to come in future)
WHAT MRS. EDDY WRITES ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
"If
I ever wear out from serving students, it shall be in the effort to
help them obey
the Ten Commandments and imbibe the spirit of Christ's
Beatitudes." (Mis. 303)
"Christian Science begins with
the First Commandment of the Hebrew Decalogue,
'Thou shalt have no
other gods before me.'" (Mis. 21)
"The lecturer, teacher,
or healer who is indeed a Christian Scientist, . . . keeps
unbroken
the Ten Commandments, and practices Christ's Sermon on the Mount."
(Rud.
11)
"Accept my counsel and teachings only as they include the
spirit and the letter of the
Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and
the teachings and example of Christ Jesus."
(My. 129)
"Corporeal
sense defrauds and lies; it breaks all the commands of the Mosaic
Decalogue
to meet its own demands. How then can this sense be the God-given
channel
to man of divine blessings or understanding?" (S&H 489)
"Teachers
must conform strictly to the rules of divine Science announced in
the Bible
and their textbook, 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.'
They must
themselves practice, and teach others to practise, the Hebrew
Decalogue, the Sermon
on the Mount, and the understanding and enunciation
of these according to Christ."
(Mis. 114)
"Feasting the senses,
gratification of appetite and passion, have no warrant in the
gospel
or the Decalogue." (Ret. 65)
"In my public works I lay
bare the ability, in belief, of evil to break the Decalogue,
-- to
murder, steal, commit adultery, and so on. Those who deny my
wisdom or right
to expose error, are either willing participants in
wrong, afraid of its supposed
power, or ignorant of it." (Mis.
335)
"Obedience to these [Ten] commandments is indispensable
to health, happiness, and
length of days." (Mis. 66)
"MOSES. A corporeal mortal; moral courage; a type of moral
law and the
demonstration thereof; the proof that, without the gospel,
-- the union of justice and
affection, -- there is something spiritually
lacking, since justice demands penalties
under the law." (S&H
592)
"Jesus said, 'I came not to destroy the law,' -- the divine
requirements typified in the
law of Moses, -- 'but to fulfil it' in
righteousness, by Truth's destroying error. No
greater type of
divine Love can be presented than effecting so glorious a purpose.
. . .
It is impossible to be a Christian Scientist without apprehending
the moral law so
clearly that, for conscience' sake, one will either
abandon his claim to even a
knowledge of this Science, or else make
the claim valid. All Science is divine.
Then, to be Science,
it must produce physical and moral harmony." (Mis. 261)
"The
thunder of Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount are pursuing and will
overtake
the ages, rebuking in their course all error and proclaiming the kingdom
of
heaven on earth. Truth is revealed. It needs only to be
practiced." (S&H 174)
"'God is Love.' This absolute
definition of Deity is the theme for time and for
eternity; it is iterated
in the law of God, reiterated in the gospel of Christ, voiced
in the
thunder of Sinai, and breathed in the Sermon on the Mount."
('02 5)
"The divine Principle of healing is proved in the personal experience
of any
sincere seeker of Truth. . . . No intellectual proficiency is
requisite in the learner,
but sound morals are most desirable."
(S&H x.)
"I am asked, 'Is there a hell?'
Yes, there is a hell for all who persist in breaking
the Golden Rule
or in disobeying the commandments of God." (My. 160)
