The Ten Commandments: Introduction <Prager University)(Videos)

No document in world history so changed the world for the better as did the Ten Commandments. Western civilization -- the civilization that developed universal human rights, created women's equality, ended slavery, created parliamentary democracy among other unique achievements -- would not have developed without them. As you will see when each of the Ten Commandments is explained, these commandments are as relevant today as when they were given over 3,000 years ago. In fact, they're` so relevant that the Ten Commandments are all that is necessary to make a good world, a world free of tyranny and cruelty.

Imagine for a moment a world in which there was no murder or theft. In such a world, there would no need for armies, or police, or weapons. Men and women and children could walk anywhere, at any time of day or night, without any fear of being killed or robbed. Imagine further a world in which no one coveted what belonged to their neighbor; a world in which children honored their mother and father and the family unit thrived; a world in which people obeyed the injunction not to lie. The recipe for a good world is all there -- in these ten sublime commandments.

But there is a catch. The Ten Commandments are predicated on the belief that they were given by an Authority higher than any man, any king, or any government. That's why the sentence preceding the Ten Commandments asserts the following: "God spoke all these words."

You see, if the Ten Commandments, as great as they are, were given by any human authority, then any person could say: "Who is this man Moses, who is this king or queen; who is this government to tell me how I should behave? Okay, so why is God indispensable to the Ten Commandments? Because, to put it as directly as possible, if it isn't God who declares murder wrong, murder isn't wrong. Yes, this strikes many people today as incomprehensible, even absurd. Many of you are thinking, "Is this guy saying you can't be a good person if you don't believe in God?"

Let me respond as clearly as possible: I am not saying that. Of course there are good people who don't believe in God, just as there are bad people who do. And many of you are also thinking, "I believe murder is wrong. I don't need God to tell me." Now that response is only half true. I have no doubt that if you're an atheist and you say you believe murder is wrong, you believe murder is wrong. But, forgive me, you do need God to tell you. We all need God to tell us. You see, even if you figured out murder is wrong on your own, without God and the Ten Commandments, how do you know it's wrong? Not believe it's wrong, I mean know it's wrong? The fact is that you can't. Because without God, right and wrong are just personal beliefs. Personal opinions. I think shoplifting is okay, you don't. Unless there is a God, all morality is just opinion and belief. And virtually every atheist philosopher has acknowledged this.

Another problem with the view that you don't need God to believe that murder is wrong, is that a lot of people haven't shared your view. And you don't have to go back very far in history to prove this. In the twentieth century millions of people in Communist societies and under Nazism killed about one hundred million people -- and that doesn't count a single soldier killed in war.

So, don't get too confident about people's ability to figure out right from wrong without a Higher Authority. It's all too easy to be swayed by a government or a demagogue or an ideology or to rationalize that the wrong you are doing isn't really wrong. And even if you do figure out what is right and wrong, God is still necessary. People who know the difference between right and wrong do the wrong thing all the time. You know why? Because they can. They can because they think no one is watching. But if you recognize that God is the source of moral law, you believe that He is always watching.

So, even if you're an atheist, you would want people to live by the moral laws of the Ten Commandments. And even an atheist has to admit that the more people who believe God gave them -- and therefore they are not just opinion -- the better the world would be. In 3,000 years no one has ever come up with a better system than the God-based Ten Commandments for making a better world. And no one ever will.

Thank-you. We are subscribers. Mr. Paeger is on during Rush, so getting his emails and links to his videos is very convenient. I met him and talked to him. He is one of my living heroes. We always turn to him for moral clarity. We can’t stand going to the local temple, so Mr. Praeger is our “rabbi.”

My husband is Jewish (and I am Catholic) and every day we pray for those who pray to God. Listening to his show is like being in a conservative shul.

His words of wisdom should really be offered more on FR> (Hint, hint, self)

"The Ten Commandments are predicated on the belief that they are given by an authority higher than any man, any king, or any government."

America's Founders recognized and acknowledged this belief over an over, as is stated so succinctly by James Madison, as quoted below:

"A Memorial and Remonstrance. . . ." - James Madison (Excerpted)
"Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, “that Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the Manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence.” "The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable; because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men. It is unalienable also; because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe: And if a member of Civil Society, who enters into any subordinate Association, must always do it with a reservation of his duty to the general authority; much more must every man who becomes a member of any particular Civil Society, do it with a saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign. We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man’s right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society, and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance." - James Madison, "Memorial and Remonstrance. . . ." (excerpt)

Jefferson summarized the philosophy of the Declaration of Independence in these words:

"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." - Thomas Jefferson

America's Founders concluded that life, liberty, and the laws to protect them were "Creator-endowed," and were, therefore, unalienable. The philosophy capsulated in their Declaration of Independence flowed out of that fundamental recognition.

Thank-you for your post. As we enter Advent, it is a mixture of the anticipation for Christ’s birth, Christ is born again, and gratitude that he is our personal advocate. Oh, how wonderful is our God, Jesus Christ. I can only hope and strive that I am worthy of his sacrifice.

Have a Blessed Christmas. Your loved one must appreciate that you bring them the word of God and depth of understanding.

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