Posted on by Abe Austin

The Basis for Following the Commandments: Summary

In this series I noted society’s progressive departure from traditional Western ethics and morality, which are founded upon the Judeo-Christian commandments. I identified three core pillars of belief that are essential for wholehearted adherence to these commandments. They were:

  1. Belief in the reality of the Judeo-Christian God
  2. Belief that the Bible contains the genuine commandments of that God
  3. Belief that those authentic commandments are essential for true happiness in life

If someone lacks any one of these testimonies, then they are not likely to be motivated to actually follow the commandments.

Review)

As we discussed, belief in the reality of the Judeo-Christian God means believing that God is real, that He is our creator, that He is benevolent, and that He is all-powerful. Put another way, we need to believe that God is someone we can actually trust. We trust Him because He is good, and the things He says are genuinely meant to bring us joy, and we trust Him because He is capable, so if He says something is for our ultimate joy He will be able to deliver on that promise.

Overlapping with that testimony is the third one, which is to believe that God’s instructions are THE BEST way to obtain happiness and purpose in our lives. So long as we think we can figure out a better plan than God’s we will hold ourselves back from His law. To have this testimony means that we trust in Him more than anything else, even more than we trust in ourselves. It means that His word carries greater weight than any other.

Finally, even if we believe that God is real, and that His word carries greater weight than any other, we still need to know what those words are. To follow the commandments we have to believe that the Bible is genuine scripture, divine words that originated from that real and trusted God. Without this testimony, one is left to operate only on the direct whispers of God to our own heart, which I believe for most of us occurs less frequently than the number of times we need guidance in our lives. At some point we need to adopt principles on faith, and one must have a testimony in the Biblical commandments to follow them

Cultivating Testimony)

Some people seem to come by these three pillars of testimony naturally. Their inner core is already perfectly aligned with each tenet and they accept and live the ethical principles of Christianity without struggle.

But I believe that is not the case for most of us. I believe that most of us do not naturally have all three of the core beliefs mentioned here. Maybe we have one, maybe two, maybe none of them at all. However, not naturally having all three pillars of belief does not mean that we should just abandon the Christian ethic. It turns out that most testimonies do not come before the trying of the law, but after. Most of us don’t know what we believe until we live it. Either we try the right thing and then become convinced that it is right, or we try the wrong thing and then become convinced that it is wrong.

So if you lack any or all of the core pillars mentioned above, I would implore you to not give up on their ideas, but to put them to the test. Pause and think what sort of life you might live if you did already believe in them all, and then try living that way for a time. See whether you find a greater sense of wholeness, peace, and joy from that lifestyle or not.

I don’t want to extend this study long enough to lay out the evidence for the following assertions, but perhaps I will do so at another time. The Christian ethic has been the bedrock of Western civilization, and has brought greater innovation, illumination, and relief into the world than any other thing. It would be naive and foolish to discard it without ever giving it serious consideration and experimentation. If it has uplifted so many billions, it really might lift you as well. Certainly it has done so for me.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Four

Thus far we have discussed how accepting the traditional Western ethics requires us to both believe in the Judeo-Christian God, and that the words of the Bible contain His genuine commandments. There yet remains one core pillar for our testimony, though, which is a belief that God’s true commandments are absolute.

The fact is, there are many today that do believe in God and do believe that the Bible contains His commandments, however they are taken by a notion that these commandments are little more than paternal advice. They think it is ideal to follow the commandments, and that it would be good for other people to adhere to them, but that things won’t be so bad if they personally don’t. What they lack is a testimony that God’s laws are actually imperative.

Traditionally, the commandments have been presented to the Western world as having both a negative deterrent against breaking them, and a positive reinforcement for following them. The negative deterrent is the assertion that breaking the commandments brings suffering, either in the form of divine punishment or simply natural consequences. The positive reinforcement is the assertion that following the commandments brings joy, either in the form of divine blessing or simply natural consequences. The combination of these two is that following the commandments will lead to the most fulfilling, most joyful, most complete form of life that we can experience, whereas regularly breaking them will lead to the most heartbroken, the most painful, the most fractured form of life that we can experience.

So now the questions come to you. Do you believe that God’s commandments genuinely matter? Do you believe that the quality of your life will be always be affected by adherence or resistance to them?

If the answer to any of those is “no,” why is that? As with the other pillars, is there something in your life that prevents you from believing that the highest quality of life can only be achieved by adherence to the commandments? Is there some part of you that insists on finding another way? Would you be willing to experiment with the commandments, adhering to them as a matter of analysis, to see if your quality of life markedly improves?

If, on the other hand, your answer to all of those is “yes,” then you have established that God is real, that His commandments are taught in the Bible, and that following those commandments really matters for your personal happiness. There can be no logical reason not to abide by these principles of traditional, Western ethics. Only weakness of the flesh could cause you to set these principles aside.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Three

In my last post I discussed how a belief that the Judeo-Christian God is real, benevolent, and all-powerful are necessary components to accepting the commandments taught in traditional Western ethics. However, those beliefs alone do not get us all the way to being convinced of exactly which law we need to live by. Today we will talk about the second aspect of our testimony that is necessary to follow these commandments. In order to abide by these rules, we have to believe that they are really coming to us from the God that we believe in.

