Toward a Culture of Freedom: Reflections on the Ten Commandments Today

The Ten Commandments belong to the classics of Western culture. They are an authoritative part of the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures. Since they come to us from an ancient past it is both necessary and worthwhile to inquire what they may mean for us today. Thorwald Lorenzen contends it is important to hear Gods invitation to an alternative lifestyle: you shall not kill you shall not commit adultery you shall not covet. His thoughtful reflections on the commandments for todays tumultuous world begin with the God who speaks ten word to liberate Gods people from oppression. Grounded in Gods liberating yes the ten words are neither laws nor rules. They are elements for a culture of freedom in which people are invited to celebrate life. Thorwald Lorenzen presents an inspiring call to embrace freedom as a matter of spiritual inheritance and destiny. Pastors and prophets alike will use this text to sharpen their vision and every reader will find in it a guide to break free from those chains that bind them. --David Batstone author Professor of Ethics University of San Francisco and President NOT For Sale Combining exegetical acumen with sharp theological insight Lorenzen has produced a fresh and deeply profound meditation on the Ten Words of the Torah. Filled with historical and contemporary illustrations Lorenzen proves that the Decalogue is as relevant practical challenging and disturbing today as ever. Highly readable yet informed by a lifetime of scholarly study Lorenzens book will be immensely valuable to both pastors and laypersons and would make an excellent supplemental classroom text. The appendices on interpreting the Ten Commandments and on making ethical decisions make a book that is already well worth the price a bargain indeed. --Kent Blevins Professor Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy Gardner-Webb University Here is the most careful and relevant study of the Ten Commandments now available. Biblically grounded theologically astute Lorenzens penetrating treatment of each of the commandments results in constructing a mature global ethic for Christians. Far from a legalistic list of commands Lorenzen shows how the Ten Words function as a blueprint for connecting the dots between a private and social ethic in a pluralistic world. --D. Dixon Sutherland Professor of Religious Studies Director Christian Ethics Institute Stetson University Toward a Culture of Freedom is a superb ethical treatise based on the Ten Commandments. Deeply grounded in scriptures and equipped with an expansive and compassionate experience of todays world Professor Lorenzen will help you to discern some solid rocks to stand on in an era when all human foundations seem to be quivering. Though writing from a Christian perspective he speaks to persons of all faiths and even no faith. Would that every American nay every human being would glean the wisdom she or he will find here. --E. Glenn Hinson Professor Emeritus Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond Thorwald Lorenzen is Professor of Theology at Charles Sturt University; a guest lecturer at St. Marks Theological Center and Whitley College University of Melbourne; and a Principal Researcher within the Public and Contextual Theology Strategic Research Centre (PACT) Charles Sturt University in Canberra Australia. He is author of Resurrection and Discipleship: Interpretive Models Biblical Reflections Theological Consequences (1995 and 2003) and Resurrection--Discipleship--Justice: Affirming the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Today (2003).