Matthew 22:37-40 ~ King James Version
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
What is interesting about the Wiccan Rede is not what it says, but what it
doesn’t. Sin can be sideways, vertical or both. Mankind in rebellion against God wishes to dispense with the first and greatest commandment and live as if there were no God.
Defining rebellion, a person may choose to act as though a given authority, be it the police, parents, government or employer didn’t exist. Rebellion acted out is living without any reference to the standards these authorities ask of us. That’s why the sins of
rebellion and
witchcraft are so closely related…
1 Samuel 15:22b -23a ~ King James Version
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.