Adultery & the Death of Covenant
S. M. Hutchens on the Seventh Commandment
It has been nearly a generation now since I had my first intimate exposure to an institution constituted in a lie. During my early years of doctoral study I took the pastorate of a small Congregational church. I had never been a Congregationalist, but the church’s presentation of itself and its denomination did not offend. It had a “mainline” flavor, but each congregation was free to decide on its own complexion, so long as it remained congregationally governed, and could have as little or as much to do with the national organization as it pleased. Although the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds were found in the worship materials in the back of its hymnal, on Sunday mornings the congregation would recite the beautiful Salem Church Covenant of 1629:
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S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
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more on the ten commandments from the online archives
31.5—September/October 2018
The Secular State Without the Decalogue by James M. Kushiner
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32.1—January/February 2019
Divine Love & the Love of Man & Woman Surpass Mere Consent by Anthony Esolen
18.2—March 2005
On Conservatism as Vexation, Vanity & Near Impossibility by Graeme Hunter
19.4—May 2006
The Culture War Is Between Religious Believers on Both Sides by Howard P. Kainz
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