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Beatitudes vs. Commandments

June 21, 2004 By Uncategorized 2 Comments

My friend Cody Clark, the first blogger I ever met because of this medium posts an intriguing thought from Kurt Vonnegut:

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

This is a really good point. Theological merits aside, the difference between the two is stark and represents an interesting insight into the nature of our legal systems here in Judeo-Christian societies.

The Ten Commandments are the big don’ts of the Bible. These are the things you get in huge trouble for. You could probably name most of them, even if you were only marginally associated with Judaism, Christianity or Islam.

  1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
  2. 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, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
  4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
  5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
  6. Thou shalt not kill.
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  8. Thou shalt not steal.
  9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
  10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

The beatitudes are a different beast altogether. These are the blessings that Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount, and they offer an entirely different moral code, one which is inviting rather than prohibitive:

  1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  
  2. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
  3. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
  4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
  5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
  6. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
  7. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
  8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  9. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Google News shows people prefer the first set of instructions to the second.