The Ten Commandments

by Thomas Watson

Book Overview

Thomas Watson is one of the most famous Puritan preachers in history, and his writings during the 17th century are still read across the world today. He was a prodigious writer whose works include All... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 161203618X
• ISBN13: 9781612036182
• Release Date: August 2012
• Publisher: Bottom of the Hill Publishing
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Commandments are Holy, Righteous and Good

Among the Puritans, Pastor Thomas Watson has quickly become one of my most-loved authors since I read "The Art of Divine Contentment" two years ago, despite occasional seemingly excessive analogies in getting his points across. If you are familiar with Puritan authors, you might be able to tell from their writing style, that people like Bunyan, Watson or Baxter is a pastor-teacher-minister type who understands how to love and care for people, deal or explain theology to laypeople like me, while heavy-weight, hardcore theologians like John Owen is a seminary-professor, scholar, teacher-type of a person that requires extra effort, attention, and stamina to understand their texts. Jonathan Edwards, on the other hand, tends to be both as he is often described as both pastor and theologian. This volume, the meat of which is the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, has been a peculiarly huge blessing to me as Watson lays open the exceeding depth and breadth of what lies beneath each gracious command beyond what it says. For example, you may find it shocking as I did to find the command to honor our parents includes my superior at work and my pastor. If you think keeping the Sabbath means simply going to church every Sunday, think again, or let Watson surprise you with extensive implications of the commandment including the commandment following it that says "six days shall thou labor and do all thy work" which prohibits sloth or idleness. I can understand there may be some who would be quick to accuse Watson as being legalistic, for example, when he warns against defiling the Sabbath, by game or play-watching, secular work (translated today, in my view, as Sunday movie-going or watching, or NFL, NBA, or MLB games, for examples.), as well as wandering sleepy slothful mind or attitude during the worship service or preaching of the Word of God, and the danger of stimulating lust through dancing. I was shocked by the seemingly heavy yet beautiful preparation for the Sabbath on Saturday, as well as the proper way to prepare for the Lord's Supper he proposes that I am totally not used to. The immense coverage of each commandment and the dreadful dead-serious threat of punishment of their violation is not something you find in modern Christian texts at all, but I believe they are useful to me and every Christian not only to be truly happy in delighting in God more fully through obedience, but also to strike a holy fear in my heart considering my fallen propensity toward irreverence, carelessness, and slothfulness that leads to neglect of my delightful duties as a Christian. In regard to infant baptism which Watson believes and covers under `The Way of Salvation" chapter, and is embraced today by some denominations, though his argument is compelling when he claimed some New Testament accounts where the whole family was baptized that implied infants were also baptized, as the basis of it, I still find it unconvincing solely due to an impression of a presumptuou

A good look at God's law

This little book is the second in a trilogy which comprises "A Body of Practical Divinity", the first volume being titled "A Body of Divinity", and the third being "The Lord's Prayer." The Puritans were known for being thorough and precise, and Watson is no exception. Additionally, Watson seems to be readily accessible to contemporary readers, which is not true of all the Puritans. The book carefully examines each topic, taking the form of brief questions, answers, "uses" (applications), and objections. The first section, Watson's introduction, looks at Christian obedience, love, the Preface to the Ten Commandments, and a right understanding of the moral law. He then proceeds in section two to look at each commandment in turn. The third chapter deals with the law and sin, specifically man's inability to keep the moral law, degrees of sin, and the wrath of God. The fourth and final section addresses the way of salvation, including faith & repentance, the Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. Overall this book is excellent, practical, accessible, and enjoyable. The sections on the preface, the second and fourth commandments, and the wrath of God are the parts that particularly struck me. I rate this book four stars because I think there are a couple of commandments, especially the seventh and eighth, where Watson could have been a little more thorough, and perhaps gone a little deeper (imagine, a Puritan!). He also has some stories in there which (it grieves me to say this), strain credibility, like people being struck by lightening for profaning the Sabbath. But the seventeenth century was a different age, and if Watson goes a little overboard once in a while in his gullibility, he certainly makes up for it in careful attention to God's Word. Those stories do not make up a significant part of the book. I am glad I read this book, although certain parts were not everything I hoped they would be. Several of the chapters are unsurpassed among books I have read, and overall Watson's treatment is thorough and robust. If you are one of the last few Christians who believe that the Ten Commandments still give us the moral law because they (all ten) are grounded in God's character, that they (all ten) still tell us what it means to be holy, and are the criteria, even though not the source, of our sanctification, I recommend Thomas Watson's little book to you. You will be spurred on in your Christian life, and brought to see again that "the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul."

Great Puritan - Great Work

Thomas Watson is one of the most readable of all the puritans. This particular work is one of his finest. This work has an insightful chapter on the relationship to love and commandment. This is a concept that is lost on today's church goer. The modern mind thinks that love and command are mutually exclusive. Biblically they are necessarily related. In the exposition of the commands, Watson not only tells you the meaning of each commandment, but how it can be used in practical terms. This is a work you will want to use over and over again. This book is great for pastors, Sunday school teachers or Bible study leaders. This is a great tool. See also Watson's volume on the Lord's Prayer which is also a classic and his work The Body of Divinity which is his exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechisim.

Great commentary

This is one of the most helpful commentaries I have found on the 10 Commandments. As I prepared to teach the 10 Commandments to the College and Career Sunday School class at my Church I found that I was referring to this work more constantly than any other.Watson has a great ability to take heavy topics and bring them to a day to day level, which makes this both a great theological work, as well as a practically challenging commentary.In my mind this is a must have for any serious student of the 10 Commandments.