1. First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole strength. 10. Deny oneself in order to follow Christ. 21. Prefer nothing more than the love of Christ. 27. Do not swear, for fear of perjuring yourself. 34. Be not proud. 41. Put your hope in God. 44. Fear the Day of Judgment. 45. Be in dread of hell. 49. Know for certain that God sees you everywhere. 50. When wrongful thoughts come into your heart, dash them against Christ immediately. 56. Listen willingly to holy reading. 57. Devote yourself frequently to prayer. 58. Daily in your prayers, with tears and sighs, confess your past sins to God, and amend them for the future. 60. Obey in all things the commands of those whom God has placed in authority over you even though they (which God forbid) should act otherwise, mindful of the Lord's precept, "Do what they say, but not what they do." 62. Fulfill God's commandments daily in your deeds. 70. Pray for your enemies in the love of Christ.
> 27. Do not swear, for fear of perjuring yourself.
This means: be true to your word. It's an excellent principle.
> 50. When wrongful thoughts come into your heart, dash them against Christ immediately.
This means: have self-control over your own, possibly not-very-good, impulses and desires. This too is a good thing.
> 58. Daily in your prayers, with tears and sighs, confess your past sins to God, and amend them for the future.
You might not pray, but self-analysis each day, putting the past behind you and endeavouring to make each day better, is also an excellent principle. Confessing the past is a great technique for getting over the past too: it lets you forgive yourself and move forward.
> 60. Obey in all things the commands of those whom God has placed in authority over you even though they (which God forbid) should act otherwise, mindful of the Lord's precept, "Do what they say, but not what they do."
I don't agree with this one, because I believe we should struggle against those in power when it is necessary. But you can still put forward a good argument for it.
> 70. Pray for your enemies in the love of Christ.
This is one of those principles that translates well even without prayer or religion: act in empathy to your enemies; hope that they will improve; do not let yourself become evil in your own heart (you know that anger that can grow? The things that make you behave not so nicely, even if you think of yourself as a nice person?) towards them but keep a loving attitude even to those who don't deserve it.
I don't agree with all of the principles they listed. I could not become a SQLite developer. But none of these -- none! -- are 'ridiculous'. In fact, they are tied closely to being a good person, and to living a peaceful, kind life.
Or do you consider they may be fair to a reasonable mind informed by Christian faith but unreasonable to non-Christians?
