The Wikipedia page on
Western Law does not contain a single use of the words 'Commandment' or 'Commandments'; nor of the word 'Ten'.
It does say:
Western culture has an idea of the importance of law which has its roots in both Roman law and canon law.
and:
Roman law became the foundation on which all legal concepts and systems were based.
The article on Roman Law likewise does not contain a single use of the words 'Commandment' or 'Commandments'; the word 'Ten' appears twice:
In 451 BC, according to the traditional story (as Livy tells it), ten Roman citizens were chosen to record the laws (decemviri legibus scribundis). While they were performing this task, they were given supreme political power (imperium), whereas the power of the magistrates was restricted. In 450 BC, the decemviri produced the laws on ten tablets (tabulae), but these laws were regarded as unsatisfactory by the plebeians. A second decemvirate is said to have added two further tablets in 449 BC. The new Law of the Twelve Tables was approved by the people's assembly.
No support for the Ten Commandments fanbois there.
Still, Canon Law sounds more promising; It is "the body of laws and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (Church leadership), for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members", according to Wikipedia.
If Western Law is based on both Roman and Canon law, then the Ten Commandments surely get a look-in on the Canon Law side of things, right?
Wrong.
Still no mention of Commandment or Commandments in the
Wikipedia article on Canon Law; but the word 'Ten' does appear:
The Book of Concord is the historic doctrinal statement of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century. However, the Book of Concord is a confessional document (stating orthodox belief) rather than a book of ecclesiastical rules or discipline, like canon law.
But wait! There is still hope.
According to Wikipedia:
The Catholic Church has what is claimed to be the oldest continuously functioning internal legal system in Western Europe, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. What began with rules ("canons") adopted by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in the first century has developed into a highly complex legal system encapsulating not just norms of the New Testament, but some elements of the Hebrew (Old Testament), Roman, Visigothic, Saxon, and Celtic legal traditions.
Obviously, the
Hebrew Law will turn out to be based on the Ten Commandments, right?
Right?
Halakha (/hɑːˈlɔːxə/; Hebrew: הֲלָכָה, Sephardic: [halaˈχa]; also transliterated as halacha or halachah) or halocho (Ashkenazic: [haˈloχo]) is the collective body of Jewish religious laws derived from the Written and Oral Torah. It includes the
613 mitzvot ("commandments"), subsequent talmudic and rabbinic law and the customs and traditions compiled in the Shulchan Aruch (literally "Set Table", but more commonly known as the "Code of Jewish Law").
Wait, 613?? Six Hundred and Thirteen??? Shit. The Oklahoma Capitol is going to need a bigger monument. A MUCH bigger monument.
Still, those 613 must include the ten they have on the current monument, right?
The Talmud notes that the Hebrew numerical value (gematria) of the word "Torah" is 611, and combining Moses's 611 commandments with the first two of the Ten Commandments which were the only ones heard directly from God, adds up to 613.
Shit. Two out of ten commandments, which contributed to Hebrew Law, which was a minor contributor to Canon Law, which was itself a minor contributor to Western Law. Worse,
the Talmudic tradition has these 'First two' as:
1. I am the Lord thy God
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
But number 1 there is not recognised as a separate commandment in Protestant traditions; who have the first Commandment as:
I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me.
On the basis of this quick analysis, the only one of the so-called 'Ten Commandments' that could have had
any influence on Western Law at all was: "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me". A phrase that is clearly and unequivocally overruled by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and therefore explicitly does not form the basis for US law.
But then, since when have facts had any place in this debate?
