A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments

John Dickson

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780310522607
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

The Ten Commandments have influenced non-religious Western culture more than it might imagine. This guide to the famous rules does more than explain what they are or what they say, but why we need them.

This moral code in the Old Testament of the Bible—from which sprang ideas of justice, compassion, human rights, and freedom—has had such a strong impact on our society that it seems to represent what most of us think of as basic ethical reasoning. Even atheists like Richard Dawkins have offered up their own version of the Ten Commandments, and the strange thing is that many of them don't stray very far from the ethical teachings of Moses and Jesus.

Bestselling author and apologist John Dickson explores how these ten rules have changed our world and how they show us what the "Good" (as Socrates called it) looks like in practice. Whether or not one believes in the Bible, these ten ancient instructions open a window to Western thought and civilization—and to our own souls.

In each chapter, Dickson unpacks one of the ten famous commandments to show how they're not simply outdated rules but apply directly to our lives today. Along the way, he discusses broader philosophical implications, such as:

• Why do humans try to be good at all? What's the point of ethics, and why do we systematically seek them out?
• Why the Ten Commandments have outlived the moral codes of the ancient world, such as the Code of Hammurabi and the Maxims of Delphi.
• What does the Bible actually say about punishment and reward?
• How the teachings of Jesus relate to the much older instructions of Moses.

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION: COMING HOME TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• 1. BIGGER THAN HAMMURABI, DELPHI, & DAWKINS
• 2. WHY BE GOOD?
• 3. THREE KEYS TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• 4. ONE GOD AND THE GOOD: FIRST COMMANDMENT
• 5. IDOLS OF THE HEART: SECOND COMMANDMENT
• 6. TAKING RELIGION SERIOUSLY: THIRD COMMANDMENT
• 7. WORK, PLAY, AND WORSHIP: FOURTH COMMANDMENT
• 8. FAMILY MATTERS: FIFTH COMMANDMENT
• 9. CHERISH YOUR NEIGHBOUR: SIXTH COMMANDMENT
• 10. HONOUR YOUR SPOUSE: SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
• 11. GIVING WHAT IS DUE: EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
• 12. SAYING WHAT IS TRUE: NINTH COMMANDMENT
• 13. FAILING AND FINDING THE GOOD: TENTH COMMANDMENT
• AFTERWORD TO THE FOREWORD OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS