A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments by John Dickson

A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments: How, for Better or Worse, Our Ideas about the Good Life Come from Moses and Jesus by John Dickson ISBN-13: 9780310522591 Trade Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Zondervan Released: June 7, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher through BookLook.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
The Ten Commandments are perhaps some of the most well-known and vexed verses of the whole Bible. They have found their way into our art, monuments, literature, and culture—even into Richard Dawkins famed “Ten Atheist Commandments.”

In A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments, bestselling author John Dickson explores how these ten verses have changed our world and how they show us what the Good Life looks like. Whether or not one believes in the Bible, these ten ancient instructions open up a window to the Western world and on our own soul.


My Review:
A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments talks about how the Ten Commandments--and Jesus' take on them in the New Testament--have deeply influenced history and Western culture. The author assumed that his reader isn't Christian and maybe not even religious, so he described the original context of each commandment, what Jesus said about the commandment, and how these ideas have affected the culture in the past and present.

The author was respectful towards those who do not share his Christian faith and used language that anyone should be able to follow (rather than "Christian-ese" or academic language). Though I knew much of this information, I still found it an interesting read and learned a few things. Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topic.


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