Thoughts on the Ten Commandments by Michael Hopkins

To begin with, in any study of the Scriptures, I find it a good idea to remind myself that the God revealed in Science and Health, is the same God of the Bible... and therefore, the same "Man", defined in Science and Health, is the only nature of "Man" in the Bible....it helps release some of the beliefs gained from the old "fundamental Sunday School" stories...or, TV, seeing Charleton Heston as Moses, etc.; plus the fact that Christian Science was "discovered, not "invented", so it reveals what has always been true from the standpoint of the Divine Mind, and was, therefore, what constituted Mind's knowing even at the time of Moses. So, revelations like the "Ten Commandments", may be best understood in the Light of our understanding of Christian Science and not the familiar human interpretation.

The popular conception is that they were "Rules", "Orders", (or even "threats") handed down by the "Big God" to be "obeyed" by "little man". Almost like another chorus of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" - "You'd better not pout, you'd better not cry" - "You'd better not kill, you'd better not lie!" - with the sense of "or else" hanging in the air like the proverbial Sword of Damocles.

Mrs. Eddy tells us: "Material sense defines all things materially, and has a finite sense of the infinite." (S&H 208:2-4) So the traditional approach to understanding the Divine revelation is defined by human sense as the "Ten Commandments" - 10 rules given to mortals to obey. But Mind's Self-revelation must remain Divine, and therefore, we recognize that it is still the infinite that was seen through lens of personal sense.

In Science, Divine Principle is the Law of Being - Existence as It always is, and is, therefore, Self-enforcing. "Omnipotence" implies the all and only Power to operate, function, express, act, etc., belongs exclusively to God. So, "Truth's knowledge of Its own infinitude", Mind's declaration of Its own Nature, Principle's unfoldment of Its Law as the awareness that "The divine understanding reigns, is all and there is no other consciousness." (S&H 536:8-9).

So the "Big 10" can't actually, be rules given to, or a responsibility imposed upon, mortals to "live by", "carry out", "be obedient to". Saying that "God gave man His Law, is somewhat like in Gen.1:26, where it says, "and let them have dominion" - as if God gave dominion unto man - which is like saying, "the ocean gives substance to the waves", all must be appreciated as a figure of speech - and not literal events. It is clear with the latter that there are not three entities, "a ocean" + "some substance" + "a wave" - which may then take the substance and use it as it may see fit. Instead we appreciate that there is only salt water in motion and we have the convenient terminology of "ocean and waves". And so it is with "Dominion". There is not "a God" + "a substance, power - dominion" + "Man" - there is only one Being - and so also with the "Ten Commandments" - we appreciate that there really is not "God + Laws + Man". "In Science, Mind is one, including noumenon and phenomena, God and His thoughts." (S&H 114:10-11) Since, "Man" is "the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness;" (S&H 475:14-16), "Man" must include all that is Truth of what is called the "Ten Commandments" - AS the Substance and Nature and Quality of Being, and not as a "job description".

So "we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind" (S&H 424:6-7) We divest thought of the traditional human interpretation of a Divine event and begin to consider it form the standpoint of Its Principle.

One way of looking at the declaration of the Laws of Being is by comparing them with the discovery of other laws we are aware of - such as Newton's laws of gravitation - and wonder how they would sound if they were written in the "King James vernacular". The familiar "inertia" would sound something like this: "An object in motion shall not deviate in its direction or speed, unless acted upon by a equal or greater force." Or the familiar geometry axiom: "Parallel lines shall not intersect."

You can see that these are accurate, if cumbersome, ways or representations, of the way the law of gravity and math IS, and not suggestions of what "not to do". So, with the "Ten Commandments" - the Laws of Being describe how "things are", the way "Life functions" as It is, not waiting on some stubborn humans to get it right.

It is also helpful to appreciate that the message does begin in Exodus 20:1, somewhat like the "Preamble to the Constitution": "And God spake all these words, saying, I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:-2) - giving proper emphasis to "I", and, "have brought thee" - indicating that the "Saviour" or "doer" is the "one I AM", and Its work IS done, Being, "Man", is now, in fact, out of, - "entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living" (bondage--moved) (S&H 14:25-26). So what follows are not rules to follow in order to "get out", but what actually constitutes Mind's knowledge of Its Self-expression. So it is, because I AM what I AM.....

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me... As the only Life and Mind, "I" preclude the possibility of there being any other gods, as well as anyone who could believe in any other gods. Oneness, Infinity, Allness, precludes the possibility of an outside, or an "other", whether as a substance that could be chosen, or a private mind that could choose. As Ex. 2 declares, "I AM" is the "Lord thy God", and therefore, is the only "I AM" - only Intelligence, Substance, Ego, Law, Action, Being, Presence, Power - Love, meaning, any sense testimony or educated beliefs cannot take precedence over the Truth of Being. The nature of this Law is illustrated in the phenomenon of hypnosis, where someone may be hypnotized into believing they are an animal, and so begin "animalistic behaviors", with all their feelings and perceptions apparently governed by the suggestion that they are an animal. Yet, during the entire "performance" the Law of Being remains and they are never less than or separate from their present so-called "human identity". Just so, none of the beliefs of being a "person", "only human", have ever altered in any way the eternal facts of Being - "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal." (S&H 151:26-28).

