ADA MAE D.

ABELLERA CHRISTIAN ETHICS 4

JANUARY 25, 2018
LLB 4

REFLECTION PAPER

1. How can we, as Christians, break the first commandment?

As Christians, we can break the commandment “You shall have no other gods
before Me” by praising false prophets or by adoring certain material thing or things other
than our God, the Supreme being. For me, faith is subjective. Theist like me who
believe that there is a God recognizes that there is indeed a Supreme being but
sometimes we call him in different names and that is okay. But breaking the first
commandment is another thing. In the latter, it is not God whom we praise and adore
but someone else who misrepresents himself as God when in fact he is not. He is an
equal being who appears to be more powerful than us but in fact is not like those
preaching the words of God but in reality is preaching the words of man.

Other than false prophets, we also break the commandment by giving so much
respect on some material things and treating it/them like they are what matters like
money. Money is sometimes the root of all evil because people tend to become greedy.
We praise money, we love money to the extent that we can commit bad things just
because of the love of it.

2. If we give God our primary worship and loyalty, would it be acceptable to add a
few other minor deities just to be safe? What are the reasons for your answers?

As a Roman Catholic, some members of other sects or other religious

congregations accuses us Catholics of breaking the first commandments because we
have Saints and We also have Mary but for me, there is no breaking the rule here. As a
catholic, I was thought that we only have one God. Our recognition of the Saints and of
Mary do not change our belief that there is only one God, the Supreme being. We
recognize them because they make us closer to God.

3. Can a Christian participate to celebrations dedicated to other gods (pagan

celebrations, initiation rites, etc.)

Yes, for me, there is no reason why a Christian cannot join such celebrations.
Again, faith is subjective. Joining such celebrations will not make one less faithful. There
is really a point in our lives that we get confused and that is okay as long as at the end
of the day, we remain faithful to Him.
ADA MAE D. ABELLERA
JANUARY 25, 2018
LLB 4

Other questions for reflection:

1. Is it justified to “ swear religiously by the name of God?

Yes, it is justified for me as long in swearing we really meant with our hearts that
we are calling God to witness the truth of what we say. Meaning, as long as we know in
our hearts and minds how sincere we are of what we swear of.

2. Can a Christian bear the name of God and go to bars or nightclubs? Can he
make a promise out of politeness knowing he or she cannot fulfill it?

Yes, one can bear the name of God and go to bars at the same time. We are
only humans and we are not perfect. God is not a judgmental God. He accepts us even
with our numerous flaws. It does not mean that we go to bars or nightclubs as the case
may be, we can no longer call the name of God. Faith is again subjective. Some people
may always go to church and appear to be prayerful but are the ones who are not
sincere and cause gossips towards their fellow. And some may appear to be
unrighteous but are the ones who take faith seriously.

Moreover, a man can still promise out of politeness even knowing that he or she
cannot fulfil it because again we are only humans. We may not always fulfil the things
that we say but there is nothing wrong as long as we try. At the end of the day what
matters is that we can say to ourselves “ I may not have done it but atleast I tried.”