"Why is 'You shall have no other gods before me' in the Ten Commandments?"

Because people then as now, worship other gods (false gods) and idols. The next verse (the 2nd commandment) says do not make any gods out of gold and silver and worship them. Also in the next chapter says not to worship the gods of the people who surround you.

.. and start using the name of Christ which is Jesus in prayer or risk praying to other gods and having the true God never hear you. The path is through Jesus for many a  reason. The god of this world now and then is Satan, Saturn, Zeus, Odin or any number of names Lucifer has assumed or been given. This post was edited by O-uknow at May 5, 2017 2:42 PM MDT

I pray to Father through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will make sure our Father hears. 

It is a matter of faith, you either believe in Him or you don't. He is complete in Himself and is in need of nothing, he is not insecure and he does not crave attention, these are human tendencies, and he is Spirit.

lol how is "He" not in need of anything when he clearly says worship me, and only me, or I'll burn you in hell for eternity?! 

yeah.. pretty secure, I'd say. ;)

We sign ourselves up for Hell when we reject the only person who payed the price for us to stay out of that terrible place. Jesus said there was no way to the Father except thru him. It was not his will that any should perish, but that all could have abundant life, thru him.

John 1King James Version (KJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Who is Jesus?
The Word
Part III of the Series. Bible study on Jesus as the Word.
Thus far in this series, we've talked about Jesus as God, and our Creator.
In this article, we talk about Jesus as the Word, and the significance this bears in reference to the working of Jesus in our lives.
Jesus is the Word of God
As we've discussed in the first two articles, Jesus is the Word.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1-3).
In Revelation, John sees Jesus coming on a white horse to wage war with the enemies of God.
"He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).
Jesus' Weapon Is His Word
Jesus fights evil with His word.
To the church in Pergamum, Jesus referred to Himself as the one who has the two-edged sword, indicating that His word is the weapon of God (Rev. 2:12; Heb. 4:12).
Then in the vision of His war with the beast and the kings of the earth, Jesus defeated them with the sword that comes from His mouth -- The Word of God.
"From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty" (Rev. 19:15).
"And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh" (Rev. 19:21).
As the Word, Jesus is the Power of God
The word of the cross is the power of God. Therefore, when we preach Christ, we are preaching the power of God.
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18).
"But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God . . ." (1 Cor. 1:23-24).
Paul's statements are in perfect harmony with the fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . ." (Rom. 1:16).
Since Jesus is the Word of God, He is the power of God for salvation (Rev. 19:13; 1 Cor. 1:18, 24).
Statements in Hebrews and First Thessalonians also enlighten us regarding Jesus as the Word and power of God, as He works in us.
"But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God . . . (1 Cor. 1:24).
Now the God of peace . . . equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ . . . (Heb. 13:20-21).
". . . the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe" (1 Th. 2:13).
Jesus is the power of God, who works in us through the Word of God.
As the Word, Jesus is the Wisdom of God
Paul also tells us that Jesus is the wisdom of God.
"But we preach Christ crucified . . . the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:23-24).
"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God . . ." (1 Cor. 1:30).
Therefore Paul says:
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ (Col. 2:3).
The word of Christ richly dwells in us, with all wisdom (Col. 3:16).
As the Word, Jesus is the Truth
The word of God is truth (Jn. 17:17).
So then, as the Word, Jesus is the truth.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:14).
Therefore, Jesus said of Himself that He's the truth.
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me: (Jn. 14:6).
He is:
The true bread (John 6:32).
The true light (John 1:9).
The true vine (John 15:1).
The faithful and true (Rev. 19:11).
Jesus is the one and only standard of truth.
Anything that disagrees with His word is false. It's from the devil, the father of all lies (Jn. 8:44).
Anything in agreement with His word is truth.
They are words of sober truth, as the truth is in Jesus (Acts. 26:25; Eph. 4:21).
Because, "the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Eph. 5:9).

yet at john 17:3 he himself publicly and very clearly declares that the Father is "the ONLY true God" meaning, quite obviously, that he is not God and neither is anything or anyone else. If the quote is correct and accurate then there is still, of course, the possibility that he was lying.