Which leads naturally into number 2: II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God,....visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me; Divine Mind, - God - the one and only Mind is the only Mind capable of forming "images", which, of necessity must be of Itself. The apparent belief that persons can generate thought or activity, and then experience the effects or consequences of their thinking is the "iniquity" of the "3rd and 4th" "generation" - which is another way of saying, "Mortal mind alone suffers," (S&H 184:21). Personal sense claims that health is derived from and dependent upon a "physical body"; supply is derived from a job - personal effort; love is received from and may be given to another; happiness is contingent upon human, material conditions - but, "matter can make no conditions for man." (S&H 120:11-12)

"God, Spirit, is the only cause," (S&H 286:23-24), therefore, "Man", "Idea, "Reflection", is not a "maker", "originator", "producer", of anything at all. "Man" does not "bow down", because that which is Divinely established does not have to wait for, nor seek permission from "matter", nor anything seemingly external to Being, in order to be all that God hath made. Nothing else is ever required in order for God to be all. Life, Being, does not look to anything outside of Itself to confirm Itself.

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; "Man" does not "take the name", and more than "Man" "takes" dominion. "Man" IS the Name or "Nature" of Being in full, complete Self-expression, Self-understanding. Only God can say "I AM". To perceive oneself or "others" to be mortal, to see another in need, to accept that Life can/should - grow/change, is to take or accept the Nature or Name of Being "in vain" - to be worthless, without value...because "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts." (S&H 86: 29-31), but that is not "I", "I" do not see My Self in any way other than Divine. "Dwelling in light, I can see only the brightness of My own glory." (Unity of Good 18:4-5).

IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. This is the reference to the "7th Day" in Gen.2, which does not indicate that it began with an "evening" as did 1-6, but is "the full radiance of a risen day." (S&H vii:3-4) All is already all, Being is already Whole - Holy, there can be no process or effort involved to "become "all-here-now". To "keep it", implies starting with/from Divine Mind, Principle, and not trying to work "up to" or " know about" It. "Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom." (My 242:5-7)

V. Honour thy father and thy mother: Rightly identify, fully respect and appreciate the true origin and nature of all Being, the character, quality, essence, provision, protection, nourishment of your, and therefore all, is exclusively Divine. (No human source = no "human nature", therefore none of its characteristic, frailties and limitations are inherent to "Man".) This dissolves any temptation of mesmerism or hypnotism material sense. "All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, immortality, cause, and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love. No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows." (S&H 275:14-19) Therefore, any and every experience of "Good" must be the Divine Good appearing despite and not because of, the belief that it is human or material. "Mind, God, is the source and condition of all existence." (S&H 181:1-2)

VI. Thou shalt not kill. "the human mind and body are myths." (S&H 150-151:32-1) There is certainly no capacity to "kill' a myth. "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it:" (Ecc. 3:14) There can be no power in effect to affect effect. Idea IS. "For to be carnally minded [is] death;" (Rom. 8:6) "the divine Mind controls man and man has no Mind but God." (S&H 319:19-20) "Man" is not a "think-er", but is the immortal, eternal, immutable embodiment of Mind's knowing.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. "Adulteration" is the belief that opposites exist and can be mixed, which is the same as the belief of Good AND evil; the belief that Spirit requires matter in order to be demonstrated; the presumption that Truth may be Absolute AND relative. It is also the belief of one human mind acting upon another -- again, the sense of duality, the mesmerism of personal sense. There can be no "semi-metaphysical" systems in Science. The Oneness and Indivisibility of Being precludes duality of any sort. It takes One to know One.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal. "All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers:" (John 10:8) The belief in a separate Mind and Life is a "thief". The impression that Good of any kind is inherent in matter or persons - i.e., external to Being, is a "thief". "Man" is not "dishonest" because "Man" is not "honest". There is no private capacity in Reflection, Idea, to be either! There is nothing to look for or acquire from "outside" of Being. "God and His idea may be to us what divinity really is and must of necessity be, -- all-inclusive." (S&H 116:8-10) and: "nothing exists beyond the range of all-inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind." (S&H 514:3-7) Then: "give to Mind (your present Mind) the glory, honor, dominion, and power everlastingly due its holy name." (S&H 143:29-31) - Its Holy Nature, Its Nature of Wholeness - completeness.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness. "ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I [am] God." (Isa. 43:12) "Man" is the evidence of Mind, Spirit, Truth. The Divine Mind does not "bear", or tolerate anything which would suggest deviation from Its standard of Perfection. "It is Truth's knowledge of its own infinitude which forbids the genuine existence of even a claim to error. This knowledge is light wherein there is no darkness, -- not light holding darkness within itself. The consciousness of light is like the eternal law of God, revealing Him and nothing else." (No &Yes 30:18-23). "There is no such thing as mortality, nor are there properly any mortal beings, because being is immortal, like Deity,-- or, rather, being and Deity are inseparable." (S&H 554:4-7) "for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." (John 18:37)

X. Thou shalt not covet. "Deity was satisfied with His work. How could He be otherwise, since the spiritual creation was the outgrowth, the emanation, of His infinite self-containment and immortal wisdom?" (S&H 519:3-6) Divine satisfaction IS the Law of Being. "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal." (S&H 151:26-28)

Mrs. Eddy was gracious enough to simplify all of this for us: God's law is in three words, "I am All;" and this perfect law is ever present to rebuke any claim of another law." (No &Yes 30:11-13) With ALL Blessings Michael ):->