A Fourth Use of the Law? The Decalogue in the Workplace

This paper makes a case that a set of basic ethical principles relevant to a diverse, global workplace can be drawn from the Ten Commandments (Decalogue). Especially among Protestant theologians since the 16th century, the Decalogue has been viewed as having two or three “uses.” First, the Decalogue can draw or drive people to repentance and faith as they are convicted of their shortcomings relative to these ten moral standards (the pedagogical or theological use). Second, the Decalogue has a “political use” in articulating the essential rules of justice for society (no murder, theft, false witness, etc.). Third, for many but not all interpreters the Decalogue also guides believers in how to live out their faith (the dissenters mostly argue that the promptings of the Holy Spirit are enough without the written guidelines). This paper argues, primarily on theological but also on materialist psychological grounds, for a fourth use of the Law: that the basic message of the Ten Commandments can provide an insightful account of ethical guidelines --- not just for religious conversion, basic constitutional justice, or Christian life and faith but --- for the diverse workplaces of our era