A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments: How, for Better or Worse, Our Ideas about the Good Life Come from Moses and Jesus

Doubter's Guides

by John Dickson

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 In each chapter, Dickson unpacks one of the ten famous commandments to show how they're not simply outdated rules but apply directly to our lives today.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

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Faith, Old Testament

224 pages, Paperback

Published June 7, 2016

About the author

John focuses on the big ideas that have shaped our world.

His journey is an eclectic one. Starting out as a singer-songwriter, he now works as a writer, speaker, historian of religion (focusing on early Christianity and Judaism), media presenter, Anglican minister, and director of a multi-media think tank.

With an honours degree in theology from Moore Theological College Sydney, and a PhD in history from Macquarie University, John is also an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Ancient History (Macquarie), and teaches a course on the Historical Jesus at the University of Sydney (Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies) .

John is a founding director of the Centre for Public Christianity(CPX), an independent research and media company promoting informed discussion about social, ethical and religious issues in modern life.

His book “The Christ Files: How Historians Know what they Know about Jesus” was made into a four-part documentary which aired nationally on Channel 7 in 2008. Now a best-selling DVD, it also won the 2008 Pilgrim Media award (see www.thechristfiles.com.au). His more recent Life of Jesus also aired on Channel 7 in 2009 (see www.lifeofjesus.tv).

Reviews

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read and quick read. I thought it was a great read. When I picked it up again, I could not put it down. This is also my fifth Christian non-fiction book. I am glad I read it. It talked about the Ten Commandments and explains how non-believers can get to good Christian living if they just believe. I thought it was thought-provoking. I thought it was inspirational read. It was a must read for Christians and non-Christians. Overall, a great read.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you wondering how entrenched the underpinnings of Christianity are in our culture? Do you think that the ideals that we prize in our society are secular or innate in nature? Do you wonder how much effect Judeo-Christian religion has had on the basic cultural assumptions that we hold dear? Then, A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments: How, for Better or Worse, Our Ideas about the Good Life Come from Moses ands Jesus might be a book that would interest you.

In this book, Australian theologian and scholar, John Dickson, takes a little over 150 pages to take a look at the ten commandments given to Moses and to show how they have affected western thought. He also takes some time to look at the ten commandments through the Christian theology of Jesus because, after all, it was not Judaism that converted the western world, but Christianity. He contrasts the ideas in the ten commandments with both the ideals of new atheists and with the ideas of the Greco-Roman culture that Christianity was birthed into. He also makes a few modern applications and examples as he goes along, but that is not his main theme of his book.

I found this to be an enjoyable and edifying read. Dickson spends much of the foundation of his book talking to atheists and skeptics, laying the foundation of the first three commandments relating to God and why they exist and what that says about God. He spends much of the rest of the book talking to skeptics, but also to converts as well, laying a case for the importance of the commandments in both Western culture and in our lives. This is not a work of personal application or Christian inspiration, so if you’re looking for that here, you will be disappointed. Rather, this is a very well done book written primarily to those who are skeptical about Christianity. Twenty years ago, this would have been a book that I could have really reached to me and where I was in my life, so I appreciate seeing a book like this that is so well done.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is rather more interesting than its title suggests.
The ten commandments are considered from both the viewpoint of Deuteronomy and Exodus versions and surprisingly there are minor differences and these reveal more than the lay reader would imagine. He takes each of the commandments separately and then when we reach the tenth Dickson shows how the tenth relates to the first and we start the entire cycle again.
It was especially interesting to see that although in Exodus the Commandments are given as part of the narrative in Deuteronomy they are carefully unpacked and explained in the following chapters so the first commandment is discussed in Chapters 6-11, the second in Chapter 12, and so on.
We see the ten commandments through the lens of the whole bible beginning in Genesis where Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and this law was given because everything else in the garden was good and available to them so it is that the ten commandments are a list of do not's because everything else is permissible to mankind.
These laws are not done away with in the New Testament but made even more challenging. So Jesus says not that adultery is wrong but that it is wrong to direct sexual desire towards someone other than our spouse or you shall not steal updates to you shall not withhold from anyone what is their due, especially those in need.
As no-one can attain the uprightness of either the ten commandments or the adaptations that were brought in with Jesus it is good for us that Jesus took our guilt upon himself to make us right with God. As there was no other good enough.
This is a very challenging look at the ten commandments on which so much of Western life is based.
ARC from NetGalley for an impartial review.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about how the Ten Commandments--and Jesus' take on them in the New Testament--have deeply influenced history and Western culture. The author assumes that his reader isn't Christian and maybe not even religious, so he described the original context of each commandment, what Jesus said about the commandment, and how these ideas have affected the culture in the past and present.

The author was respectful towards those who do not share his Christian faith and used language that anyone should be able to follow (rather than "Christian-ese" or academic language). Though I knew much of this information, I still found it an interesting read and learned a few things. Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topic.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher through BookLook.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up along with a few others to do some reading on the 10 Commandments and all that it meant, means and will mean for us in the future. This is hands down my favorite. Clear and easy to read. Taking the position of the skeptic on each commandment, helped me see the relevance of both Moses and Jesus...and Paul...and Augustine.

I think this is a brilliant look at the Ten Commandments.

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and helpful exposition of the Ten Commandments with an eye toward the skeptic.

[Michelle Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read to become more knowledgeable on the actual messages behind each of the commandments. Appreciated the variety of sources used.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Note: This book was received free of charge from BookLook/Zondervan in exchange for an honest review.]

