The Ten Commandments: Flawed Rules

Read Time:5 Minute, 7 Second
Charlton Heston plays the indomitable Moses in The Ten Commandments, which Moses is holding over his head with the intent to smash them.  Pic courtesy of www.telegraph.co.uk
Charlton Heston plays the indomitable Moses in The Ten Commandments, which Moses is holding over his head with the intent to smash them. Pic courtesy of www.telegraph.co.uk

Some Christians parrot the tired teaching that today’s social problems are the result of not obeying the Ten Commandments. That idea hasn’t been well considered, as these rules are flawed on many fronts. I’ll explain why.

The first commandment states:

“You shall have no other gods except me.” (Exod. 20:3, NJB.) The time at which Moses was allegedly given this commandment is traditionally (but incorrectly) said to be the point in history when the ancient Jews gave up worshipping other gods such as El, Baal and Asherah to focus all their devotion on Yahweh. Yet Yahweh doesn’t exist, so it’s pointless worshipping him.

What’s more, this commandment denies people’s right to worship other gods. In many parts of the Old Testament, (and in some parts of the New) “God” orders the execution of anyone who worships another god. Jewish priests were asserting their authority, but it was pure racism. When today’s Christians assume this refers to people from other religions, we have a mandate for trouble. I think we should respect our neighbor’s right to worship any god they choose.

The second commandment states:

“You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it” (Exod. 20:7, NJB.) This has little to do with ethics. The implication is that God is upset by mere words. When originally written, it probably referred to keeping any oath to God made when signing a contract, something we rarely do today.

The third commandment states:

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” (Exod. 20:8, NJB.) The ancient Hebrews set aside an entire day, Saturday, every week as sacred. The reason given was to mimic the fictional scheme of creation in which God rested on the seventh day. That makes no sense.

This commandment didn’t allow any exceptions to the rule, which doesn’t work in the modern world. If the staff in a hospital were to stop working on Saturdays, many patients would die.

In the fourth century CE Christians changed God’s holy day from Saturday to Sunday so as to differentiate themselves from the Jews, so they’re disobeying God’s mindless mandate.

The fourth commandment states:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Exod. 20:12, NJB.) This rule, which promotes an admirable precept in most circumstances, is too strictly formulated. It isn’t in the interest of the child abuse or incest victim to honor a parent who’s doing them harm.

It suggests people should honor their parents to get a prize. The idea that one will live longer isn’t true, degrades the real meaning of family relationships, and patronizes the reader.

The fifth commandment states:

“You shall not kill.” (Exod. 20:13, NJB.) This “one-liner” raises more questions than it answers. It’s also hypocritical and inconsistent, as God himself often killed people or ordered their deaths.

The sixth commandment states:

“You shall not commit adultery” (Exod. 20:14, NJB.) Yet throughout scripture God quite clearly suggested Jewish men could have sex with slaves or pagan women and girls—any female who wasn’t another Jewish man’s property.

Things were different for a Jewish woman, who was expected to remain a virgin until she was married, when she became the property of her husband. She wasn’t allowed to have sex with anyone but him (see Numbers 5:13–21.) So the sixth commandment was very sexist.

The seventh commandment states:

“You shall not steal” (Exod. 20:15, NJB.) This promotes an admirable ideal. Yet God repeatedly encouraged, even ordered, his people to steal from other races, so what he really meant was “You shall not steal from your fellow Jews.”

The eighth commandment states:

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exod. 20:16, NJB.) This commandment expresses a sound ethical idea, but once again there’s inconsistency in the bible. Lying was ok, apparently, if the person lied to was a foreigner (Gen. 12:13, 20:2, 26:7, Exod. 1:19.) God approves midwives fibbing (Exod. 1:15–22, Jer. 38:24.) What’s more, the Old Testament is riddled with lies. I have no problem accepting advice to not lie, but not from authors who made a living out of it.

The ninth commandment states:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house” (Exod. 20:17, NJB.) The Oxford dictionary defines “covet” as “to yearn to possess.” To want someone else’s house can’t be regarded as immoral. We all want things we don’t have; it’s natural, and there’s nothing wrong with it. We shouldn’t resent our neighbor because he has a nice house, or take his house from him, but this isn’t what the commandment says.

