The National tribune., 1895-06-27
SUNDAY MEDITATION
A Study of the International Sunday
School Lesson Appointed for July
z, 1895.

study tho paragraph from the Holy scriptures rs
indicated above.l
We are to study the Ten Commandments.
Law is evidence Of responsibility. III fatallsm
were true. then all acts are fixed. Men are
automatons The idea Of voluntary action is
myth or absurdity. Man is n machine. But
there is such sense OF consciousness of our free
dom in action that systems based on fate breed
dstrust The famous DR.. johnson used to sum
up all discussions OF the subject OF Fate VS..
freedom with tho statement: We know were
free and there's the end ont" Even where
tho doctrine of fatslism has been accepted as
credal Fact, it has had little practical effect.
Men act as though free We cannot quiet our
| conscieuces by trying to believe that we must
act AS we do, and hence are not to be held &C
countable.
1t ia wonderful how pregnant in sense are
| the Ten Commandments. They arc tho basis
of all law. II is thought by many that they
are the origin of all systematic codes OF law,
Josephus declared there IS not any historic
mention of written codes of law until over
| 1000 years after Moses. We have in the Ten
Commandments grand moral principles OF
eternal application. They include in the let
ter or the spirit all that is necessarily essential
to moral character.
Henry Ward Beecher once said he had not
much respect for religion which had not got
ten beyond the Ten Commandments he must
have referred to servile obedience, for certain
" no virtue can be mentioned which outstrips
in its essence Of holiacss on it's reach for good
the spirit, if not the letter, of the Ten Com
mandmeuts. There ia "A sense in which one
can speak of getting beyond the Command
meuts, to wit, by treating them as inferior, OK
by not hesitating to violate them.
Mr.. Beecher justly much criticised for so
loose views as to the real significance OF the
Decalog.
Prof. Felix Adler thinks the Ten Command
uents were an evolation. We feel certain
that when they were uttered they appealed to
mans N oral sense. When Hoses declared them
they were not entirely new. Tho people must
have had general sense of the fitness OF Things
1t was we'll the Commandments be clearly
framed, and officially, anthoritatiVely an-
nouneed In some respects they declared prin-
! cjnles way in advance OF the times, and 1t they
are of purely human origin. one is set to think
| ing how Moses got so far ahead of his age.
DIR. John Monroe Gibson, in his volume "The
| Mosaic Era" wrote The brevity, simplicity,
| and cemprehensiveness OF tho Decalog have
| often been remarked its symmetrical arrange
| ment, too with its two tables of duty to God,
J and duty to man, while the Fifth Command
| mcnt forms the connecting link between, the
| relation of fstherhood and motherhood being
| the nearest earthly image of our common rela-
| ton to our Father in Heaven. Then, the hrst
| table begins with the honoring OF God in the
|
| while the second table begins with conduct,
| forbidding the injury of our neghbor in per-
son, in family. in property, and then proceeds
| through words to the thoughts OF the heart
again"
| Every student OF the Ten Commandments
| has noticed pecuisrity, TO wit. the use OF the
| second person Most laws are issued in the
third person, which is practically impersonal.
| The Mosaic law deals not with cases. but with
individuals The parties are those of the First
| Party (Godl, and the second party imam.
| Plaintiff must face defendant. We have re-
spondent and correspondent The directness OF
| the Moral Law quickens conscience
cit is to be observed that the Dccalog in
respect TO its sutect- matter, does not set forth
what is local. or temporary. or peculiar to a
single nation. It's two tables are standing
declaration of true relation between morality
| and religion for all nations aud ages. Inc
| Docalog belonged TO the lsraelitss, not because
the truths expressed in it were exclusively
| theirs, but because ii wss revealed to them IN
a special manner. The breadth of meaning
| whicA rightly belongs TO it may be compared
| to that Of the Lords Prayer, which, though 1T
was especially given by Christ 10 his followers
| for their own use, contains nothing unsuitable
| for any believer in One God"
! We have the following equivalents for tho
| Commandments which Moses made known:
]. The Commandments. ST. Matt, 10: II.
| g The Covenant. Deu., a. -.
3. The Dccalog. By the Greeks.
4. The Law. st. Matt, %: 40.
5. The Moral Law.
6. Tho Tables OF the Covenant. Deu., Q: 9.
Z. The Ten Commandments Ex, 3l:26.
| g. The Testimony. Ez., Is: "a.
| 8. The Two Tables. Deu. 9: 10.
10. Tho Two Tables of the Testimony. Elk,
3llS.
IL The Words E5., 90: l.
| - The Words Of the Covenant. Ex., 81: %.
| 1t is thought Clement of Alexandria was the
first to give the Code the name Decalog, and
| the Fathers initiated.
There were two tables Of the Law-the first
| consisting of the first four Commandments;
| the second of the last six II is well to study
the Decalog by such division.
The Decalog represents 10 great facts for
| bidding 10 evils:
J. Monotheism VS.. polytbeism.
2. Personal worship of God VS.. dolatry.
3. Reverence for God vs.. vulgarity.
4. Observance vs. PROCLAMATION of the Lords
Day.
5. Filalness VS.. disrespect Of parents.
! 6. Kindness vs. hatred.
| z. Purity VS.. unelcanness.
| 8. Honesty VS.. pecuIatiOn.
8. Truth VS.. falsily and Misrepresentation
| 10. Generosity covetousness.
The Church should study the Decalog. The
| custom OF recting it in the public con gregation
is TO be commended. The practice of inscrib-
| ing the Ten Commandments conspicuously on
| cbancel sides has advantages. With what an
awful voice they first uttered Mt
| Sinai! That is proper direction, given to
| each Episcopal Minister as to declaring the
| DecalOg in the congregation to wit, Then
shall the Minister rehearse distinctly tho Ten
| Commandments" Every congregation of
| Christians should frequently have the Decalos
| impressed on their minds. Then love, which
| is the fulfilling of the law love, which is so
| beautifully developed in st. Pauls chapter on
"Charty"; love, which involves the 10 grand
| principles. must be cultivated in our hearts and
| developed in our lives.
We date b. C. 140l or A. NJ. 2513.
The place was Mt. Sinai, also called Mt.
| Horeb-the Mountain of God. 1t is thought
| by some Horeb was tho sHame of u group of
| mountains, of which Sinai was a particular
| peak. 1t is also named Jebe Mousa, or ut.
| Moses 1t was in the lower part of the PENN
| sua formed by the Cults OF Suez and Akabah.
| The modern name is Diebel Muca, Mount of
| Moses. ta
| There is now monastery at Mt. Sinai. It
| has splendid library, rich in ancient manu-
scripts. There about % monks. 1t was at
| Mt. Sinai Tischendorf found what is now
| known IS the Codex Sinaitcus.
The FIRST Four COMMANDMENT
Data.
Ex, 90: Ill; Deu, 5:I-15.
Subjects Treated.
There four of the Commandments which
| treat of our relations to Ged.
a. Monotheism u.s. poytheism.
~ Il.