Of Hell and Robots by Pastor Walter Snyder Q: Father, in a situation where you are frustrated and you send an E-mail saying to your superior, "Maybe you don't know what the hell you are doing," do consider this cursing? A: Yes, I do. At the very least, this is crude language, unbefitting the public life of a Christian. For believers who truly know what hell is, to use it in such manner can imply either a desire that the recipient go there or that you believe the recipient comes from there. Furthermore, Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-22, "It was said . . ., 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." Since He equates hatred and insults with murder, perhaps the comment, wrong as it may be, is only a symptom of a greater sin, a breaking of the Fifth Commandment. Please remember, however, that cursing, hating, and even physically murdering another---sinful as they may be---still are forgiven by the same Savior who also reenforced the words of the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount. Q: Dear Pastor Snyder, We attend a church that plans to purchase a library for more classroom space. There have been special offerings for this purpose. For the kids, a five foot robot stands in front of church where they can deposit change into it and have their picture taken with it. My husband is very upset about this. He feels the robot is a graven image. He has told several elders it bothers him to see it up there. It still has not been removed and now he wants our family to leave church which does not sit very well with our teenagers who have good friends there. I would really like your opinion on this matter. A: You don't give your religious affiliation or background, so it's difficult to gauge exactly where either your husband or your congregation are coming from on this issue. The prohibition on graven images comes from Exodus 20:4. For purposes of understanding, I think that we should examine it in the context of verses 3-6: "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." Some churches, especially various Protestant and Eastern Orthodox bodies, count the command against graven or carved images as the Second Commandment. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and others include it as part of their rendering of the First Commandment, treating it as commentary as to why we "shall have no other gods." The numbers are then off until the end, where we split the commands against coveting into "house" for the Ninth, dealing with real and physical property and for the Tenth deal with the people and living creatures in our neighbor's life. Numbering is difficult since the Scriptures don't say where to make the division. In fact, "commandment" isn't a good translation of the Hebrew; the Bible really mentions Ten "Words" or "Things" (Ex 34:28; Deut 4:13; 10:4). This isn't important, however. We need to understand and apply the specifics of graven images to our lives. Seen in the context of the surrounding verses, it appears clear that the prohibition specifically applies to idol worship and false gods, since they are not to "make" nor "bow down to them or serve them." I seriously doubt that the robot is being worshiped. If any and all images were disallowed, then God would not have specifically commanded Israel to make the golden cherubim for the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:18ff). Indeed, God not only allowed and commanded them; these images stood over the Ark's mercy seat, the place where the Lord established His special presence among Israel. In the Gospels, when He had opportunity to speak against any such images (Mt 22 et al.), Jesus merely used the image of Caesar to indicate that paying Roman taxes with a Roman coin was permitted by God. In fact, the whole New Testament is silent on the subject of images except when concerning idol worship. This is important since the Ten Commandments were given to Israel, not to all mankind. Gentiles are not bound by laws specific to Israel, else we'd continue to command eighth day circumcision, ban all mixed-fiber fabrics, prohibit neatly trimmed beards, and abolish the pork sausage suppers common to many Christian churches. Paul, a man who firmly and clearly established his Jewish credentials (Phil 3:3-6), also prohibited no one of good conscience from eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8) and on many occasions must have been almost indistinguishable from the Gentiles among whom he ministered: "To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. (1 Cor 9:21)" Likewise, Peter learned in the vision of the unclean foods (Acts 10) that living in the New Testament was a bit different from living under the Old Covenant. Still, Scripture cautions in several places about not placing burdens upon those who still are spiritually weak or find themselves trapped under the Law. For instance, Paul wrote in Romans 15:1, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves." Similar passages, including 1 Corinthians 8, clearly warn against unduly burdening the consciences of those who are weak. Perhaps you and your church can work first to remove some of the burden your husband feels and then to gently instruct him that his faith might grow and his conscience eased. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Ask the Pastor, © 2003 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others. Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."