Augustine and the Decalogue (original) (raw)

Making the Ten Count: Reflections on the Lasting Message of the Decalogue

For Our Good Always: Studies on the Message and Influence of Deuteronomy in Honor of Daniel I. Block, 2013

This is the second of my studies on the Decalogue (see also "Counting the Ten"), this one considering the exegetical, theological, and pastoral payoff of numbering the Ten Words as I do. Consideration is given to the development of the law theme in biblical theology, the meaning of the call to love God and neighbor portrayed in the Ten, the role of the Mosaic law in pointing to Christ, and the relationship of old covenant law in general and the Sabbath law in particular to Christians. The essay ends with an appendix that offers five guidelines for the Christian appropriation of old covenant law.

“The Decalogue,” in Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law (Edited by P. Barmash; New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), 135–155.

Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law, 2019

Although phrased in semi-legal apodictic style, the Decalogue is not a legal code per se but more of a covenant document, which defines the borders of affiliation between the Israelite people and their God. The following discussion highlights the significance and uniqueness of the Decalogue, surveys the different methodological approaches to its study, and focuses on but two major angles within the broad study of the Decalogue, the theological and ideological scope of the first five commandments, and the place the Decalogue captures within the biblical corpus from the very first stages of the history of its reception.

Review of: Dominik Markl (ed.), The Decalogue and Its Cultural Influence (Hebrew Bible Monographs 58; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2013), pp. xxii, 383.

Review of Biblical Literature, 2014

The detailed review includes abstracts of, and comments on, the 21 papers published in the volume. The reviewer offers the following suggestion about the origin and the early history of the Ten Commandments: th festival of Tabernacles may have been the occasion when the Levites, instead of reciting the entire Torah (Deut 31:9-13), would have used the Dacalogue in their teaching. The words of the Decalogue originated in the Deuteronomic milieu, and the form in which the text appears in the book of Exodus reflects its Deuteronomic derivation and its slight revision in a "Priestly" (P) environment. The migration of the Decalogue from Deutronomy to Exodus is the first episode in the long story of the Decalogue's reception history.

The Decalogue - It's Meaning According to God's Word

Reformers see the Mosaic Law revealed in Scripture in three categories: civil, ceremonial, and moral. We see the moral law as eternal and universal, as shown in Romans 2: For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. The challenge for us is to rightly determine what within the Mosaic Law is moral and what is ceremonial or civil.