The book’s fundamental question - as the Decalogue asks - is how does the Christian relate to God, and their neighbour. The writer divides up the commandments not in 9 or 10 as is historically the case, but according to the five bonds of human life - life, possessions, speech, family and marriage.

The author begins with an overview of how we should approach the Commandments, and how the Old Testament should be binding upon Christians, and how it points towards Christ - all very familiar concepts in Reformed thinking. The Decalogue “helps us to specify the meaning of the general obligation to love and to bear one another’s burdens...making clear the disorder of our world and its need for healing...since by God’s grace we follow rules in order to attain freedom.”

The author deals In great detail with the primacy of loving God first above all things, which leads us into the rest of the commandments (chapter 1). This then leads on to (chapter 2) the marriage bond, which describes marriage as those “undertaking life together as a task set before us, part of the curriculum in the school of God’s commandments.”

Then onto chapter 3, the family bond, where we are directed to be those with “with hearts marked by gratitude learned in that school of virtue, we can become people who are eager to live in the new creation God promises.” This is followed by chapter 4, the life bond, which tackles the prohibition of murder, but also the broader questions of the Christian’s relationship with the State, and the obvious question of warfare. Interestingly, this chapter also touches on sickness and the problem of suffering. (It’s fair to say that I didn’t take many notes on this chapter, as it’s directions are not particularly controversial!)

Then onto chapter 5, the possessions bond, covering theft, coveting, and the sabbath day. This looks at the balance between the Christian enjoyment of the created order and the renunciation of it. I particularly found the discussion of the meaning of the Sabbath beneficial - and how does it contrast with the Lord’s Day - in that it “Every week the Lord’s day breaks into the rhythms of work and everyday life, reminding us that our life and all life continually depend on God and inviting us to offer back to God with thankful hearts the whole of creation...it serves to free us from our fear of time’s relentless progress, reminding us that we can and should trust God to care for us.”

Chapter 6 is the speech bond, covering the prohibition of bearing false witness, and taking the Lord’s name in vain, reminding us that ‘all speech, is in the end [to be] directed [to] the praise of God, and that is at the heart of our truthful speech.” It also touches on the impact of deceit, not only undermining society, but also ourselves, and the importance of truth-speaking for society to properly function.

The final chapter concludes with the first commandment, to have no other Gods, which then segues into the Matthean summary of the Law. This feels like the proper conclusion of the book, taking up all the other chapters - what the Christian is to renounce of the world in following the Commandments, which will lead to greater faithfulness to God. “To love God with all our heart, soul, and mind is to be called out into a future we cannot clearly see, knowing only that we are called to follow.”

I enjoyed reading this book, although I would struggle to work out how and when to commend it. Not many people I know in England are fluent in the underlying assumptions of Lutheran theology. Outside certain Evangelical circles, studies of the Ten Commandments are probably not very popular, even though historic Anglicanism in previous centuries involved their recitation each week. I could imagine a UK publisher repackaging this (with a foreword by an English theologian) as a Lent book, perhaps?

This is a fantastic treatment of the Decalogue, uniquely creative, and powerfully concluded with connections made between the first commandment, the Sermon on the Mount, and the "Great Commandment" of Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39. Meilaender's treatment of the various "bonds" addressed in the Decalogue demonstrate the wisdom of those commands as well as their indispensability for human flourishing. The marriage bond, family bond, life bond, possessions bond, and speech bond are those that, if kept, make society "work," for they simply point to the natural order of things.

This book is beautifully written and persuasively argued, instilling a love for the Ten Commandments and in their fulfillment, ultimately given in Christ. I recommend it.