It seems more people these days are interested in posting the Ten Commandments than keeping them.
This past Sabbath (May 24, 2025), a most interesting exchange took place in the Texas state legislature, in the midst of a debate over a new bill which mandates the posting of the Ten Commandments in the public schools of that state [1]. For the second time in less than a year [2], a U.S. state has voted to require public institutions to post such copies.
The debate in the Texas state legislature last Sabbath was less than six minutes long, but it was rich in content relative to the challenges inherent in political entities venturing to make theological statements, the exposure of inconsistencies involved in contemporary Christian zeal for injecting the Ten Commandments into secular politics, and the opportunities such experiences offer for God’s people as we near the final crisis of the ages.
The “Fourth Commandment”?
At the beginning of the six-minute exchange between the two legislators, one of the bill’s authors was asked what was meant by her reference to the Fourth Commandment [3]. Neither they nor (to my knowledge) other participants in the discussion raised this issue, but the very statement that it is the Fourth Commandment of the Biblical Decalogue being referenced is in fact a theological statement, which should be an obvious problem for any piece of legislation in a country which honors the varied religious choices of all its citizens.
I don’t know if any Roman Catholics serve as members of the Texas legislature just now, or whether any were in the audience when this issue was being discussed. But according to Roman Catholic teachings, the commandment involving the Sabbath is identified as the Third Commandment, because in their reckoning the Second Commandment forbidding graven images (Ex. 20:4-7) is left out [4].
In other words, for a bill passed by any American legislative body to identify the Sabbath commandment as the Fourth Commandment is to take a theological position, in favor of Protestantism and in opposition to Catholicism. (This is the Biblically correct position, to be sure, but in free America agreement with the Bible is not mandated for those wishing to be citizens of this republic.) No political entity in a nation seeking to protect religious liberty for all has the right to endorse one set of theological convictions over another.
Again we are reminded of another debate, this one in the U.S. House of Representatives more than a quarter-century ago, when the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places was being discussed. Then-Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York asked, at the height of the debate:
Which version of the Ten Commandments will be posted? The Catholic version? The Protestant version? They're different, you know [5].
“You want to get into theology here? I’d love to . . . “
State Representative Candy Noble, one of the bill’s authors, was subsequently asked by fellow Representative James Talarico, “What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy?” [6]. Noble replied, "You want to get into theology here? I’d love to” [7]. But she went on to expose a major flaw in the perception of most Christians relative to the Sabbath issue, when she spoke of America’s founding documents supposedly mentioning Sunday as a day to be honored by refraining from work.
Representative Noble didn’t mention which of America’s “founding documents” she had in mind, but the fact is that no founding document of the American Republic mentions Sunday or any other day of the week as meriting religious honor [8]. Unfortunately, Representative Talarico didn’t question this statement by his colleague, but he did go on to ask if refraining from work on the Sabbath was in fact part of its observance. Noble appeared to agree [9].
Then it got even more interesting.
Talarico proceeded to ask whether the Sabbath commandment originated with Judaism, and what day of the week on which the original Sabbath fell. Noble answered that it fell on Saturday [10]. Talarico then asked what day it then was, and Noble answered that it was in fact Saturday, which meant that the original Sabbath was being violated by their working on that day [11].
Tragically, when Talarico asked Noble what the “Christian sabbath” was, she claimed it was Sunday, in honor of Jesus rising from the dead on that day [12]. Not surprisingly, like millions of others across the centuries, she failed to reference a single Bible verse in support of this alleged “transfer of solemnity.”
Hypocrisy
After acknowledging that their presence on the Sabbath doing state business in the legislature was a violation of the Fourth Commandment, Noble was appropriately asked by Talarico, “You’re saying that you’d rather tell people to follow the Ten Commandments than to follow [them] yourself?” [13]. Noble gave no coherent answer to this question.
Talarico then asked, “We as a legislature are about to force every teacher in the state to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. Do members of the Texas legislature follow the Ten Commandments?” [14]. Again, no clear answer was given. Talarico then noted that the Ninth Commandment says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” [15], then asked, “Are you aware of any [Texas] legislators who have lied about anything?” [16]. Again, no clear answer followed.
After proceeding to ask about the Seventh Commandment and its prohibition against adultery, Talarico asked, “Do you think that members of the legislature should focus more on trying to follow the Ten Commandments rather than telling others to follow them?” [17]. Noble replied, “It is incumbent on all of us to follow God’s law, and I think we’d be better off if we did” [18]. She went on to say that while Texas public schools might be lacking in certain aspects of obedience to God’s law, many Christian teachers in those schools were in fact modeling good Christian behavior, and that all was not bad there [19].
