German Christians are not familiar with the Ten Commandments

While in the United States, the debate on the removal of the Ten Commandments monument continues, Reader’s Digest Germany has carried out an opinion poll to investigate the attitude of German Christians towards the Ten Commandments.

The result shows that most of the German Christians respect the Ten Commandments but they are not very familiar with it. However, two thirds of the population feels committed to lead a life according to these spiritual laws.

According to the National Census in 2001, nearly the entire population is made up of Protestants and Catholics. There are 26454 Protestant, 26656 Catholics and 93 Jews.

The poll finds some surprising figures. Only five per cent of the population remembers the Sabbath day and four per cent take heed "not to take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain"

The best-known commandment is "You shall not murder" with 48 per cent of the population remember it well. The next one is "You shall not steal" (38 per cent) and "You shall not commit adultery" (37 per cent).

It can be concluded that the more religious commandments are far less popular. The Bishop of Hanover, Margot Kaessmann, emphasizes in Reader’s Digest that all the biblical Commandments are needed "for good living". The world craving for orientation needs the Commandments. There is no way that the commandments are outdated.

According to Kaessmann, even the lesser known religious commandments have an outstanding relevance for society. She quotes the example of the commandment "You shall have no other gods before me." People who are greedy and worship materials on this world will fail at the end because these things are volatile.