Factbook data BUG: 10 commandment denominational blinders and MJ never gives up

When the 10 Commandments interactive came out, I was vocal in my objection to the FL denominational blinders ... and tried not to be too obnoxious about it:

For the fun of it - Faithlife Forums (logos.com)

TIP of the day: Interactive - why I avoid Counting the Ten Commandments interactive - Faithlife Forums (logos.com)

While I believe that FL as a religiously oriented organization ought to be at least as accurate as the secular Wikipedia, and while I believe FL ought to be at least as accurate as itself when it is being sloppy, I can't believe that FL went out of it's way to lower it's standard ... which was already low from the interactive

Factbook has coded the commandments from Exodus not Deuteronomy and not from the Samaritan Torah as:

I am the Lord thy God Commandment
Actual: Talmud 1; Calvin 1a optional; CCC 1a
No Other Gods Commandment (1st)
Actual: Talmud 2a; Calvin 1b; LXX 1, Luther 1a, Samaritan 1a, CCC 1b
No Graven Images Commandment (2nd)
Actual: Talmud 2b; Calvin 2; LXX 2, Luther 1a, Samaritan 1b, CCC 1c
Lord's Name in Vain Commandment (3rd)
Actual: Talmud 3; Calvin 3; LXX 3, Luther 2, Samaritan 2, CCC 2
Observe the Sabbath Commandment (4th)
Actual: Talmud 4; Calvin 4; LXX 4, Luther 3, Samaritan 3, CCC 3
Honor Your Father and Mother Commandment (NOT NUMBERED 5th)
Actual: Talmud 5; Calvin 5; LXX 5, Luther 4, Samaritan 4, CCC 4
Do Not Murder Commandment (6th)
Actual: Talmud 6; Calvin 6; LXX 6, Luther 5, Samaritan 5, CCC 5
Do Not Commit Adultery Commandment (7th)
Actual: Talmud 7; Calvin 7; LXX 7, Luther 6, Samaritan 6, CCC 6
Do Not Steal Commandment (8th)
Actual: Talmud 8; Calvin 8; LXX 8, Luther 7, Samaritan 7, CCC 7
Do Not Bear False Witness Commandment (9th)
Actual: Talmud 9; Calvin 9; LXX 9, Luther 8, Samaritan 8, CCC 8
Do Not Covet Commandment neighbor's house (10th)
Actual: Talmud 10a; Calvin 10a; LXX 10a, Luther 9, Samaritan 9a, CCC 10a
Do Not Covet Commandment neighbor's wife(10th)
Actual: Talmud 10b; Calvin 10b; LXX 10b, Luther 10a, Samaritan 9b, CCC 9
Do Not Covet Commandment neighbor's slaves, animals, anything (10th)
Actual: Talmud 10c; Calvin 10c; LXX 10c, Luther 10b, Samaritan 9c, CCC 10b
Set stone altar on Mount Gerizim
Samaritan 10

Advantages of dropping the blinders and showing a broad, ecumenical view:

FL builds a sense of trust in the neutrality of all their coding
FL builds some "surprising knowledge" tidbits into their data to keep experienced viewers to keep using Logos tools rather than assume they know it all
FL creates seeds of questioning one's on knowledge that leads to more sales of resources to answer the new questions ... like where else are the Samaritan's a surprise to our received OT expectations?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Philana R. Crouch

Hi MJ,

I've asked the team that is working on data for the Factbook team to take a look and respond.

Sean Boisen

I think what's currently presented in Factbook broadly follows what's outlined in LBD as the "Orthodox, Reformed, Anglican" view.

MJ, I'm not quite sure what you're proposing we do instead (given the constraints on how we can organize and present information in Factbook): present the other views? Choose a different view as the one we present? (I'd like for Factbook pages to link more generally to interactives, but we don't have that infrastructure in place yet [and I understand in this case you don't like that either]).

We could probably create/index some conceptual/reference content on different arrangements (the LBD article discusses these, as does the interactive), and then create a Factbook page like "Arrangements of the Ten Commandments" to better expose information like what you're describing here. Would that be better?

> I can't believe that FL went out of it's way to lower it's standard

Just to state what i'd hope would be obvious, we didn't intentionally "lower our standard". Factbook is still a work in progress, and I appreciate all your suggestions for how we can improve it.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1172563#Comment_1172563

At an absolute minimum, I think the line marked in red should be qualified to specify the scheme to which it applies. I would prefer that where they differ, the alternatives be listed e.g. "The Seventh Commandment (Talmud, Calvin, LXX)"; "The Sixth Commandment (Luther, Catholic, Samaritan)" OR the specification of number could simply be omitted from the heading material.

We could probably create/index some conceptual/reference content on different arrangements (the LBD article discusses these, as does the interactive), and then create a Factbook page like "Arrangements of the Ten Commandments" to better expose information like what you're describing here. Would that be better?

I think that would be a good option.

SineNomine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1172577#Comment_1172577

We could probably create/index some conceptual/reference content on different arrangements (the LBD article discusses these, as does the interactive), and then create a Factbook page like "Arrangements of the Ten Commandments" to better expose information like what you're describing here. Would that be better?
I think that would be a good option.

Likewise.