ATTACHMENT II

Questions and answers from the discussions.

Question:--In your talk reference was made to four different sets of commandments. Could you elaborate on that?

Answer:--It always comes as a complete surprise, even a shock, to many Christians to learn that there is more than one set of  commandments in the Bible. Instead of dwelling on the commandments themselves, let me briefly summarize the story of how they were given. The Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai some three months after departing Egypt (Ex. 19:1). The Lord then told Moses to meet him on top of the mountain (Ex.19:20). When Moses arrived, God was waiting for him. From this point on it is not at all clear just who gave what to whom and who wrote it all down. In Exodus 31:18 God furnishes the stone tablets and does the writing, with his finger, no less. In Exodus 32:16 God is again given all the credit. However, in Exodus 34:1 God does the writing but it is Moses who furnishes the stone tablets. This is all contradicted again in Exodus 34:27 where God directs Moses to do the writing. But anyway, after forty days and nights up on the mountain during which time he had neither food nor water (Ex. 34:28), Moses finally comes down with two stone tablets upon which was written a set of rules (Ex.20:2-17.) for the Israelites to follow. It should be noted that although they include the traditional ten commandments,  the words, " Ten Commandments" never appear in chapter 20. In fact, these words appear only once in the entire Book of Exodus (34:28). The two tablets Moses brought down from the mountain are said to have contained "testimony" (Ex. 31:18) not commandments

Here I point out a glaring contradiction. In Exodus 33:11 it says "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto a friend". So it comes as a big surprise when a few lines later (Exodus 33:20) God warns Moses, "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live". Another confusing element of the Moses story lies in the fact that his father-in-law is referred to variously as Jethro (Exodus 3:1) and as Reuel (Exodus 2:21).

When Moses got back to the camp he caught the children of Israel worshiping, of all things, a golden calf thereby breaking two of the new rules. He was furious! In a fit of pique Moses dashed the stone tablets against the rocks shattering them to pieces. Next he ground the golden calf into powder, put it in the water and made the people drink it. (Ex.32:19-20).

A couple of days later after he had regained his composure Moses began to have second thoughts. Perhaps he had overreacted. After all, destroying those tablets with God's rules written on them was maybe going a bit too far. So Moses contacted the Lord and confessed what he had done. The Lord replied (Ex.34:1) ". . . hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon them the words that were on the first tablets, which thou breakest." Now keep in mind that the Lord said he would write the same words that were on the former tablets. So, Moses gets two new stone tablets and trudges up to the top of the mountain for the second time (he is now 80 years old and not moving too swiftly). The Lord then gives him a second set of commandments. These are the ones listed in Exodus 34:14-26. Despite God's promise to repeat what was on the first two tablets, this set of rules is entirely different. (See Attachment I) To further confuse the situation, when he had finished dictating, God said to Moses, (Ex.34:27-28,) "Write thou these words . . . for I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he (Moses) wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments". As noted above, these words appear nowhere else in the entire Book of Exodus thereby making it clear that the Exodus 34 set is the authentic ten commandments. Another and more expanded set of rules appears in Exodus 21:1- 23:26. It consists of between forty and sixty commandments depending on how the sentences are punctuated and divided.

In Deuteronomy 5:6-12 there appears yet another set of God-given rules. This is set number four. Unlike the other three sets this set was given not on Mt. Sinai but on Mt. Horeb (Deut. 5:2). It repeats the Exodus 20 set with two important contradictions. First, with regard to remembering the Sabbath, we are told in Deuteronomy that the purpose of the sixth commandment is to remind the Israelites how God liberated them from slavery in Egypt, whereas in the Exodus 20 set  it's purpose is to remind the Israelites that God rested on the seventh day of creation. Second, in commandment number ten, forbidding coveting, the Exodus 20 set lists wives as property while in the Deuteronomy set wives are listed separately from property.

The next time your Christian friends recommend the ten commandments to you tell them that you might consider if only they would identify which of these various contradictory sets of God given rules is the real McCoy. Most of them will not have the foggiest notion of what you are talking about. They will probably accuse you of making all this up. Armed with the references I have cited, you will be able to quote chapter and verse.

One more point of logic needs to be made before leaving this subject. How did the first set of  God's rules get recorded? Didn't Moses destroy the stone tablets upon which they were written? Did he remember them verbatim? If so, what was the point in going back for set number two?


Question:--Have you ever given this talk to any religious groups? If so, what was their response?

Answer:--I have not yet given it to any church groups other than Unitarians. It's not because I haven't tried, but I have come to understand that most ministers don't want their congregations exposed to this kind of information. They are ready to go to any length to prevent it. They are afraid of it. Most of them. I believe, harbor some real doubts as to the truth of Christianity. They realize that there are some very serious problems with Bible credibility, but to admit it would be to undermine their careers and ultimately their bread and butter. Therefore, they can't afford to expose their congregation to anything that might start them asking embarrassing questions.


Question:--What implication, if any, does all of this hold for the New Testament?

Answer--The fact is that it holds very serious implications for the New Testament. Oddly enough there are those who seem determined to hold on to the "truths" of the New Testament regardless of what fate may befall the Old Testament. From the Christian standpoint such a position is completely irrational. The Old Testament provides the foundation upon which the New Testament rests. For example, without the Genesis account of the fall of man, the redemption, i. e., the suffering of Jesus makes no sense. In John 5:46-47 it plainly states that not to believe in the laws of Moses is not to believe in Jesus Christ. Also, there's all those Old Testament prophecies used to certify Jesus as the long awaited Jewish messiah.