Noble’s final remarks focused on the significance she believed the founders of America placed on the Ten Commandments, thus declaring this to be the principal reason for the bill she was promoting [20]. She failed to note, unfortunately, that like many Christian theocrats today, any number of America’s founders were less than circumspect in their own adherence to the Ten Commandments. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton have been called “America’s founding playboys” on account of their extramarital affairs [21], and of course Thomas Jefferson is recognized by most contemporary scholars (based on DNA evidence) as having likely fathered a number of children by one of his slaves, one Sally Hemings [22].
Opportunity
Reading through the comments following the YouTube video of the Texas legislature debate as referenced in this article, it seems that quite a few Adventists have been participating. (I left a comment of my own, in fact.) What is happening in the wake of the Texas Ten Commandments controversy is but a faint shadow of the controversy—and the witnessing opportunities—soon to come.
To be sure, the indiscriminate mingling of church and state so often practiced by agents of the American Religious Right—often called the Christian nationalist movement—cannot be defended on either Biblical or U.S. Constitutional grounds. But as Ellen White wrote so long ago to A.T. Jones, regarding efforts then in motion to bring Bible reading into the public schools, God is able to take wrongful enactments and overrule them for good. In her words:
While I do not see the justice nor right in enforcing by law the bringing of the Bible to be read in the public schools, . . . if such a law were to go into effect the Lord would overrule it for good, that an argument should be placed in the hands of those who keep the Sabbath, in their favor, to stand on the Bible foundation in reference to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment [23].
This doesn’t mean we refrain from articulating to the public the peril of religious legislation by secular authority, which the same author condemns very plainly [24]. But as the current crusade in Texas and elsewhere makes clear, popular Christian efforts to legislate obedience to the Ten Commandments invariably expose the inconsistency and hypocrisy in the moral witness of nominal, contemporary Christianity. This gives Seventh-day Adventists the opportunity to lay before the world the true teaching of God’s Word relative to the Ten Commandments in general and the Fourth Commandment in particular.
Only the Fourth of God’s Ten Commandments is declared in Scripture to be a sign between God and His people (Ex. 31:16-17; Exe. 20:12,20). This is because of the Sabbath’s identification in Scripture as a memorial of God’s original creation (Ex. 31:17). It is for this reason that Jesus declared that “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). No such Biblical statement is found with reference to any of the other Old Testament holy days with which the seventh day is often mistakenly associated.
The modern prophet speaks of the coming centrality of the Sabbath issue in the following statement:
The Sabbath has been torn from its place by the man of sin, and a common working-day has been exalted in its stead. A breach has been made in the law, and this breach is to be repaired. . . . The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part. Men have honored Satan’s principles above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. But God has set His seal upon His royal requirement. Each Sabbath institution bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that shows the authority of each. It is our work to lead the people to understand this. We are to show them that it is of vital consequence whether they bear the mark of God’s kingdom or the mark of the kingdom of rebellion, for they acknowledge themselves subjects of the kingdom whose mark they bear. God has called us to uplift the standard of His down-trodden Sabbath [25].
Former Congressman Nadler’s statement on the floor of the U.S House that the Catholic and Protestant versions of the Ten Commandments are “different, you know” [26] is worth noting for the simple reason that most people don’t know! Few are aware of the Roman’s papacy pretension to “change times and laws” (Dan. 7:25). The task of God’s end-time church is to show the world from Scripture and history what in fact has been attempted in the Christian world regarding the law of the Most High.
Conclusion: God’s People Must Manifest His Glory
Watching the debate in the Texas legislature, hearing the exhortations to actually follow the Ten Commandments rather than trying to force people to keep them, brings to mind yet again the ultimate proclamation of God’s law soon to flood the world with divine glory. The servant of the Lord gives her readers a passing glimpse of that glory in the following statements:
The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.
The light of the Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth in good works—in words of truth and deeds of holiness [27].
The world can only be warned by seeing those who believe the truth sanctified through the truth, acting upon high and holy principles, showing in a high, elevated sense, the line of demarcation between those who keep the commandments of God and those who trample them under their feet [28].
REFERENCES
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peqzHceiXGU
2. Sara Cline, “New law requires all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments,” Associated Press, June 20, 2024 https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-displayed-classrooms-571a2447906f7bbd5a166d53db005a62
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peqzHceiXGU
4. United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (Washington, D.C: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007), p. vi.
5. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, quoted by Rob Boston, “House of Horrors,” Church and State, July-August 1999, p. 5.
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peqzHceiXGU
7. Ibid.
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peqzHceiXGU
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Thomas Fleming, “America’s Founding Playboys: Washington, Franklin, and Hamilton,” U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 31, 2009 https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2009/12/31/americas-founding-playboys-washington-franklin-and-hamilton
22. “Thomas Jefferson,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson
23. Ellen G. White, 1888 Materials, vol. 3, p. 1164.
24. ----The Great Controversy, p. 581.
25. ----Testimonies, vol. 6, pp. 351-352.
26. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, quoted by Rob Boston, “House of Horrors,” Church and State, July-August 1999, p. 5.
27. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 415-416.
28. ----SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 980.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan