“The Ten Commandments” and “The Sermon on the Mount” are both very crucial regarding Christian beliefs surrounding moral behavior. “The Ten Commandments” can be found in chapter twenty of the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament. The commandments were handed to Moses by God, so they are very highly respected in Christianity. “The Sermon on the Mount” can be found in early chapters of the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. The few chapters include a collection of teachings directly from Jesus. In the sermon, Jesus speaks of eight “Beatitudes,” or a series of eight blessings.
“The Ten Commandments” may be the most straightforward commands from God. They are seen as the most fundamental laws of Christianity. The commandments were written by God to directly tell Moses how to serve him faithfully. Although the ten items may seem intimidating, they can easily be simplified. In straightforward terms, they teach to only have one God, to respect one’s parents, to not murder, to stay faithful in marriage, and to not lie, steal, or hold desires. In its original terms, “The Ten Commandments” first four commandments describe how to live faithfully in terms of religion. The first orders that one should only have God as their god, not anyone else. This leads to the next commandment which states that one should not worship false statues, or idols. The third instructs that God’s name should never be used in vain. The final commandment that is exclusive to religious people is to keep Sabbath day Holy. The six other commandments are much more inclusive when considering their ethical teachings. For example, the other commandments instruct people to honor their Father and Mother and shall not steal and murder. These ethical beliefs can be found universally in other religions, as well as in
legislations around the world. Although, the Christian belief is that if one commandment is broken, they might as well all have been. In other words, they are all of equal importance. This is exclusive to Christianity because murdering someone is valued the same as committing adultery. In other ethic belief systems, these would not be valued as the same and the punishments would be very different.
Like “The Ten Commandments,” “The Sermon on the Mount” also includes a list of
characteristics of one who lives faithfully to God. The sermon includes eight Beatitudes, or blessings, recounted by Jesus. The eight Beatitudes list the characteristics of those who are blessed. For example, one states “[b]lessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8, King James Version). This constitutes moral behavior because it means that one shall have a pure heart. By having a pure heart, one is able to love and understand God. If one strives to live like God, they will have pure intentions and commit honorable actions. Another way the sermon establishes moral behavior is by showing God love by abiding by his ten commandments. In verse six, of the fifth chapter of Matthew, it states that “[b]lessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6,
King James Version). In other words, it is our duty to honor God and his teachings. An easy way to honor Him is by following “The Ten Commandments.” This constitutes moral behavior because it restates the importance of the commandments. “The Ten Commandments” support the eight Beatitudes because they are restated by Jesus himself. One example is “[b]lessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9, King James Version). This statement reestablishes the commandment which directs one to love their neighbor. By being a peacemaker, one strives to keep those around them in harmony. By doing this, one is able to live in contentment with other people. This basically just reinstates that humans shall love their neighbors, as well as their enemies.
“The Ten Commandments” and “The Sermon on the Mount” share many similar views on what constitutes moral and ethical behavior. They both include teachings surrounding how to treat others. The commandments teach to not murder, lie, steal, and covet. The sermon’s teachings are similar, but include much higher expectations for followers of God. At the sermon, Jesus instructed people to be peacemakers, merciful, and forgivers. The two share the belief that in order to have ethical behavior, you must treat people the way in which God would treat them. The commandments are very simple in terms of what they are asking, while the sermon’s teachings are more difficult. The sermon instructs to love ones enemies and neighbors, as you would anyone else, while the commandments just instructs one to respect everyone. Overall, they both lay out the ways in which one can live a life faithfully to God in
very specific terms.
When it comes to which commandment can lead the most to happiness, there seem to be
two depending on one’s religious beliefs. For example, it seems that having no other gods but
God would lead to ones happiness. This would only apply to those who are religious because
having faith in God only comes with being Christian. It could be argued that having faith in God
would release someone from their woes. In other words, faith in God comes with having faith
that everything in life will work out. For those who are not religious, a commandment that
would lead to happiness is the one that states that one shall not covet. This means that one
should rid of their desires. This also goes with the idea to not be jealous. Having desires and
being jealous hold people back from being thankful for what they already have. Always wanting
more and more can be detrimental to someone because it can also lead to impurity of the heart.
Being jealous is a negative emotion. Therefore, feeling jealous often leads to impure actions.
Unlike “The Ten Commandments,” the admonitions that lead to the pursuit of happiness in
“The Sermon on the Mount” are all religious. It seems that the Beatitude that states “[b]lessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” would be the one that most likely leads to happiness
(Matthew 5:8, King James Version). In other words, having a pure heart would lead to happiness
because it rids of any negative emotions. For example, those with a pure heart do not have
negative intentions. Those with a pure heart simply do not dwell on negative feelings, especially
towards other people. If one does not have a pure heart, they are most likely building up
negative emotions and will eventually act upon those emotions. For those with a pure heart, they
completely avoid this problem.