Committing evil in the name of God or religious evil is the worst sin one can commit.
It is so bad that it is explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments that God will not forgive it,
The worst sin is committing evil in Gods name.
How do we know?
From the third of the Ten Commandments. This is the only one of the ten that states that God will not forgive a person who violates the commandment.
What does this commandment say?
It is most commonly translated as, Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold guiltless meaning will not forgive whoever takes His name in vain.
Because of this translation, most people understandably think that the commandment forbids saying Gods name for no good reason. So, something like, God, did I have a rough day at work today! violates the third commandment.
But that interpretation presents a real problem. It would mean that whereas God could forgive the violation of any of the other commandments dishonoring ones parents, stealing, adultery or even committing murder He would never forgive someone who said, God, did I have a rough day at work today!
Lets be honest: That would render God and the Ten Commandments morally incomprehensible.
As it happens, however, the commandment is not the problem. The problem is the translation. The Hebrew original doesnt say Do not take; it says Do not carry. The Hebrew literally reads, Do not carry the name of the Lord thy God in vain.This is reflected in one of the most widely used new translations of the Bible, the New International Version, or NIV, which uses the word misuse rather than the word take:
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
This is much closer to the originals intent.
What does it mean to carry or to misuse Gods name? It means committing evil in Gods name.
And that God will not forgive.Why not?
When an irreligious person commits evil, it doesnt bring God and religion into disrepute. But when a religious person commits evil in Gods name he destroys the greatest hope for goodness on earth belief in a God who demands goodness, and who morally judges people.
The Nazis and Communists were horrifically cruel mass murderers. But their evils only sullied their own names, not the name of God. But when religious people commit evil, especially in Gods name, they are not only committing evil, they are doing terrible damage to the name of God.
In our time, there are, unfortunately, many examples of this. The evils committed by Islamists who torture, bomb, cut throats and mass murder all in the name of their God do terrible damage to the name of God.
It is not coincidental that what is called the New Atheism the immense eruption of atheist activism followed the 9/11 attack on America by Islamist terrorists. In fact, the most frequent argument against God and religion concerns evil committed in Gods name whether it is done in the name of Allah today or was done in the past in the name of Christ.
People who murder in the name of God not only kill their victims, they kill God, too.
Thats why the greatest sin is religious evil.
Thats what the third commandment is there to teach: Dont carry Gods name in vain. If you do, God wont forgive you.
You can see this commentary, animated with text and graphics, at
www.prageruniversity.com. It was released, along with the other nine commandments, this month.
I wish my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. And remember, just as evil in Gods name is atheisms best friend, goodness in Gods name is theisms best friend. So make a donation to the Salvation Army. They do immense good in Gods name. There is a red kettle at my website
http://www.dennisprager.com.