(1) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
(2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them.
The First Commandment proclaims that God is One, and the Second Commandment
defines his worship, warning against the worship of false, pagan gods.
Pagan worshipers can still be found among the unwitting, and even among
some Christians. These worshipers of idols may recognize some relative
value as their highest value: for example, the triumph of their nation
(chauvinism), their race (racism), or their class (communism). An idol
worshiper may sacrifice his better self for the sake of lesser goods such
as money, personal glory, or wine, and other pleasures. All these choices
betray God, substituting falseness for sanctification, which should be the
goal of every life. The idol worshipers subordinate the whole to the part,
and the higher to the lower. This way of life is a sickness, a deformity,
and a sin. This sin helps to shred the character of the idol worshiper and
frequently helps him to harm other people.
(3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
This commandment forbids us to pronounce the holy Name of God without
reverence, and forbids any trivial mention of God in superficial
conversation.
The Third Commandment safeguards prayer, which is the basis of our
communion with God. By His Word, God created the world. Then the Word of
God became incarnate to save the world. Therefore, our own word in prayer
also (insofar as we are the image of God) has great power. We must
pronounce each word carefully, especially the Name of God, which was
revealed to us by God Himself. We may use it only for prayer, for blessing,
and for teaching the truth. Saying the Name of God in vain disaccustoms us
to using It properly, and we weaken our own ability for communion with God.
The Third Commandment relates also to swearing oaths. Jesus Christ warns us
against swearing oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by
heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool .
. . . (Matthew 5:34-35).
(4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor
and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God.
Our main concern must be to follow the path toward God, away from Whom we
can find no rest. The Old Testament Sabbath was the image of God's resting
after His creation of the world. It was also the image of His internal
divine life, and the image of the higher spiritual, contemplative life of
man, which the Sabbath rest summons to and schools us in. The Lord's day is
Sunday: the Christian's day of prayer, a day for learning God's Word, and a
day for Communion in the Eucharist, a day as well for good and charitable
deeds.
(5) Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Fifth Commandment call us to love our parents. It tells us that must love those closest to us before one can love anyone else. In his first epistle to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (I Timothy 5:8). The prototype of perfect love is Christ's love for his Heavenly Father. And during His earthly life, Christ also showed his love for His earthly parents many times. Thus, while His human nature was languishing in torment before His death, He was grieving in His soul for His mockers. And while His divine nature had turned to Redemption by His passion, He still showed His filial care for His Mother. In the Gospel according to John, we read: When Jesus therefore saw his mother, ad the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home (John 19:2-27). (6) Thou shalt not kill. The sixth commandment speaks to a set of moral issues: violent murder, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, and war, as well as many others aspects of killing. Therefore, we shall devote more words than are usual, to the Sixth Commandment. General The Sixth Commandment forbids causing the death of another person by any means whatsoever. God created man in His image, and life is given to man by God. Whosoever commits murder encroaches upon God's image and on the Creator's possession, which no one has the right to do. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man (Genesis 9:6). Murder is the opposite of love. To love means to desire the fullness of every good thing for the loved one now, and, accordingly, for that person's eternal life. The motives and conditions opposed to love, and which have led to murder, are hatred, envy, vengeance, greed, self-love and negligence towards one's neighbor. In the book of the Prophet Ezekiel, God says, Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee (22:13). In the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans we read, And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. .
(7) Thou shalt not commit adultery. In this commandment, the Lord God tells husband and wife to be faithful to each other, and for the unmarried to be chaste, that is, to be pure in deed, word, and desire. From the beginning, God set the rule that a man and a woman should be for one another only. It pleased God that they remain not just spiritually inseparable, but that they be also one body. Only in such unity of thought, feeling and desire could God's other command be fulfilled: Be fruitful and multiply. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they (two) shall be one flesh (Genesis 2:24), we read in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and further, in the same book: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it . . . . .(Genesis 1:28). With regard to the duty of spouses to preserve mutual faithfulness, Christ said: What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (Matthew 19:6). Every extramarital union of a man and woman directly violates the commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. And every sensual overindulgence, and every action promoting such things also violates the Seventh Commandment. In Christian marriage filled with deep love, sexual life does not disturb the psychic harmony of the spouses. Sexual life enhances love and adorns marital harmony. Outside of marriage the manifestation of sexual instinct can easily become an independent force that destroys the fullness of the personality. This damage is especially dangerous because all the high creative impulses of man are closely tied to his sexual life. Sexual restraint heightens spiritual powers, but sexual dissipation weakens them. Disorder in sexual life disorders most relations with other people and sometimes can cause severe enmity. Normal, pure relations of Christians with persons of the opposite sex can go awry, and indecency can take over thought as well as fantasy.
