What pivotal US laws were uniquely inspired by the 10 commandments?

[CivilDiscourse]

I don't understand the premise behind your question, because I don't think anybody has ever claimed that there are any US laws that are "uniquely inspired by the Ten Commandments". However, it is a matter of history that Christianity and the Bible uniquely influenced our Founding Fathers.

How, exactly did it uniquely influence the FF?

[seer]

How, exactly did it uniquely influence the FF?

John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 28 June 1813

The general Principles, on which the Fathers Atchieved Independence, were the only Principles in which, that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen9 could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their Address, or by me in my Answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity,10 in which all those Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty, in which all those young Men United, and which had United all Parties in America, in Majorities Sufficient to assert and maintain her Independence.

Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God: and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.

https://founders.archives.gov/docume.../03-06-02-0208

[CivilDiscourse]

John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 28 June 1813

The general Principles, on which the Fathers Atchieved Independence, were the only Principles in which, that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen9 could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their Address, or by me in my Answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity,10 in which all those Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty, in which all those young Men United, and which had United all Parties in America, in Majorities Sufficient to assert and maintain her Independence.

Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God: and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.

https://founders.archives.gov/docume.../03-06-02-0208

And how was uniting under christia unique, as was stated?

[JimL]

John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 28 June 1813

The general Principles, on which the Fathers Atchieved Independence, were the only Principles in which, that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen9 could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their Address, or by me in my Answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity,10 in which all those Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty, in which all those young Men United, and which had United all Parties in America, in Majorities Sufficient to assert and maintain her Independence.

Now I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God: and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.

https://founders.archives.gov/docume.../03-06-02-0208

Lots of things influenced the Founding Fathers, not the least of which was the Enlightenment. The


Founding Fathers were many, and highly educated men who I'm sure held to many different spiritual, religious and philosophical perspectives, and even history can't tell us what all of the differing and personal beliefs that each one of them may have actually held to. But what we do know is that they with United purpose created a secular
Government, and not a religious or Christian one. When you say the founded the government on Christian Principle, what exactly do you mean! Moral principles are similar throughout the world.

[seer]

And how was uniting under christia unique, as was stated?

We are speaking of the obvious Biblical influence on the founding and history of this country. I'm not sure why you are getting hung up on this unique thing.

[Starlight]

US law had its origins in English law, which had its origins in Roman Law.

The Roman judicial system was incredibly detailed and very famous, and massively influential. As wiki puts it:

Roman law forms the basic framework for civil law, the most widely used legal system today, and the terms are sometimes used synonymously. The historical importance of Roman law is reflected by the continued use of Latin legal terminology in many legal systems influenced by it, including common law.

In many historical English universities, the type of law studied, was Roman Law taught in Latin.

Roman law was codified and famous well before the Empire's conversion to Christianity. Post conversion to Christianity there were certainly minor changes to laws influenced by religion, but the general framework of the law and how it was applied remained unchanged.

Similarly in the English period, the individual laws regarding what exactly was legal and what wasn't, were doubtless influenced in many minor ways over time by religion, but the general legal structure was borrowed wholesale from the Romans.

Overall, our legal framework today owes almost nothing to Christianity and is pretty much copy+pasted from the Roman times, with all judicial terms being in latin (e.g. habeas corpus, modus operandi, ex parte, mens rea, etc. Wiki's list of such terms is 372 terms long). By contrast, we use no Hebrew judicial terms, and nothing from the framework of the Hebrew justice system has influenced our practices today.

If we want to look to individual laws regarding things that were legal in Roman times and were illegal in some part of US history:
- Sodomy
- Prostitution
- Abortion
- Sunday trading, aka Blue laws

In terms of those having to do with the 10 commandments... the first two no, the third one arguable, and the fourth one yes. So to directly answer the OP: I think the only serious contender is the Sunday Trading laws. (Against Stoic's comment, I would argue Blasphemy laws don't count, because the Romans had Blasphemy laws, and it wasn't the nature of that law that changed it was just as change in which God wasn't allowed to be blasphemed)

Overall I would say that in terms of the history of Christians wanting to make certain things illegal, the 10 Commandments haven't played a major role. Bible verses outside the 10 Commandments tend to get cited far more often in legal disputes than those within the 10 Commandments.

Overall, anyone who thinks the 10 Commandments played any significant role in US legal history is simply flatly wrong. I am sure that will not stop bad faith actors pretending they did in order to justify forcing more of their religious beliefs into public education.

[Starlight]

Not that significant. They were tacked onto English common law (which already included prohibitions against theft and murder), then later dropped. None of them are current English law apart from those two, which had prior existence. The 10cs have never been a basis for English (or AFAIK US) law.

All very true.

But some people here have once heard it said by some Apologist somewhere that Christianity Was Totally Relevant in the formulation of the law. They'll believe those rumours over your factual statements.

[Roy]

lol

Feel free to provide any example of any UK law that was actually derived from any of the ten commandments.

The closest two are the laws against perjury and the Sunday trading laws, but the former evolved gradually and the latter is mostly about compensation, not cessation.. There were already laws against theft and murder, and the other six commandments have not been put into law.*

*I suppose you could try to argue that the requirements for monarchs and ministers to be non-Catholic is an implementation of the first commandment. That would be fun to watch.

[seer]

US law had its origins in English law, which had its origins in Roman Law.

That is just stupid, English Common law had Biblical roots going back to Alfred the Great. And remember England for centuries was a Christian Monarchy, and had an established state Church. So of course Christian principles were going to influence the laws of the land.

https://theologyweb.com/campus/forum...46#post1595446

Christianity and the Common Law: Rediscovering the Christian Roots of the English Legal System

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPa...v=10&id=&page=

https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cg...enn_law_review

[Roy]

But English Common Law was influenced By Scripture.