John 17:3
And this is life eternal
That is, the beginning and pledge of it, the way unto it, and means of it, and what will certainly issue in it:
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.
The knowledge of God here spoken of, is not the knowledge of him by the light of nature, and works of creation; for a man may know God in this sense, and not know him in Christ, nor anything of Christ; yea, may know God and profess him in words, and in works deny him, as the Heathens did; nor is eternal life known hereby, nor connected with it: nor is it such a knowledge of God as is to be obtained by the law of Moses, in which God is represented as a righteous and incensed Being; nor is there in it any discovery of God, as a God of love, grace, and mercy in Christ; nor any revelation of a Mediator, Saviour and Redeemer; nor can it either show, or give to persons eternal life; and yet what is here said of the knowledge of God and Christ, the Jews say of the law F4,

``one man said to his friend, let us dash them against that wall and kill them, because they have left (abh Mlwe yyx) , "eternal life"; (the gloss upon it is, (hrwt) , "the law";) and employ themselves in a temporary life, the gloss says of this world, which is merchandise.''

More truly does Philo the Jew say F5, that

``fleeing to the Divine Being, "is eternal life"; and running front him is death.''

But this is to be understood of an evangelic knowledge of God, as the God and Father of Christ, as the God of all grace, pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin, and of Christ Mediator; not a general, notional, and speculative knowledge; but a practical and experimental one; a knowledge of approbation and appropriation; a fiducial one, whereby a soul believes in Christ, and trusts in his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice for salvation; and which, though imperfect, is progressive. The Arians and Unitarians urge this text, against the true and proper deity of our Lord Jesus, and his equality with the Father, but without success; since the Father is called the only true God, in opposition to the many false gods of the Heathens, but not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit; for Christ is also styled the one Lord, and only Lord God, but not to the exclusion of the Father; yea the true God and eternal life; was he not, he would never, as here, join himself with the only true God; and besides, eternal life is made to depend as much upon the knowledge of him, as of the Father. The reason of this different mode of expression, is owing to the character of Christ as Mediator, who is said to be sent by the only true God, about the business of man's salvation. Nor is it of any moment what the Jew F6 objects, that Jesus here confesses, that the true God is only one God; nor does he call himself God, only the Messiah sent by God; and that the Apostle Paul also asserts the unity of God, ( 1 Timothy 1:17 ) ; and therefore Jesus cannot be God: for Christ and his Father, the only true God, are one; and that he is the one true God with his Father, he tacitly suggests here by joining himself with him; and what the Apostle Paul says of the one and only wise God, may as well be understood of Christ, the Son of God, as of the Father; since all the characters in the text agree with him, and of him he had been speaking in the context.

in other words he didn't mean what he said? Was he being a bit devious?

Would not a more interesting question be, was He understood accurately by the people He was speaking to?---and if not, whose fault might that be?

"was He understood accurately by the people He was speaking to?" I think so. Having declared the Father to be the ONLY true God Jesus goes on in the same verse to say that he was sent by God, meaning that he was a servant of God. Since he delivered God's message [“a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God" John 8:40] he was a messenger of God, he was a prophet. We learn from the Bible that of the people he was speaking to it was not just the odd one or two but "the multitude said, This is Jesus the PROPHET of Nazareth of Galilee".  That's according to Matthew 21:11

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 is a bit problematic:

1- What does it mean "he gave"? gave to whom? How, precisely when did the giving take and what for?

2- How come he was "his one and only Son" when
a] He Himself said "ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High." Psalm 82:6-7
b] on David becoming a king, at the age of forty, God himself said, “Thou art my Son; this day have I BEGOTTEN thee” Psalm 2:7 
c] God Himself said to David regarding Solomon, "I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father." 1 Chronicles 28:6
d] “Adam, which was the son of God” Luke 3:38
e] in fact Romans 8:14 gives us a very clear idea what the Biblical term meant "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"

3- The promise of the verse that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." guarantees salvation to Muslims because all Muslims believe in him. it's part of the tenets of the Muslim faith.

I agree.  Of course that begs the question as to whether they were capable of comprehending everything that God might have told them.  

If they did not, it is likely that He established a system (perhaps unknown at the time) of continuing His revelations to us humans as we developed increasing knowledge over time and would thus be capable of increasing our comprehension of what He said so many years ago and how He has continued to teach us the things we must come to know.

I have a number of assumptions about God---One of them is that He is omniscient and omnipotent---which suggests to me that He probably accomplishes what He intends, generally speaking.

Why assume that He would not want to expand on His original teachings as we grew?

A Mormon Elder would be proud of that post and might recommend you for immediate promotion. Errr....perhaps you are a Mormon Elder or whatever the next tier is. They even have living prophets I understand.

The Watchtower of the JWs also, I think, claims to have continual revelations.

Many lay Christians claim that the HS talks to them and advises them.

Maybe there is a scope for an authoritative body to coordinate all these disparate revelations.