I’m not sure what the purpose of having a book series called the Doubter’s Guides is, when written by an Australian Christian. This is an apologetics guide, not written to someone who has many doubts at all. The fact that the series as a whole seems to be a bit of a misnomer aside, this is the sort of book that one judges based on its contents, and those contents are solid. That is not to say that the book is perfect and can be taken entirely on face value—for one, the author seems to desire to separate himself from conservatism, as if that was a bad thing, and perhaps more substantially, the author shows himself pretty clueless about the perspective of Jesus Christ and the early Church of God on the Sabbath, which is colored by the fact that he does not honor the Sabbath day. We do not understand what we do not respect, after all, and if there is any commandment that even the most serious-minded of self-professed Christians do not remotely understand, it is the Sabbath. This book is merely one of many [1] that has that problem or that deals with that problem within Christianity and larger culture.

The author begins the fairly obvious structure of this book in talking about the ten commandments, pointing out how the Ten Commandments are superior to their supposed ancient competitors in Hammurabi and Delphi and replacements like that by Dawkins, and answering the question why one would want to be good, while also providing three keys to the ten commandments: the contention that Jesus “transposed” Moses in a different key, a mistaken division of the Ten Commandments into categories of 4 and 6 rather than 5 and 5 regarding love to God and love for brethren [2], and the fact that God’s laws are a charter of freedom. This third key is sufficiently strong that the author’s flawed understandings of the other two does not sink the value of the book as a whole. Obedience as freedom is really what this book is about, and that is a very good thing. The rest of the chapters of the book give the contemporary relevance of the ten commandments and discuss each commandment’s more salient features. To give a few examples of how this result is a good thing is the way that the author connects greed and idolatry, the importance of supporting adults, complete with some soul-searching about the author’s problems in respecting and honoring his single mother, and the total impossibility of fully obeying God through an examination of the prohibition on coveting. The result is a book that is quick to read and under 200 pages, but yet providing something worthwhile for readers despite its size.

Despite the book’s imperfections, there are few reasons why this book is a worthwhile one about the Ten Commandments. For one, the author pours himself into the work. It is obvious when reading this book that the author is not trying to paint himself as a perfect person looking down on others—there is free admission of the problem of Christian hypocrisy and the ironies of secularists performing a useful and necessary Christian task, even unknowingly, and the author’s own life struggles. Equally obvious, though, is that the author has hit upon a point that deserves to be read and reflected on by people regardless of their religious worldview, and that is the inescapable nature of Judeo-Christian ethics within Western society, and that even those who do not see a need for God or His laws cannot conceive of a just society that does not live according to His ways. The result is a triumphant examination of practical ethics that is simultaneously a thoughtful work of apologetics. Whether you doubt God, reject Him, or strive however imperfectly and haltingly to obey Him, this is a worthwhile book that showcases the flawed but sincere approach of its author.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments by John Dickson is one of the best resources on the Ten Commandments I have ever read.

In this work Dickson demonstrates the dependence of much of Western thought on the Ten Commandments and their development in the teaching of Christ. Dickson ably interacts with contemporary authors and trends demonstrating how vital the contribution the Ten Commandments makes really is. The book first addresses the unique nature of the commandments and their ethical value over and against other ancient and modern sources. Then it addresses the underlying reason for moral behavior. Finally the book addresses each of the commandments and addresses their original purpose and draws out implications and applications for contemporary society.

In a day like ours where ethical norms are quickly being abandoned works like this are vitally important in defending the faith. Many atheists make ridiculous claims about the values upheld by biblical Christianity and this book addresses those claims in a very satisfactory manner. The way in which the author interacts with contemporary trends makes it stand out in comparison to other resources on the Ten Commandments.

This book will be one I plan to utilize frequently and to recommend to others.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher for providing this review. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

[Hannah-backwards-spells-Hannah. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love John Dickson’s Bullies and Saints, and his Christ Files was really formative to me when I became a Christian, so I was really looking forward to this book. But I found it disappointing. When he is writing close to his areas of expertise (church history) Dickson brings an academic eye and a historical rigour that is refreshing and insightful. This book displays none of that: the Ten Commandments are not placed carefully into their historical setting, or genre, or anything like it. Instead, the book ends up moralising a lot, and placing a lot of modern theological assumptions onto the text. There is of course a place for this kind of thing in theological study, but it wasn’t what I was hoping to find out of one of Dickson’s books. I appreciate his historical expertise, I find his theological approach harder to learn from.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly pedestrian devotional guide to the Ten Commandments, written, obviously, for unbelievers and other “doubters”. The author makes a strong case, however, for the idea that our entire culture is in fact based upon the Christian interpretation of the Commandments of Moses, so much so that what we agree upon as “good” was developed from that beginning. Page 60, “We live in a culture that imbibed the Golden Rule because for much of our history a majority of citizens thought there was a God whose character was reflected in the Rule. Nowadays fewer people believe in such a God but we still hold the moral viewpoint it inspired as a kind of cultural echo.”

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

- A fresh spin on the Ten Commandments, through the mind of the author. I know so many who use commandments for their own purposes and twist of the words of God into whatever they need it to be. This book seems to dig up a better, clearer meaning for each one of them and how they all work together to create a more powerful meaning.

I recevied a complimentary copy.

[Phillip Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book by John Dickson in a very readable style. Excellent for the non-believer who wants to understand the Ten Commandments and their impact on the West.