Alfred the Great and Our Common Law

Rev. Prof. Dr. F.N. Lee Department of Church History, Queensland Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Brisbane, Australia

https://www.theonomyresources.com/pd...common-law.pdf

Thank you for providing a source that confirms that Alfred tacked the ten commandments onto English common law, exactly as I said.

I don't know why you cited the other two sources, since they don't discuss the 10 commandments at all.

[Roy]

That is just stupid, English Common law had Biblical roots going back to Alfred the Great.

English common law had non-Biblical roots going back further than Alfred the great.

[Starlight]

English common law had non-Biblical roots going back further than Alfred the great.

When I start looking up English common law, the definition given is for a later time period than Alfred.

Wiki, Common Law:

The common law, so named because it was "common" to all the king's courts across England, originated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Alfred the great was two centuries too early for that. Wiki has that time period listed under:

Archaic or obsolete definitions

In addition, there are several historical (but now archaic) uses of the term that, while no longer current, provide background context that assists in understanding the meaning of "common law" today. In one usage that is now archaic, but that gives insight into the history of the common law, "common law" referred to the pre-Christian system of law, imported by the pre-literate Saxons to England and upheld into their historical times until 1066, when the Norman conquest overthrew the last Saxon king—i.e., before (it was supposed) there was any consistent, written law to be applied.

Wiki later notes:

The degree to which [Norman] common law drew from earlier Anglo-Saxon traditions... is still a subject of much discussion.

Seemingly implying the Normans didn't exactly copy+paste previous Anglo-Saxon rules, and implying probably a bit of dispute in the research.

As you note in your above post, Roy, Anglo-Saxon common law goes back to non-biblical roots prior to Alfred.

I feel that if the subject is the relevance of the 10 Commandments in US law... then anyone primarily basing their argument on something Alfred the Great did or didn't do in England in the 800s, has already lost. There's stretching... and then there's stretching by 1000 years.

[seer]

Thank you for providing a source that confirms that Alfred tacked the ten commandments onto English common law, exactly as I said.

I don't know why you cited the other two sources, since they don't discuss the 10 commandments at all.

It was much more than a tack on and did not only include the TC. But I don't expect you to be honest Roy. And they other links were about Christian influence.

Introductory remarks about King Alfred's Law Code

However, Alfred's most important work was certainly his Law Code. It is preceded by
a long introduction. 12 This contains translations not only of the Ten Commandments, but
also of many other passages from the book of Exodus. 13 It is followed by an excerpt from
Christ's Sermon on the Mount 14 and by a brief account of apostolic history (with
quotations from the apostolic book of Acts). 15 There, Alfred stresses the "jots and tittles"
alias the minutiae of God's Law and His Prophets (Matthew 5:17f); the "Golden Rule"
(Matthew 7:12); and the God-inspired decision of the First General Assembly of the
Christian Church — in order to teach God's Law and His Prophets (Amos 9:11f) as well
as His Gospel also in the congregations of Christ (Acts 15:15-29 & 16:4f).

Then, King Alfred goes on to trace the growth of Church Law — as laid down by
various Ecclesiastical Councils, both Ecumenical and English. 16 The concluding words 17
of his introduction then state that compensations for misdeeds on the part of men were
ordained at many such Councils — and written in their records, with varying provisions.

Thus Alfred first sets out the Ten Commandments — verbatim. Exodus 20:1-17. Next,
from the passage Exodus 21:2 to 23:9, he recites many of the Old Testament case laws.
Then, he moves on to the New Testament — citing from Christ's Sermon on the Mount
and also from the Acts of His Apostles. Finally, Alfred records his own case laws for
medieval England.

Alfred declares that when Christ came to the Mediterranean World (or 'Middle Earth'),
He Himself did "approve" the "judgments" alias the judicial laws. Very far from ever
having abrogated or destroyed them — He Himself therefore still requires that at least
their 'general equity' be observed.

This was clearly also Alfred's own understanding and legislative endeavour. He does,
of course, certainly distinguish between the Old-Israelitic format of the judicial laws of
Moses on the one hand — and the general equity thereof, on the other.

This can be see by King Alfred's own adaptation of those Old-Israelitic case laws to meet the different
conditions of early-mediaeval Anglo-Saxon Britain. Compare, for example, Alfred's own
laws 11 & 27 & 44-47. Yet, in so adapting, King Alfred clearly preserves and enforces
within English Common Law the general equity of those Old-Israelitic judicial laws.

To prove this — just compare the statements of Mosaic Law with Alfred's Anglo-
British Common Law and also with the Westminster Confession of Faith and the
Westminster Larger Catechism. For the New Testament itself — at Matthew 5:5-21f &
First Timothy 5:17-21 etc., presupposes inter alia Exodus 20:1 to 23:9f in the Old
Testament. Alfred cites Exodus 20:1 to 23:9 — as well as Matthew 5:17-19 & 7:1-12 and
Acts 11:19-26f & 15:20-29 & 16:4-5. The Westminster Confession (19:4f) cites Exodus
21:1 to 22:29, as well as Matthew 5:17f and First Corinthians 9:8-10 etc

[seer]

I feel that if the subject is the relevance of the 10 Commandments in US law... then anyone primarily basing their argument on something Alfred the Great did or didn't do in England in the 800s, has already lost. There's stretching... and then there's stretching by 1000 years.

How about English Common under the influence of the State Church of England? The point is you can't divorce Western law from Christianity. As much as you dishonestly want to.

[Mountain Man]

How, exactly did it uniquely influence the FF?

You will not find any religion other than Christianity referenced in the writings of our Founding Fathers.