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THE TEN
COMMA DMENTS
Archaic Code or Eternal Law?
Growing numbers of theologians now call the Ten
Commandments archaic and obsolete. Should the
Ten Commandments be rewritten?
T
HE MOTION
picture entitled
T.'1e Ten Commandments
is
one of the greatest epie films
ever released by Hollywood. It stars
Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul
Brynner as the Pharaoh of the Ex–
odus.
This extravaganza has been seen
by millions of moviegoers and has
appeared on television. Toward the
conclusion of the saga, Moses leads
the children of Israel through the
towering wall-like waters of the Red
Sea and on into the Sinai wildemess
to the foot of Mount Sinai.
As the thunder booms and light–
ning tlashes, Moses climbs the
craggy, quaking mountain. God
himself emblazons the Ten Com–
mandments on solid stone. With bis
own finger, he writes this code of
law and delivers it to Moses.
It
is a dramatic story. But is it
merely legend? What relevance do
the Ten Commandments have for
our day?
The Ten
vs.
the " New
Morality"
A few years ago, a British vicar
told bis congregation that it was
often right to break the Ten Com–
mandments and that sometimes it
could be the "height of wickedness"
30
by
William F. Dankenbring
to keep them. Calling them "The
Terrible Ten," Vicar Harry Ed–
wards, Rural Dean of Hornsey and
Vicar of St. Michael's, Highgate,
North London, asserted: " I can
imagine many cases in which it
would be right to steal." He added,
"Thou shall not kili is riddled with
exceptions."
However, opinions are divided.
Ernest D. Hauser, writing in
Reader's Digest,
states, "The Deca–
logue, or 'Ten Words,' remains our
fundamental code of ethics."
Dr. Joseph Fletcher, author of
Situation Ethics: The New Morality,
feels the Ten Commandments
should be edited this way: ' 'Thou
shalt not covet -
ordinarily."
"Thou
shalt not commit adultery -
ordi–
narily."
A few go even further. Illustrating
one extreme position, G. W. Groth,
pastor of the Metropolitan Unified
Church in London, declared: "We
should rewrite the commandments.
T he Ten Commandments are dead
and all the King's horses and all the
King's men won't be able to put this
Biblical Humpty Dumpty together
again." He added, "Any attempt,
therefore, to bring the Command–
ments up to date would be abortive.
You would have to rewrite them so
drastically tha t they would not be
recognized."
These comments illustrate the
wide divergence of modern opinion
about the Ten Commandments.
Are the Ten Commandments out
of date? Should they be slightly
edited - or even drastically revised
- for our "now generation"?
Where and when did this code of
law and ethics originate, and for
whom was it designed?
Origin of the Decalogue
Most people believe the Deca–
logue originated with Moses at Mt.
Sinai. Sorne, however, have a t–
tempted to trace the concepts
in–
volved
in
the Ten Commandments
to ancient Babylon.
According to the teachings of tra–
ditional and modern orthodoxy, the
Ten Comrnandments were a He–
brew law given to ancient Israel
roughly 3,500 years ago when a
group of straggl ing Israelites wan–
dered into the desert of the Sinai
península.
To find the real origin of the Ten
Commandments, we must first un–
derstand the biblical definition of
"sin" and see when "sin" first
existed.
Sin is clearly defined
in
the New
PLAIN TRUTH
Jvne
1973