Creating a new Ten Commandments – a competition for school children
Entrants in the 10 Commandments for the 21st competition
2011 was the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible and a major conference at the University of York, during the inaugural York Festival of Ideas, assessed the important ways this Bible shaped the English language, history and culture.
The conference and the Festival developed a series of events and activities aimed at raising awareness amongst school children – in an increasingly secular society - of the impact of the King James Bible.
These activities include inviting school children to consider the relevance or otherwise of the Ten Commandments. The Bible's Ten Commandments have been used for centuries by people of many countries as the fundamental guidelines for living a good life which respects the rights of others and helps everyone to live together. The Commandments cover major causes of conflict between human beings – from envy and greed to theft and murder - whilst also talking about love and respect for God and others, and their values are still relevant today.
But what ten rules will children today say should govern how we live our lives now? Are there new ideas which need to be added to help us all live together in the 21st century? Or should we say the same things, but in a different way?
The Festival of Ideas invited school children across the nation to tell us what their Ten New Commandments for the 21st Century would be.
The judges had a hard time choosing, but the winners in the three age-range categories have been notified and announced in the York paper 'The Press'. View the winning entries below.
