The 10 Commandments Q+R (E16) — How do modern artistic depictions of God and Jesus relate to the 2nd Commandment? How do we honor aging parents well or honor abusive and dangerous parents? And how do the 10 Commandments stand apart from other ancient Near Eastern law codes? In this episode, Tim and Jon respond to your questions from the 10 Commandments series. Thank you to our audience for your thoughtful contributions to this episode!
CHAPTERS

Intro (0:00-1:23)
How Do the 10 Commandments Stand Apart From Other Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes? (1:23-10:50)
How Do Modern Artistic Depictions of God and Jesus Relate to the 2nd Commandment? (10:50-18:24)
Can We Diminish God by How We Talk About Him (Like Saying, “God Is Love”)? (18:24-25:17)
How Do We Honor Aging Parents Well or Honor Abusive and Dangerous Parents? (25:17-34:56)
How Does the 6th Commandment Apply to Killing in Military Combat? (34:56-52:52)
What Are Other Positive Implications of the 8th Commandment? (52:52-58:03)
Conclusion (58:03-1:01:29)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
View this episode’s official transcript.
REFERENCED RESOURCES

In the first question, Tim references our Biblical Law video and the following podcast episodes:

The Purpose of the Law
The Law as a Covenantal Partnership
God's Wisdom in the Law
The Law as a Revolution
Jesus Fulfills the Law
Law Q+R

In the first question, Tim references other ancient law codes, such as the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and the Mesopotamian Laws of Eshnunna.
Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought by Joshua A. Berman
In the second question, Tim references our 2015 Covenants video as an example of a time when we revised a video after further reflection. Originally, God was depicted as an old man with a beard, and we later updated the video to show only hands representing God.
Language for God in Patristic Tradition: Wrestling with Biblical Anthropomorphism by Mark Sheridan
War, Peace, and Violence: Four Christian Views, edited by Paul Copan
Fight: A Christian Case for Nonviolence by Preston Sprinkle
The Ten Commandments: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church by Patrick D. Miller
Find the 10 Commandments full collection of video, podcast, and written resources here.
Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books here.

SHOW MUSIC

BibleProject theme song by TENTS 

SHOW CREDITS
Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty writes the show notes. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Released on 6 Jul 2026