# Christians vs. non-Christians on the Ten Commandments **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727 "2016-06-07T12:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/21 "2016-06-07T17:15:34Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Being no sort of Christian I managed 9/10, though I totally forgot what one of them was You were just using a [different version of the Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Bible). > [@Shodan](#): > > FWIW some denominations split the Commandments up differently. Detail’s of this are given in the OP’s link. > [@Alessan](#): > > What the fuck do the Ten Commandments have to do with Christianity? In my experience, they’re something that it’s fairly common for Christians to memorize, talk about, preach sermons on, etc. This is probably partly due to mankind’s instinctive love for Top Ten lists. Coming from the Old Testament, they’re not so much specifically Christian as Judeo-Christian. A better “Christianity test” might be to recite the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father…”). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/22 "2016-06-07T17:19:54Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m a huge Isaac Asimov fan, but he wrote one stinker of a short story where the hero detected a German spy from the fact that he knew the third verse of _The Star Spangled Banner_. The idea was that no real American knows it, but a spy would bone up on stuff like that. > [@running\_coach](#): > > Fourth stanza of “The Star Spangled Banner”. No American would know but an overly prepared spy(or Batman) would know. > It was a plot point in one of Asimov’s mystery/detective stories. A little Googling turns up that the story in question was [“No Refuge Could Save”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save). Asimov has also written a reasonably famous [essay about all four verses of TSSB](http://www.purewatergazette.net/asimov.htm); IIRC it originally appeared in his column in _The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction_. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/23 "2016-06-07T17:24:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > **A little Googling turns up that the story in question was [“No Refuge Could Save”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save).** > > Asimov has also written a reasonably famous [essay about all four verses of TSSB](http://www.purewatergazette.net/asimov.htm); IIRC it originally appeared in his column in _The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction_. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/24 "2016-06-07T17:29:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And he ripped THAT one off Hillel the Elder. But Jesus wasn’t claiming he’d invented those commandments. He was citing existing commandments that he assumed his listeners were familiar with, and saying those were the most important of all the commandments. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/25 "2016-06-07T17:40:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But Jesus wasn’t claiming he’d invented those commandments. He was citing existing commandments that he assumed his listeners were familiar with, and saying those were the most important of all the commandments. Yes; both of those commandments come from the [Old](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy+6%3A5&version=NRSV) [Testament](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+19%3A18&version=ESV). ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/26 "2016-06-07T17:50:13Z")
Reform Jewish, I got all ten commandments, but put the ban on adultery in the wrong place – for some reason I always thought it was the 9th commandment. I enjoy memorizing this kind of stuff. I also know and can sing all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner. During sporting events, I generally sing along using words from an alternate verse. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/27 "2016-06-07T18:06:15Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > That sounds like the cliche about WWII and German spies–asking who won the World Series the year before, because of course, only an American would know. This was based on a series actual incidents, where Germany sent ~2500 troops pretending to be Americans in an attempt to capture a bridge and disrupt American operations. The questions caught some of the Germans, but also a decent number of Americans - there was an American Brigadeer general who spent hours at gunpoint because he got a question about the Cubs wrong. > **[Operation Greif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Greif)** > > Operation Greif (English: Griffin) (German: Unternehmen Greif) was a special operation commanded by Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse river before they could be destroyed. German soldiers, wearing captured British and U.S. Army uniforms and using captured Allied vehicles, were to cause confusion in the rear of the Allied lines. ... ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/28 "2016-06-07T18:08:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > FWIW some denominations split the Commandments up differently. Sometimes "you shall have no other gods before Me’ is a different commandment from “you shall not make any graven images” and then they combine “you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” and “you shall not covet your neighbors house/servants/livestock/anything that is your neighbor’s” into one. Hey, it’s not like they’re carved in stone. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/29 "2016-06-07T19:29:14Z")
I was raised a Methodist but ain’t no more. I got 9/10, by forgetting anti-blasphemy. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/30 "2016-06-07T19:50:38Z")
Another non-Christian former Catholic here, and I know them all in the (correct, you Protestant heretics!) order that I memorized them in as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/31 "2016-06-07T20:06:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m an atheist. > > I was able to come up with six, and I actually follow three of those. I covet all sorts of stuff. I remember first learning them, probably around age 5 or 6, and assuming that “covet” was “cover”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/32 "2016-06-07T20:10:26Z")
Christian: I got 9/10. I forgot the coveting one. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/33 "2016-06-07T20:13:00Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Christian: I got 9/10. I forgot the coveting one. You are probably a woman, and they don’t say anything about coveting thy neighbor’s husband. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/34 "2016-06-07T20:31:05Z")
Knowing Bible is important, folks! Why, I can name all twelve of Israel’s sons! (And all of Santa’s reindeer.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/35 "2016-06-07T20:46:30Z")
Looks like the Christians are winning. Let’s see how they do against the lions now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/36 "2016-06-07T20:56:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You are probably a woman, and they don’t say anything about coveting thy neighbor’s husband. Right. Good to know I wasn’t breaking a commandment. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/37 "2016-06-07T23:57:16Z")
I know them in order,bethe Catholic order. Of course sometimes I have to sing the song to myself to get them that way. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/38 "2016-06-08T00:02:32Z")
Jews have 613 Commandments. Orthodox Christians have much harder laws then Orthodox Jews. Catholicism in Christianity like Conservative Judaism has reduced the number of Laws. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/39 "2016-06-08T00:12:07Z")
Some Christians in 1980s told me that all non – Christians will suffer eternally. As a Jew I believe that Christians and Muslims who keep [The Seven Commandments](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Laws_of_Noah) will be saved. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727/40 "2016-06-08T00:17:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And he ripped THAT one off Hillel the Elder. Definitely. All Protestant Commandments are taken from The Seven Laws of Noah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-vs-non-christians-on-the-ten-commandments/756727.md?page=3)