Stephen Fry - Philip Gardiner - Sam Harris - Mysteries of the Bible TV - George Carlin - Christopher Hitchens - Bill Maher - Arthur Hugh Clough - The Ten Commandments 1956 - The Ten Commandments 2006 - Olly Steeds TV - Riddles of the Bible TV - Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites TV - Egyptian Book of the Dead TV - In Search of … TV - Exodus 20:3 - Exodus 20:4-6 - Exodus 20:7 - Exodus 20:8-11 - Exodus 20:12 - Exodus 20:13 - Exodus 20:14 - Exodus 20:15 - Exodus 20:16 - Exodus 34:1 - Exodus 34:28 -
These damn commandments of yours – you say they’ve made life better, I say they have suppressed and tyrannised and bullied. Stephen Fry
What were the stones that Moses therefore brought down from Sinai but meteorites. Philip Gardiner, The Ark, The Shroud & Mary, documentary & book
If you think that it would be impossible to improve upon the Ten Commandments as a statement of morality, you really owe it to yourself to read some other scriptures. Once again, we need look no further than the Jains: Mahavira, the Jain patriarch, surpassed the morality of the Bible with a single sentence: ‘Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.’ Imagine how different our world might be if the Bible contained this as its central precept. Christians have abused, oppressed, enslaved, insulted, tormented, tortured, and killed people in the name of God for centuries, on the basis of a theologically defensible reading of the Bible. Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation
You are using your own moral intuitions to authenticate the wisdom of the Bible – and then, in the next moment, you assert that we human beings cannot possibly rely upon our own intuitions to rightly guide us in the world. ibid.
One man, Moses, is said to have come face to face with an all-powerful supreme being. But the historical evidence of this incident seems to have been blown away by the sands of time. Mysteries of the Bible s1e1: Moses and Mount Sinai, A&E 1994
Who was Moses? What happened on Mount Sinai? ibid.
Scholars have long puzzled over the mystery of the burning bush. ibid.
Could there have been a rational explanation for the plagues? ibid.
There remains not a single trace of their passing. Not a footprint, not a shard of pottery, not a scrap of evidence. ibid.
Why have the Ten Commandments survived with such impact to the present? Mysteries of the Bible s4e11: Ten Commandments
Moses had not ascended Sinai. ibid.
Archaeologists have failed to find any evidence that an ancient people ever stopped here. ibid.
How could they worship a golden calf after all they had come to know about God? ibid.
The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post, ‘Thou shalt not steal’, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’, and ‘Thou shalt not lie’ in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment. George Carlin
No, if we had believed that perjury, murder and theft were all right we would never have got to the feet of Mount Sinai. Christopher Hitchens v Alister McGrath, Georgetown University Washington, 2007
The first two or three are entirely about fearing the author of the orders. Entirely about being terrified of someone who you are enjoined to love ... The idea of compulsory love has always struck me as a bit shady. Christopher Hitchens, and Stephen Fry v The Catholic Church 2009
Most of the ten commandments can be found in the Negative Confessions. Christopher Hichens, cited The Bible: A History: Moses & The Law, 2010
Then there is the very salient question of what the commandments do not say. Is it too modern to notice that there is nothing about the protection of children from cruelty, nothing about rape, nothing about slavery, and nothing about genocide? Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great p100
There are no prohibitions against say slavery or rape or genocide or child abuse in the Ten Commandments. Christopher Hitchens
It doesn’t include child abuse, it doesn’t include ‘don’t torture’, It doesn’t include a lot of things – rape – that I think if we were making a list today we would probably include. Bill Maher, Religulous
Though shalt not kill; but need’st not strive
Officiously to keep alive. Arthur Hugh Clough, 1819-61, The Latest Decalogue 1862
Do not adultery commit;
Advantage rarely comes of it. ibid.
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
When it’s so lucrative to cheat. ibid.
Thou shalt not covet; but tradition
Approves all forms of competition. ibid.
Freedom was gone from the world. The Ten Commandments 1956 starring Yul Brynner & Anne Baxter & Charlton Heston & Edward G Robinson & Yvonne De Carlo & Debra Paget & John Derek & Sir Cedric Hardwicke & Vincent Price et al, producer & director Cecil B DeMille
Every newborn Hebrew manchild shall die. ibid. Rameses I
Is life and bondage better than death? ibid. Joshua
You’re a sharp-clawed treacherous little peacock. ibid. Rameses to Nefretiri
I do not know what power shapes my way; but my feet are set upon a road that I must follow. ibid. Moses
It would take a God – but if I could free them, I would. ibid. Moses to Pharaoh
Let the name of Moses be stricken from every book and tablet. ibid. Pharaoh
I commend you to your Hebrew God who has no name. ibid. Rameses
What gods? You prophets and priests made the gods that you may prey upon the fears of men. ibid.
Ten times you have seen the miracles of the Lord and still you have no faith. ibid. Moses to Israelites
Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come to me. ibid. Moses
There was a man whose name is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. He was born into slavery among a people who had been held captive by the Egypt of the Pharaohs. The Ten Commandments 2006 ABC mini-series starring Dougray Scott & Naveen Andrews & Omar Sharif & Linus Roache & Paul Rhys, director Robert Dornhelm, music Randy Edelman
Who made the gods? ibid. inchoate Moses
Where is He? What has He done for us? Why does He let this happen to us? ibid. slave
What is He a God of? ibid. Moses
Could I stand by and do nothing? Could I? ibid. Moses
If this is what He wanted, you’d think He’d make the going a little easier. ibid.
He does what He wants – I’m learning that. ibid.
Because a man is born in slavery that doesn’t mean that he is a slave. He has to think of himself as a slave before he is one. To be a free man you have to start thinking as one. ibid.
I am who I am? What does that mean? ibid. Moses
Will we have to keep fighting and winning to show we are worthy of you? ibid.
You want to take everything from me, is that it? ibid. Moses to God
Far better that there should be as many gods as there are men. If only to keep us priests employed. ibid. old man
This God is too fond of rules. ibid.
Who will stand with God? ibid. Moses
Although God did not permit Moses to enter the promised land He allowed him to see it before he died. ibid. commentary
An ark is a vessel built to protect something precious. The Ark of the Covenant was a box made of wood and covered in gold. It was built to hold two tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Mystery Investigator: Olly Steeds: Ark of the Covenant, Discovery 2010
The Ark of the Covenant: Down through the ages it has inspired terror and obsession. This gold-encrusted chest held the Ten Commandments and gave Moses a direct hotline to God. With it the Israelites conquered the Holy Land and they built a new temple. Then in perhaps the greatest Biblical riddle ever the Ark of the Covenant simply vanished from scripture. Riddles of the Bible s2e3: The Hunt for the Ark of the Covenant, National Geographic 2012