With all the talk about the ten commandments being displayed in public places we thought it was interesting that one of the growing Google search queries that bring visitors to the Church Anew blog is this one: "What are the ten commandments?"

To give a more robust answer to that question we thought it would be good to turn to the wisdom of our resident expert, Dr. Walter Brueggemann. Below are some of our favorite posts of Dr. Brueggemann's discussing the Ten Commandments:

1. On Gerrymandered Texts

Walter Brueggemann

“We all know about gerrymandered congressional districts… I want to consider here the “gerrymandering of biblical texts,” my phrase for biblical texts read aloud in the congregation that boldly and openly skip over verses in order to accent other verses the pastor believes the church most needs to hear.”

2. Two Farmers, Two Ways

Walter Brueggemann

“We are always standing before the “two ways” and needing to decide. It is not a once for all decision, but a decision made every day that concerns small things, the sum of which matters cosmically.”

3. In Praise of Thickness

Walter Brueggemann

“...it is useful to recognize that the baseline of scriptural rules, the Ten Commandments, is a set of ‘thick rules.’ That is, they set forth quite general norms for acceptable conduct in the covenant community; but quite clearly they require much interpretive work.”

4. Out-Interpreting the Ten Commandments

Walter Brueggemann

“It is my suggestion that preachers should take up the challenge of the state of Louisiana to do a careful, thorough interpretation of the commandments to show how each element of the Ten pertains to an alternative social order and practice.”

5. Workable and Purposeful

Walter Brueggemann

“There is and can be no end to the reiteration and modification that grows in and through scripture, just as Justice Breyer saw that there is no end to the “workability” of the Constitution.”

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