OCTADE
@octade@soc.octade.net
The First Commandment of the Decalogue is NOT ABOUT MONOTHEISM.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before [representing] me."
The First Commandment is about having anyone or anything representing God, whether it be a man or an institution, such as a king, pharaoh, pope, pastorate, or bishopric, claiming to be representative of God.
God has no institutional representative. One man, and only one man, Jesus of Nazareth, is his representative.
This is what the first commandment means.
The second commandment is similar. Instead of talking about human and institutional idols, it talks about man-made idols.
So stop teaching that the first commandment is about monotheism. It is not. It is a condemnation of the monotheistic religions and their hierarchical structures.