The commandments that have been taught to us in traditional Western culture have all been derived from the Bible. They include the ten commandments that were given to Moses, as well as the others that are scattered throughout the sacred text. We follow them because we consider them to be the words of God, Himself, and since we believe that He is real, benevolent, and all-powerful, we are inclined to follow the instructions that He has given us. He would know, better than anyone else, what behavior would be for our own good, and following His plan would be the most certain way to achieve happiness and peace.

But what if one believes in God, but not necessarily in the authenticity of the words of scripture? We are thousands of years from the first writing of those words, and it is strictly a function of faith to say, “yes, these words really did come from the mouth of the Lord, and not just the pen of man.”

One doesn’t even have to get lost in academic arguments on the authenticity of the text. In my observation, the reasons why most people dismiss the Bible has nothing to do with scholarly analysis, but just because their default is not to believe something that is so fantastic and far removed from them. Even if one accepts that a loving God probably would leave instructions to His children, they might struggle to accept anything that purports to be that instruction. They have lost their capacity to believe in the incredible.

I turn these questions over to you. Do you believe that the Bible is genuinely the word of God? And if it is, do you accept that the commandments written therein are His genuine instructions to you?

If the answer to any of those is “no,” why is that? As with the questions of God’s reality, is there some experience or barrier in your life that prevents you from believing in anything that purports to be scripture? And even if you are prevented from believing by default, would you be willing to abide by the commandments contained in the Bible even while unsure of their authenticity, if only to see if they come alive for you as you do so?

If, on the other hand, the answer to all of those questions is “yes,” then we have established that God is real and His commandments are the same as what is taught in traditional Western tradition. Even with all that, though, there remains yet one more pillar of faith that must be established. Even if these are God’s commandments, how absolute are they? Is it permissible for us to flex and bend them? We will discuss that matter in the next post.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Basis for Following the Commandments: Part Two

In my last post I stated that the question of whether it is reasonable to abide by God’s commandments rest on three fundamental pillars. It is not the point of this study to try and prove each of these pillars, only to establish that they are the core issues that must be wrestled with when deciding whether to follow the traditional Christian principles or not. It is left to the reader to discover what answer he or she has to every point.

The first of these core pillars has to do with the reality of the Judeo-Christian God. Is there a supreme creator of the universe, one who calls Himself our Father, who seeks our eternal salvation? There are many different possible representations of who or what that God would be, whether personified or disembodied, whether dwelling in the heavens above or emerging from within the human heart, but for the purpose of this study all that matters is the question of whether a benevolent and all-powerful creator exists. This requirement is itself divided into three parts. As taught in the Judeo-Christian tradition, God must be:

  1. Real
  2. Good and Benevolent
  3. All-powerful

If God were not good and benevolent, then His laws would not necessarily be for our benefit. They might not be given to us out of love, designed to bring about our greatest happiness, and so adherence to them might be counterproductive to our nature. If God is not all-powerful, then He may not be able to secure for us the promised blessings that obedience to His law is supposed to provide. We would have no assurance that following His law would give the peace, joy, serenity, and wholeness that has been foretold of. And if God is simply not real at all, then obviously both of the above failings apply.

And so, it is up to the sincere seeker of truth to determine: do you believe that God is real? Do you believe that He loves you, and only provides laws that are meant to secure your ultimate happiness? Do you believe He has the power to deliver that happiness as promised?

If the answer to any of those is “no,” do you wish it was otherwise? Is there some experience or barrier in your life that prevents you from believing in such a God? Would you be willing to live as if such a God did exist, if only to see whether He manifests Himself to you in time?

Or, if the answer to all of those is “yes,” then one knows that God’s commandments to us are motivated by love, and that they are empowered to bring us the peace and serenity we need. Following such law would be a privilege, and it would be the great desire of the true believer to find out exactly what are the details of that law. And that brings us to our second point, are the commandments taught in traditional Christianity the true law of this true God? We will discuss that matter in the next post.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 21:28-32

28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Today’s verses consider a situation where a person was killed, but there was even less culpability than in the case of manslaughter. What if a man did not directly cause the death of another, but an ox under his possession did? This matter takes us to the very limits of homicidal responsibility.

God’s solution depends on whether the ox already had a reputation for goring other things or not. If the ox had never been known to attack other animals, then the creature would be killed and its flesh wasted. The owner would gain no benefit, he would simply be out the value of the creature.

If, however, the ox had been known to gore other creatures, and the owner neither put the animal down nor provided adequate protection from it, and the creature killed another person, then the ox would again be put to death, but now the man would be consigned to death also. However, this is the one instance of the death penalty where a ransom price could also be put on the life of the owner, and if the owner paid that ransom he could go free.