I am familiar with people like you who constantly mistake brass for gold---you can distinguish truth from obvious error, but when more sophisticated means have been established by God to properly apply the phrase "Everything that coruscates with effulgence is not, ipso facto, aurous," you are at a total loss to proceed.

And actually, God did establish an authoritative body in order to avoid the errors that hold God to our interpretations of what He actually really said and meant when we read the Bible.

I am neither Mormon, nor JW, nor Muslim.

And I have absolutely no idea who might find pride in what you post, so I can't reply in kind.

And God explained much more to the apostles than the words they transcribed conveyed.

That's why you have to talk to Him rather than just read what He said so long ago.

"God did establish an authoritative body in order to avoid the errors that hold God to our interpretations of what He actually really said and meant when we read the Bible" something tells me that if a JW was to say the very same thing you wouldn't agree that the Watchtower was that body.

"And God explained much more to the apostles than the words they transcribed conveyed." and how does that benefit us if it wasn't transcribed?

"That's why you have to talk to Him rather than just read what He said so long ago." But isn't it so that when people start hearing voices is when they need to seek professional help?

You fundamentalist types degenerate so quickly in your arguments---which is admittedly not particularly surprising since you so quickly exhaust even the ones that seem to have a point....

The JW's have mistaken brass for gold.  Like you, they are wrong about many things---even though, like you, they started out with an idea that had some---but limited---value.  I always commend the JW's to God's care, as I do all who have become lost and not realized it.

I assume you do not have children---or if you do, they must be very young still---because if you did you would realize that you don't stand over a child of 6 or 7 and explain how everything works in detail.  Rather, you prepare him to accept and understand reality according to his ability to understand at the time and then give him more detailed information over time as you raise him.

And you rely on your continued presence in his life over the his life until "he puts away the things (limited understandings) of a child."

Christ brought a new reality---the relationship between God and man is no longer a covenant between a Creator and His chosen people, it is now a covenant between a personal God and His individual creations.

And if your comment about voices and prayer is about your personal experience, I am forced to conclude that you have not yet learned how to pray---not surprising at all, since you are more interested in talking about Him and what He said rather than talking to Him.

You are drifting way out of my reach....

1- “Like you, they are wrong about many things” ---- since you claim to follow only what comes from your “authoritative body” one might think that your judgemental statement I just quoted must have come from that “authoritative body” Well actually that can’t be so unless your  “authoritative body” is as self-contradictory as you are. Your  “authoritative body” has issued a clear public declaration not only that "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator”, but that  “IN THE FIRST PLACE amongst [them] are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." (that’s in CCC841 of your “authoritative body” that is Catechism 841 of the Catholic Church)

2- “until "he puts away the things (limited understandings) of a child." ----- So you are an adult matured beyond needing scripture and get your instructions directly from God while those who look to scripture to find out what their religion is saying are stuck at the child stage. I think you really can’t see the arrogance in that. If religion/God is a delusion, as some claim, then getting your instructions directly from God must be taking that “delusion” to its ultimate limit. There's very little to stop someone of your belief entrusted with power from, say, turning off the water supply to and killing off a community because God told him to do so.

If you have nothing reasonable to add to this discussion then I’m out.

Tom Jackson has no choice in accepting tradition over the Bible and remaining Catholic.
Compare these biblical truths to his forced beliefs:

John 14:28 You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I

^{John 17:3}  And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

1 Cor 8:5-6 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1 Cor 11:3  But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.


http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02033b.htm

At various points the author calls attention to the penalty incurred by those who refuse to accept any of the articles therein set down.

 

The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible

 

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.

 

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal

 

Who, then, is the author? The results of recent inquiry make it highly probable that the Creed first saw the light in the fourth century, during the life of the great Eastern patriarch, or shortly after his death

 

The "damnatory", or "minatory clauses", are the pronouncements contained in the symbol, of the penalties which follow the rejection of what is there proposed for our belief. It opens with one of them: "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith". The same is expressed in the verses beginning: "Furthermore, it is necessary" etc., and "For the right Faith is" etc., and finally in the concluding verse: "This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved". Just as the Creed states in a very plain and precise way what the Catholic Faith is concerning the important doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, so it asserts with equal plainness and precision what will happen to those who do not faithfully and steadfastly believe in these revealed truths..

.From a dogmatic standpoint, the merely historical question of the authorship of the Creed, or of the time it made its appearance, is of secondary consideration.  The fact alone that it is approved by the Church as expressing its mind on the fundamental truths with which it deals, is all we need to know. 

Why do you say this? There is no deviousness in God.