RE: I love the 10 commandments
November 21, 2019 at 5:20 am
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2019 at 5:21 am by Belacqua.)
There's a wonderful counter-tradition within Christianity itself, in which the Antinomian Christians say that it is the giving of the law, not the breaking of it, which causes the Fall of Man. The best-known exponent of this tradition is probably William Blake. This is from his early book, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell:
emphasis mine
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Another long tradition says that the commandments Moses received on the mountaintop -- all 613 of them, not just the famous 10 -- are the exoteric law, meant for the rank and file.
Moses had to spend a full 40 days up there not because the written laws took so long (Jehovah presumably had a laser printer) but because he was learning by heart the esoteric law, which to this day is passed on only orally to the few who have demonstrated the quality necessary to understand it. This is the origin of the Kabbalah.
It's a fascinating esoteric set of teachings, not mainstream because it demands more subtle thinking than most people can manage.
The idea seems to be widespread in spiritual traditions. There are supposedly Platonic teachings for initiates that may not be written down, and of course there are several sects of esoteric Buddhism that require years to master.
Quote:if Jesus Christ is the greatest man, you ought to love him in the greatest degree; now hear how he has given his sanction to the law of ten commandments: did he not mock at the sabbath, and so mock the sabbaths God? murder those who were murderd because of him? turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery? steal the labor of others to support him? bear false witness when he omitted making a defence before Pilate? covet when he pray'd for his disciples, and when he bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments: Jesus was all virtue, and acted from Impulse: not from rules.
emphasis mine
------------------
Another long tradition says that the commandments Moses received on the mountaintop -- all 613 of them, not just the famous 10 -- are the exoteric law, meant for the rank and file.
Moses had to spend a full 40 days up there not because the written laws took so long (Jehovah presumably had a laser printer) but because he was learning by heart the esoteric law, which to this day is passed on only orally to the few who have demonstrated the quality necessary to understand it. This is the origin of the Kabbalah.
It's a fascinating esoteric set of teachings, not mainstream because it demands more subtle thinking than most people can manage.
The idea seems to be widespread in spiritual traditions. There are supposedly Platonic teachings for initiates that may not be written down, and of course there are several sects of esoteric Buddhism that require years to master.
