Feb. 09, 1999

Hamburg, Germany ... [ANN] A survey published in the Hamburg-based magazine Spiegel reveals that most Germans do not view all Ten Commandments as important.

Under the headline of “Few Want to Honor God and Keep the Sabbath” the magazine printed the results of the survey carried out by the Emnid-Institute located in Bielefeld.

The least important commandment, according to the survey, is the first: “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me.” Only 33 per cent of those surveyed considered it important.

“Only four of Christianity’s Ten Commandments are viewed as significant by almost all German men and women,” commented Spiegel.  “A much higher number of Germans find it important to honor their parents than to be faithful to their spouse.”

The commandment accepted by most Germans (97 per cent) is “You shall not Kill.” Other largely accepted commandments are “You shall honor thy father and mother” and “Thou shalt not steal.” Germans are less strict regarding their sexual morals: 75 per cent consider it important to condemn adultery.

The magazine also reported that few accepted the commandment: “You shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

“Only 18 per cent of Catholics and 5 per cent of Protestants regularly attend worship,” according to Holger Teubert, spokesman for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany. “It is therefore not surprising that the observance of the day of rest in this country today has only little importance,” said Teubert.

“As an Adventist, it is distressing to see the decline in moral and ethical values in today’s society,” said Ekkehardt Mueller, associate director of the Adventist Church’s Biblical Research Institute. “The ten commandments are very important to the Christian, not as a means of salvation, but as vital indicators for a happy life. God gave us the commandments to help guide us, and if we disregard them, it will be our loss.” [Christian Schaeffler/Jonathan Gallagher]

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