(8) Thou shalt not steal. The Lord enjoins us to turn aside from stealing, which means conscious actions that aim to take the property of our neighbor or of our community for ourselves. Christ called stealing a serious crime, directly dependent on a malicious intent, of the same order as blasphemy, murder, and other sins proceeding from the heart (Mark 7:22). The Bible repeatedly warns us against breaking the Eighth Commandment. For example, in the Book of Proverbs: Sweet to a man is bread obtained by unrighteousness, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Proverbs 20:17). In the Wisdom of Sirach, another Old Testament book, we read: He that buildeth his house with other men's money is like one that gathereth himself stones for the tomb of his burial (Ecclesiasticus 21:8). We hear a New Testament warning against stealing not only from the mouth of the Savior, but also from the Apostle Paul, who writes: Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10). Sin against the Eighth Commandment takes various forms. The simplest form of this sin is the secret theft of another's goods. The inclination toward this sin requires two elements: Lack of Love for one's neighbor and Falsehood. The thief perforce brings harm to another and usually makes it appear that someone else did the heft; i.e., he lies in order to divert attention away from himself. Taking someone's property by fraud is a second form of stealing. This occurs when payment is made with counterfeit currency, or when an inferior item is sold for the cost of something better, when someone evades an agreement, and so forth. The structure of contemporary society, industry, and economy allow ample ground for organizing harmful fraud to our neighbor. In the capitalist world, for example, dealers may buy securities and suddenly sell them, which can make some rich while ruining others. In communist countries, the ruling nomenklatura class deception use lies to exploit the workers, something which they had promised to free them from. One may recall such early communist slogans as "Steal what was stolen." And this type of theft can be called robbery or even banditry inasmuch as it takes another's goods openly by force. In this connection, one must also to call the introduction of slavery a form of stealing. This occurs when fear is used to introduce a new system of rule so that people are forced to labor for oppressive masters. This organized evil may cover itself with such inventive slogans as "social justice," reforging; and so on. Other forms of stealing also occur, of breaking the Eighth Commandment: Swindling. Gaining dishonestly by taking advantage of the straightened circumstances of an indigent or defenseless person when buying or selling or in concluding some kind of deal. Unjust Judgment. Abusing general trust by misuse of the office power of a judge for personal gain. Bribery and Corruption. Taking gifts from subordinates and advancing the unworthy. Sacrilege. Taking to oneself valuables consecrated to God or to the Church.
Extortion. Stealing during a crisis, which may sometimes be legal, but which denies evangelical love for fellow man, to be enriched by another's labor or through a neighbor's misfortune; as when the price of bread is raised during a famine; when loans are made at an excessively high interest rate. Plagiarism. Taking another person's ideas, creation, or invention for personal gain. The commandment Thou shalt not steal warns against a sin that can easily kill any love between people. Property is a necessary condition of human life; it is security for a man's future and his family and his descendants, and sometimes it is a connection with the past. Frequently it is a condition for creativity and, at times, is its fruit. Like a name, property is a symbol of the person himself. Therefore, the man who steals can wound very profound aspects of the robbed man's personality, inflicting real moral mutilation.
(9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. We must be sure what a lie is before speaking about the Eighth Commandment, in which the Lord forbids us to slander our neighbors. A lie is a distortion or concealment of the truth. A lie is contrary to Truth, which proceeds from God. A lie proceeds from the devil. Christ calls the devil, the father of lies: When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it, says Christ (John 8:44). The Apostle Paul teaches that a liar works on behalf of the devil. In his Epistle to the Colossians we read: Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds (Colossians 3:9). The word of God often speaks of the pernicious habit of lying. A lie is a foul blot in a man, yet it is continually in the mouth of the untaught, we read in the Old Testament book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 20:24). King Solomon also bears witness to such a truth: Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight (Proverbs 12:22). In another place the Solomon writes: Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting: for there is no word so secret, that shall go for nought: and the mouth that belieth slayeth the soul (Wisdom of Solomon 1:11). Indeed, lies and slander are tantamount to murder, for it is possible to kill not only the physical body, but also the spiritual body. The disposition of a liar, writes the wise Sirach, is dishonorable, and his shame is ever with him (Ecclesiasticus 20:26). The Apostle Paul writes that God punishes the liar: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another (Ephesians 4:25).
