Protestant Ethics Today (Part 2): The First Commandment
Be sure to check out part 1 of this series here.
The Ten Commandments (literally “the ten words” as per Exodus 34:28) are divided differently by Reformed, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. The Reformed and Eastern Orthodox only include Exodus 20:3 (“you shall have no other gods before me”) in their first commandment. Roman Catholics and Lutherans include Exodus 20:3–6 in their statement of the first commandment. Roman Catholic summaries of the first commandment omit the wording of verses 4–6 (see, for example, the Roman Catholic Catechism), such as the phrases “you shall not make for yourself a carved image” and “you shall not bow down to them or serve them,” which enables them to make a fine distinction wherein statues of God can be “venerated,” but not “worshipped.” Roman Catholics and Lutherans also divide what the Reformed and Eastern Orthodox take as the tenth commandment (coveting in general), making a distinction between coveting a neighbor’s wife (ninth commandment) and coveting a neighbor’s possessions (tenth commandment).
Contrary to Roman Catholics and Lutherans, there are clearly two distinct commandments in Exodus 20:3 and 20:4–6, though they are obviously closely related: the command against worshipping a false god (first commandment) and the command against making a visible image of such false gods (second commandment).
What do we discover when we approach the first commandment from the expansive perspective taught by Jesus, and expounded so helpfully in classic Protestant catechisms such as the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms? First, we must not neglect the most basic meaning that we may not worship any god but the true God. The Larger Catechism gets to the heart of the commandment by reminding us that we must “worship and glorify” the one true God appropriately (according to his word) in our thoughts, speech, and actions, including our reverent fear of him, our faith in him, and our having hearts full of thanksgiving and joy for his salvation and preserving love. We must also manifest our true worship in humble obedience to the only true God in all areas of our lives.
The Catechism question on what the commandment forbids includes actual idolatry, but also such things as forgetting God’s goodness to us, even entertaining false views about God. It forbids speculation into things God’s word has not revealed; despair regarding God’s blessings; a superstitious approach to life; grumbling against God; witchcraft and other attempts to manipulate God into providing a desired blessing; and much more. Biblically speaking, magic arts may indeed be real, yet under the power of Satan and his demons (such as are worked by Pharaoh’s magicians in Exodus 7:11, the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12, and the second beast in Revelation 13:13–15).
The first commandment rules out atheism, polytheism, idolatry, pantheism, panentheism, and all sorts of “new age spiritualities.” Yet “the depraved heart,” Herman Bavinck writes, “desires to create its own God” (Ethics, 2.127) and hardly needs foreign divinities to do so. It is more than capable of setting itself in the place of divine honor. In short, the first commandment calls us to seek all good things from the true God alone while seeking him above all else.
Many theologians point out that there are immaterial idols (see Colossians 3:5; Philippians 3:17–19) that can capture our hearts as well. One of the most dangerous is that of a worldly, materialistic, and self-indulgent life (which is incompatible with placing God first in one’s heart). Herman Bavinck calls this “practical idolatry,” while the later Puritan Stephen Charnock labels it “practical atheism” in chapter 1 of his magisterial The Existence and Attributes of God. It is the basic perspective of one who might claim to worship God, but who shows where his heart really is by what he constantly sets his affections and hopes for help in life on.
In political discussions, the question arises as to whether the first commandment can be enforced by law. Most Christians would agree that at least commandments 5–10 have a bearing on contemporary laws, since they are directed to relationships with other people. However, historically, most Christians also believed that, at the very least, commandments 3–4 (on the Reformed and Eastern Orthodox understanding) should be enforced by the laws of contemporary states. The second commandment could be enforced easily enough, though it is unlikely to find proponents in a society saturated with physical idols. The first commandment seems difficult to enforce at its most basic, since it is primarily about the state of the human heart, which (strictly speaking) is invisible to observation. Older Protestant authors believe that idolatry (physical representations certainly, but also the basic fact of idolatry) could be, in a certain sense, suppressed by the state. John Calvin, for example (Institutes 4.20.3), since he insisted that “civil government . . . does not merely see to it . . . that men breathe, eat, drink, and are kept warm” argued that the first commandment legitimizes the prevention of idolatry, insofar as it can be observed. Calvin maintained that certain manifestations of idolatry would cause “the public peace [to be] disturbed” and therefore constitute “public offenses against religion” that cannot be reduced to merely spiritual, inward problems and therefore cannot be addressed in purely spiritual ways.
Stephen Charnock likewise recognized that atheism is not only a problem of personal piety, but also “the disturber of families, cities, nations, the disgrace of human nature.” (Existence and Attributes of God, 115). Atheism, he continued, “would root out the foundations of government” because it “demolishes all order in nations.” “The sense of a God,” he writes, “is the foundation of civil order; without this there is no tie upon the consciences of men.” (Existence and Attributes of God, 115). Therefore, atheism “is a thing impossible to be tolerated by any prince, without laying an ax to the root of government” (Existence and Attributes of God, 116). It is clearly impossible to peer into every human heart to infallibly detect atheism, false worship, and idolatry. It would be harmful to civil society for the state to even attempt to do so. But certain actions that inevitably arise because of atheism and idolatry are clearly visible and often do become matters of state action precisely because they strike at the foundations of the civil order. We will discuss more examples as this series progresses. Even if the days are long gone in which atheism is a matter of punitive state action, much can still be done by civil magistrates to support the positive side of the first commandment: public proclamations, protections for Christian churches, high officials setting an example of prayer and other Christian practices, and so on.
Psalm 14 opens with these words: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” Atheism, idolatry, and all the rest are not due to a lack of evidence of God’s existence (see Romans 1:19–23). The truth of the matter is this: man in his sinful rebellion does not want God to be God; he does not want to keep the first commandment. With God “out of the way,” he is free to pursue his own wicked and idolatrous plans. The first commandment, rightly understood in its expansive sense, addresses many ways in which this rebellion takes place. But “he who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Psalm 2:4) and the day is coming when “he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury” (Psalm 2:5). And yet, because of “the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience” a door remains open that rebellious sinners might come to know “that God’s kindness is meant to lead [them] to repentance” (Romans 2:4). It is the calling of the church to proclaim God’s kindness in saving sinners before his patience finally comes to an end “when [God’s] righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).
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