Foundation of laws
Various scholars assert that the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God
represent a foundation for democracy. Theologian William Barclay sees the
Ten Commandments as "the universal foundation of all things . . . the basic
laws of human conduct in society, . . ." He adds, "From Israel we Christian
peoples inherit that wise and holy code of laws. Our society is founded upon
it."(Barclay) He explains:
In order that a mob of people may become a nation they must have a law
which they will obey and which will weld them into a community. There can
be no community without law. It was this stage that the people received the
Ten Commandments through Moses. The Ten Commandments are the law
without which nationhood is impossible. . . . They are not a finished ethic;
they are a primary foundational set of principles which are only a beginning,
but nonetheless a beginning which was and is absolutely essential.(Barclay)
Author Richard Swift, in his 'No-nonsense Guide to Democracy, writes that
the Ten Commandments represented the earliest form of law and
democracy.(Swift) Historian Israel Gerber explains the relationship between the Ten Commandments and democracy:
Having escaped from slavery into freedom, the first responsibility of free men was self-administration. Pursuant to
the acceptance of the Ten Commandments, all subsequent legislation of a democratic nature develops this
principle. Like the American Declaration of Independence, all expressions of the right of the individual to freedom
grew out of the revolt of Abraham. The vote in our democratic society extends the early Hebraic view that every
human being has the right to express his preference . . . .(Gerber)
According to professor of theology, William Brown, the philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) likewise affirmed that
"the Israelites in the desert acted as in a democracy, because they freely decided to transfer all their rights to God alone
and not to any mortal. This 'popular regime' was therefore founded on 'consensus.'"(Brown) Swedish historian Hugo
Valentin (1888-1963) sees the social legislation of the Old Testament and prophetic writings as indications of a
"disposition to radicalism," and writes that "Moses was the first to proclaim the rights of man."(Shuldiner)
Moses in American History
Moses in American History