Converting the Religious: The Ten Commandments

By Bob, TFS Member

Free will and justice are areas where religious beliefs have unexpected implications under close examination. Let's look at another area where Christians are likely to be surprised when they look at it carefully.

One of the most familiar parts of the Bible is the Ten Commandments. Almost everybody, including many who aren't that religious, take for granted that these are a very wise set of principles that people should live by. They're not. These don't contain God-like wisdom; in fact, an average high school student could probably come up with a better set of rules to live by in less than an hour.

Often the commandments we see on public display are a very abbreviated version of the ones in the Bible, as if the real ones aren't good enough to be shown in their entirety. You might want to read the full text of the commandments in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 (there are some differences). It is also interesting to read the ten commandment story in Exodus 34 which contains a different set of commandments in verses 17 through 26. Presumably these are not the "real" commandments, but given their placement, you have to suspect the author of this passage thought they were.

Looking at the full version of the commandments from Exodus 20, people might be surprised to see that it starts with "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Since this applies only to Jews, these commandments were never intended for humanity as a whole.

For those who think the American legal system is based on the commandments, we might want to point out that nothing in them (or anywhere in the Bible) encourages democracy, individual rights, trial by jury, separation of powers, or virtually anything that has to do with the American system of government.

There are some very serious omissions from the commandments. Rape of women who are not married is not forbidden, since that isn't adultery. Child molestation or abuse or abandonment isn't forbidden. Arson, vandalism, or other property damage isn't addressed. Assault, dismemberment, and torture don't violate any of the commandments. Slavery is permitted. There is no rule against substance abuse. And lying isn't prohibited unless it is false witness against your neighbor, so one could falsely claim to be a medical doctor, police officer, movie producer or war hero without violating this commandment.

Are these omissions necessary to include other commandments with a higher priority? Would they be less important than the commandment against coveting? Was it necessary to specifically mention coveting your neighbor's manservant, maidservant, ox, and ass? Perhaps the commandment to obey the Sabbath could have been omitted. Most Christians violate this routinely anyway (especially given that the real Sabbath is sundown Friday until sundown Saturday). In the original this is a pretty wordy commandment.

Is it important to prohibit making "any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth?" Doesn't this rule out drawing pictures, making sculptures, or even photography? Must they include "I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Is it right to punish someone because of what their ancestors did?

It isn't at all credible that these were composed by the supreme intelligence of the universe. If we can get believers to look at these thoughtfully, it might help get them to question the validity of the Bible as a source of truth.