We have therefore seen four levels of homicidal culpability, with fitting punishments for each.

  1. Direct, intentional homicide: death penalty.
  2. A violent scuffle that escalated into unintended manslaughter: death penalty, unless the man abandons his home and goes to a city of refuge.
  3. Accidental death via an animal that the owner knew was dangerous: loss of the animal and a ransom to be paid, or else the death penalty.
  4. Accidental death via an animal that the owner did not know was dangerous: loss of the animal.

The Lord showed Himself to be well aware of all the nuances and complexities of human life, how the same unlawful outcome might require different punishments based on the varying contexts. In this we see how He did not judge man by the outer appearances, but by the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 21:26-27

26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

27 And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

We have some more verses of the law meant to protect a servant under his master’s care. If a master were found to have abused a servant so that the servant lost an eye or a tooth, then the servant would go free, while still retaining all of the money that was initially paid for his service. The abusive master would simply lose out on any of the six years that remained in the servant’s term.

We have already mentioned how the servanthood described here in Exodus was fundamentally different from—and morally superior to—our more modern conception of slavery. We have also discussed how this sort of paid servitude may have been necessary, given the economic state of the newly-freed Israelites, providing both an opportunity to the poor and a surety to the higher class.

But to be sure, the servants of Israel were still in a vulnerable position, and that reality is well-recognized within the law. Note that we have not seen any laws that would protect or compensate the master should he have an unproductive servant, but we have already seen multiple laws that would protect the servant should he have a cruel master. There is a common narrative in our culture that the Old Testament God was cruel and championed the oppression of the weak, but such claims are disingenuous, ignoring how His laws were deliberately tilted in the favor of the most vulnerable. The care of His heart is made manifest in the guardrails of His law.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 20:24-26

24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

In the last post we discussed how the Israelites were not to create any graven image, even of the Lord Himself. Today we see that this forbidding of graven religious artifacts extended also to the altar upon which they would make their sacrifices. They were not to carve the stone into closely-fitting shapes, but instead would lay the rocks in a rough and natural pile.

God goes so far as to say that using a tool on the stone would pollute it. The altar was the most sacred place in the Jewish faith, and so it was to be a work of God alone. God crafted the rocks of the earth, and man was not supposed to try and improve on that. If they did, it would be an altar of men, not of the Lord.

Neither were they to craft stairs leading up to the altar, but approach it on level ground. The reason given is not because the stairs would be a constructed edifice, though, but because there might be a risk of the priestly skirt exposing a man as he ascended the stairs. For later altars the Lord would instruct the Israelites to elevate it up in the air, but by that point He also would have instructed the priests to wear breeches underneath their skirts.

This is a recurring pattern in the Biblical account. The Lord requires a holy practice of His people, but He modifies its requirement according to their capability at the time. Another example would be how the newly-freed Israelites, wandering back-and-forth through the wilderness, were told to construct a tabernacle that was portable and modest, whereas at the height of their power—under the reign of King Solomon—the temple would be a vast and permanent construction. In some things the Lord demands sudden, dramatic changes, but in other things He leads His people by degrees.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 20:22-23

22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

God had commanded the people that they were not to make any graven images. In today’s verses He goes further to say that they must not make idols even of Him. Yes, He is their God, but they are not to try and recreate Him in any physical fashion.

One obvious reason for this is so that the idol would not become a distraction from the actual God. By pouring their devotion into a figure, they might compromise their relationship with the actual, living Lord. We do something similar when we obsess over a particular interpretation of the gospel, and hold to it at the expense of all other parts. We are more devoted to the image in our head of God, than to God Himself.

Another reason for not creating any idols of God is because God would create His own image. It would be a living, walking, talking image, even a man in the flesh, Jesus Christ. All the worshippers of Horus and Ra and Baal and Ashtaroth made images that were static, mute, and dead, just as the gods they represented were dead. Only God could create a living image, because only God was truly alive.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 20:20-21

20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

I find very interesting the last phrase in today’s verses: “Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” This sounds counterintuitive. The scriptures describe God as being synonymous with the light, the entity that dispels the darkness. Why would Moses go into darkness to meet the Lord?

We have to ask, “what was causing the darkness that Moses stepped into?” Looking back on verse 18, I assume that it was “the mountain smoking.” It seems that Moses stepped into the darkness of the smoke to find the Lord within. But, of course, what one finds within smoke is a flame. It wasn’t that God was the darkness, but that He was the light within the darkness. This idea returns at other points as well, such as when John gives his testimony of the Word that was with God, and he uses the phrase: “the light shineth in darkness.”

We do not come across God as a bright spot in an already well-lit room. We find Him shining in the midst of the deepest darkness, darkness that we must step into before we find Him. Stepping into that darkness means facing our deepest fears, confessing our most shameful secrets, enduring our most painful afflictions, and ultimately passing into the darkness of death itself. This is a most fascinating aspect of our faith. We do not just believe that God is good, but that He is the good that we can only find through the darkest experiences of our life.