This is the 27th book in the Maltz canon, which is now equal in number to the books of the New Testament! But this book takes an Old Testament theme – that of the Ten Commandments.
The subtitle asks, ‘Are the Ten Commandments still for today?’ which explains the book’s central concern. The rather strange and, in Maltz’s words, “perhaps even mischievous” main title indicates why there is even a need to ask this question. The author suggests that what started out as moral imperatives have been flipped by modern thinking into something quite the opposite. The Commandments have each been inverted to become a charter for sinners to express and justify how they believe the world should operate - whether in the entertainment industry, in the business world or in private lifestyles.
Whose Authority?
The opening chapter sets the tone well. Entitled ‘A declaration of authority’, it emphasises the importance of the opening commandment (or ‘word’, as per the original Hebrew) that this is “the Lord your God” speaking (Ex 20:2). All the ‘words’ that follow come from the most authoritative source we could ever encounter, and we ignore or change them at our peril.
Maltz highlights this matter of authority by considering the laws under which we currently live in 21st-Century Britain. In this chapter he offers as a case study the example of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act of 2013. He presents this sort of analysis regularly throughout the book, adding punch to his arguments. The contrast is very clear: man-made laws are at odds with God’s.
What started out as moral imperatives have been flipped by modern thinking into something quite the opposite.
Re-writing the Commandments
The book is in three parts and the bulk of Part One (chapters 2-11) takes us through each Commandment in turn. Here we find some very useful explanations of the original Hebrew. However, Maltz’s approach is not only textual but also includes excellent research into our own times, with recent examples of how our modern lives reflect attitudes very different from those found in God’s word.
Each of these chapters ends with a new ‘version’ of the commandment, showing how it has been redefined in our era. Here is his suggestion for the first one: “You can have any gods you like, as long as you don’t encourage others to believe as you do” (p35).
The Journey
The first part on its own would make the book worth buying, but there is much more to follow. Part Two, entitled ‘The Journey’, contains three chapters taking us through the historical journey of the Ten Commandments once men got their hands on them. Beginning with the Early Church, we see how even Christians began to alter both the words and the spirit of the Commandments.
Maltz concludes, “Our current postmodern society follows on the trend started by the rationalist philosophers, then further developed by Nietzsche and Marx, providing an environment where objective truth is so undervalued that the Ten Commandments are seen as having no validity at all and have morphed into an upside-down parody, The Sinner’s Charter” (p132-133).
Reclaiming God’s Laws
Part Three returns to looking at each Commandment in turn with the aim of reclaiming them, at least for individual Christians if not for society as a whole. Maltz asks how rediscovering these ‘words’ afresh should work out for today’s Christian. “What would Jesus want us to do, bearing in mind that he didn’t annul any of them? How would he want us to relate to them?” (p152)
These chapters are as important as any in the book. Even if you feel you want to challenge some of his conclusions or ideas, the stimulus to your thinking will be valuable.
In the final chapter, Maltz asserts that the Church must accept that it has lost sight of the certainties of God’s laws. To continue in denial is to sink further into irrelevance. But if individual Christians wake up to the situation and take up the attitude that the God who gave these laws hasn’t changed, then there’s still a chance, before it is too late.
Maltz asserts that the Church must accept that it has lost sight of the certainties of God’s laws.
God’s Heart and Will
Please don’t buy this book for your bookshelf - just another addition to your collection of the Maltzian canon. Do buy this book and keep it at hand - even by your side, or at least on a nearby table. It offers a profound scrutiny of both God’s word and the world. It may not change the world but it has the potential to make a significant impact on individuals.
I recommend referring to it regularly. Reread a chapter over coffee or at other spare times. In a sinful world that constantly tries to make us conform to its standards, we need to keep reminding ourselves of how to be transformed back into line with God’s heart and will.
‘The Sinner’s Charter’ (226pp) is available from the publisher for £10 + P&P.
