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mayllt
what does " taken in vain"here mean?
"That's my picture," said a little voice in the room. Nat popped up his head, and there was Demi in his night-gown pausing on his way back from Aunt Jo's chamber, whither he had gone to get a cot for a cut finger.
"What is he doing to the children?" asked Nat.
"That is Christ, the Good Man, and He is blessing the children. Don't you know about Him?" said Demi, wondering.
"Not much, but I'd like to, He looks so kind," answered Nat, whose chief knowledge of the Good Man consisted in hearing His name taken in vain.
Oct 27, 2017 7:49 AM
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Answers · 2
People nowadays use "Oh, my God!" or "Jesus!" as exclamations of surprise; that's taking the Lord's name in vain. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" is part of the Ten Commandments.
I'm not a Christian, but I would guess it probably has to do with how the Lord's name should be used with reverence and not just uttered for no reason (in vain).
When I was in elementary school, whenever a student said something like "Oh, my God!" some particularly religious teacher would always admonish "don't take the Lord's name in vain." So I'm quite familiar with this phrase. I went to elementary school in Texas in the 90's, so I guess the environment was pretty conservative.
October 27, 2017