The tenth commandment states:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exod. 20:17, NJB.) The same argument is applicable here. We can’t, and shouldn’t, deny natural desires. If the commandment stated that we shouldn’t become obsessed with our desires, or shouldn’t always give in to them, it might be teaching a lesson, but it doesn’t. What’s more, it’s unhealthy to regard women as their husband’s property.

In conclusion, the first three commandments are either immoral or pointless. The subsequent seven may have merit, but only if they’re appropriately interpreted, because they’re too poorly expressed. What’s more, the celestial dictator, who should have lead by example, ignored many of his own instructions.

Most societies throughout history have developed their own ethical rules against killing, stealing, infidelity, and lying, and those rules are usually much better expressed than here.

About Post Author

Mark Fulton

Dr Mark Fulton is a practising physician living on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. He has spent many years researching the origins of Christianity, and has written a book, soon to be published, titled "Get over Christianity by Understanding it." His website is at www.markfulton.org
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

10 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Mark Fulton
9 years ago

I agree with everything you’ve said….just can’t fit all that in one article

Bill Formby
9 years ago

Mark, just as many religious zealots do today, I think you fail to consider the era of the Ten Commandments and what was going on during that time. Most notably the Jewish high priests and leaders were trying to establish social order among a people who were escaping from years of slavery. The rules that were being handed down were as much about living in a a maintained social order with a minimal about of problems as anything else. Actually, given the approximate time frame of the Bible that is true with much the the “thou shalt nots” and “thou shalls” in the Old Testament”. The need during that time, in that particular area to impose leadership and social order was in important to maintain control of the population, to maintain constant growth of the population, and in some cases maintain health of the people as they knew it then. Keep in mind that at this point mankind was still emerging from the Ancient Times of over 5 or 6000 thousand years ago. Possibly even longer. Unfortunately, we have idiots who are still trying to apply the same logic today that was in existence then.

Jess
9 years ago

Wait, I thought there were originally 15 commandments. Ah come on, you didn’t think moi would let that pass by didyas? As always, Mel or the Python boys to the rescue of the ridiculous notion some dude in the sky is sitting up there making rules as he goes along.

Reply to  Jess
9 years ago

Hey yeah! And everyone knows Monty Python has a lot more credibility than the Jeebs, not to mention Mel Brooks who would be the boss of the Jeeb’s daddy.

Marsha Woerner
9 years ago

One big mistake that’s made by Christians is that they think “their 10 Commandments” hold the same place in their religion as to the 10 Commandments of Judaism. For one thing, Judaism is totally based on interpretations, and doesn’t deny it. I think that a big difference between Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, and to some extent Reconstruction Is a when the interpretations are allowed or required to stop, and was allowed to make them! The Talmud – an important book interpretations, is widely followed by a great number of the Orthodox. The Reconstructionist has their own set of interpretations. The most liberal and resilient, in some sense, is that of the Reform. According to one interpretation, the 10 Commandments is really more of a group of 10 sets of Commandments, it being that there are 613 commandments that are all equally important:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-ten-commandments-according-to-the-torah.html And And, yes, the original Hebrew does say “murder”, “kill”. But then for the 10 Commandments, it’s all interpretation anyway, just like for the rest of the Tanach (“old” testament).
(then there’s the Chasidim, but there are whole different set of crazies…)

Reply to  Marsha Woerner
9 years ago

Christians are so very American Marsha. They are under the impression they’re the best in everything and they couldn’t be further from the truth.

9 years ago

You forgot the 11th commandment…’Thou shall always ensure Norman’s glass of vodka is filled to the brim’

See? Religion isn’t all bad! 😉

Admin
9 years ago

The ten commandments is just more nonsense made up by ancient desert dwellers. I agree with Dr Fulton that a few have potential but that depends on interpretation. Good read.

9 years ago

Perhaps the inconsistencies and outright lies in these commandments are the source of the hypocrisy that accompanies religion?

E.A. Blair
9 years ago

It was my understanding that the fifth is more accurately rendered into English as “You shall not murder”, which creates a loophole for all kinds of “justifiable” killing, as in wars, capital punishment, or when a sociopathic deity tells you to do it.

Previous post Our Monday Morning Cartoon
Next post North Korean Leader Wants Army Strong Enough to Defeat US
10
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x