(10) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. The Tenth Commandments warns us against sinful inner desire for taking another's worldly property. This commandment does not so much forbid actions as it forbids sinful thought and imagination. These inner forms of envy can bear offspring in terrible outward consequences. Two terrible examples are in Genesis and in all the Gospels. The envy of man caused the first falling away from God--the fall of Adam into sin. DeicideBthe handing over of Christ to death--was likewise born from the envy of the leaders of the people, the high priests. The Wisdom of Solomon tells us that through envy of the devil, came death into the world (2:24). Thus, envy is the child of the devil, who is the enemy of our salvation. To whomever falls into her nets, Envy will bring only the malice that bears death. Cain envied his brother, and so nurtured an extreme malice within himself, which brought about the physical death of his brother Abel and the spiritual death of Cain. One can say that envy is a two-edged sword, able to hurt both the subject and the object of the envy. Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes that envy is the beginning of malice, the mother of death, the first door of sin, the root of every evil. The hierarch Basil the Great exhorts: Brethren, let us flee from envy, that intolerable evil; she is the precept of the serpent-tempter, the invention of the devil, the seed of the enemy, the pledge of God's punishment, an obstacle to pleasing God, the path to Gehenna, the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven.
(5) Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Fifth Commandment call us to love our parents. It tells us that must love those closest to us before one can love anyone else. In his first epistle to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (I Timothy 5:8). The prototype of perfect love is Christ's love for his Heavenly Father. And during His earthly life, Christ also showed his love for His earthly parents many times. Thus, while His human nature was languishing in torment before His death, He was grieving in His soul for His mockers. And while His divine nature had turned to Redemption by His passion, He still showed His filial care for His Mother. In the Gospel according to John, we read: When Jesus therefore saw his mother, ad the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home (John 19:2-27). (6) Thou shalt not kill. The sixth commandment speaks to a set of moral issues: violent murder, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, and war, as well as many others aspects of killing. Therefore, we shall devote more words than are usual, to the Sixth Commandment. General The Sixth Commandment forbids causing the death of another person by any means whatsoever. God created man in His image, and life is given to man by God. Whosoever commits murder encroaches upon God's image and on the Creator's possession, which no one has the right to do. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man (Genesis 9:6). Murder is the opposite of love. To love means to desire the fullness of every good thing for the loved one now, and, accordingly, for that person's eternal life. The motives and conditions opposed to love, and which have led to murder, are hatred, envy, vengeance, greed, self-love and negligence towards one's neighbor. In the book of the Prophet Ezekiel, God says, Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee (22:13). In the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans we read, And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. .
(7) Thou shalt not commit adultery. In this commandment, the Lord God tells husband and wife to be faithful to each other, and for the unmarried to be chaste, that is, to be pure in deed, word, and desire. From the beginning, God set the rule that a man and a woman should be for one another only. It pleased God that they remain not just spiritually inseparable, but that they be also one body. Only in such unity of thought, feeling and desire could God's other command be fulfilled: Be fruitful and multiply. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they (two) shall be one flesh (Genesis 2:24), we read in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and further, in the same book: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it . . . . .(Genesis 1:28). With regard to the duty of spouses to preserve mutual faithfulness, Christ said: What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (Matthew 19:6). Every extramarital union of a man and woman directly violates the commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. And every sensual overindulgence, and every action promoting such things also violates the Seventh Commandment. In Christian marriage filled with deep love, sexual life does not disturb the psychic harmony of the spouses. Sexual life enhances love and adorns marital harmony. Outside of marriage the manifestation of sexual instinct can easily become an independent force that destroys the fullness of the personality. This damage is especially dangerous because all the high creative impulses of man are closely tied to his sexual life. Sexual restraint heightens spiritual powers, but sexual dissipation weakens them. Disorder in sexual life disorders most relations with other people and sometimes can cause severe enmity. Normal, pure relations of Christians with persons of the opposite sex can go awry, and indecency can take over thought as well as fantasy.
(8) Thou shalt not steal. The Lord enjoins us to turn aside from stealing, which means conscious actions that aim to take the property of our neighbor or of our community for ourselves. Christ called stealing a serious crime, directly dependent on a malicious intent, of the same order as blasphemy, murder, and other sins proceeding from the heart (Mark 7:22). The Bible repeatedly warns us against breaking the Eighth Commandment. For example, in the Book of Proverbs: Sweet to a man is bread obtained by unrighteousness, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Proverbs 20:17). In the Wisdom of Sirach, another Old Testament book, we read: He that buildeth his house with other men's money is like one that gathereth himself stones for the tomb of his burial (Ecclesiasticus 21:8). We hear a New Testament warning against stealing not only from the mouth of the Savior, but also from the Apostle Paul, who writes: Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10). Sin against the Eighth Commandment takes various forms. The simplest form of this sin is the secret theft of another's goods. The inclination toward this sin requires two elements: Lack of Love for one's neighbor and Falsehood. The thief perforce brings harm to another and usually makes it appear that someone else did the heft; i.e., he lies in order to divert attention away from himself. Taking someone's property by fraud is a second form of stealing. This occurs when payment is made with counterfeit currency, or when an inferior item is sold for the cost of something better, when someone evades an agreement, and so forth. The structure of contemporary society, industry, and economy allow ample ground for organizing harmful fraud to our neighbor. In the capitalist world, for example, dealers may buy securities and suddenly sell them, which can make some rich while ruining others. In communist countries, the ruling nomenklatura class deception use lies to exploit the workers, something which they had promised to free them from. One may recall such early communist slogans as "Steal what was stolen." And this type of theft can be called robbery or even banditry inasmuch as it takes another's goods openly by force. In this connection, one must also to call the introduction of slavery a form of stealing. This occurs when fear is used to introduce a new system of rule so that people are forced to labor for oppressive masters. This organized evil may cover itself with such inventive slogans as "social justice," reforging; and so on. Other forms of stealing also occur, of breaking the Eighth Commandment: Swindling. Gaining dishonestly by taking advantage of the straightened circumstances of an indigent or defenseless person when buying or selling or in concluding some kind of deal. Unjust Judgment. Abusing general trust by misuse of the office power of a judge for personal gain. Bribery and Corruption. Taking gifts from subordinates and advancing the unworthy. Sacrilege. Taking to oneself valuables consecrated to God or to the Church.
Extortion. Stealing during a crisis, which may sometimes be legal, but which denies evangelical love for fellow man, to be enriched by another's labor or through a neighbor's misfortune; as when the price of bread is raised during a famine; when loans are made at an excessively high interest rate. Plagiarism. Taking another person's ideas, creation, or invention for personal gain. The commandment Thou shalt not steal warns against a sin that can easily kill any love between people. Property is a necessary condition of human life; it is security for a man's future and his family and his descendants, and sometimes it is a connection with the past. Frequently it is a condition for creativity and, at times, is its fruit. Like a name, property is a symbol of the person himself. Therefore, the man who steals can wound very profound aspects of the robbed man's personality, inflicting real moral mutilation.
(9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. We must be sure what a lie is before speaking about the Eighth Commandment, in which the Lord forbids us to slander our neighbors. A lie is a distortion or concealment of the truth. A lie is contrary to Truth, which proceeds from God. A lie proceeds from the devil. Christ calls the devil, the father of lies: When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it, says Christ (John 8:44). The Apostle Paul teaches that a liar works on behalf of the devil. In his Epistle to the Colossians we read: Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds (Colossians 3:9). The word of God often speaks of the pernicious habit of lying. A lie is a foul blot in a man, yet it is continually in the mouth of the untaught, we read in the Old Testament book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 20:24). King Solomon also bears witness to such a truth: Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight (Proverbs 12:22). In another place the Solomon writes: Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting: for there is no word so secret, that shall go for nought: and the mouth that belieth slayeth the soul (Wisdom of Solomon 1:11). Indeed, lies and slander are tantamount to murder, for it is possible to kill not only the physical body, but also the spiritual body. The disposition of a liar, writes the wise Sirach, is dishonorable, and his shame is ever with him (Ecclesiasticus 20:26). The Apostle Paul writes that God punishes the liar: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another (Ephesians 4:25).
(10) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. The Tenth Commandments warns us against sinful inner desire for taking another's worldly property. This commandment does not so much forbid actions as it forbids sinful thought and imagination. These inner forms of envy can bear offspring in terrible outward consequences. Two terrible examples are in Genesis and in all the Gospels. The envy of man caused the first falling away from God--the fall of Adam into sin. DeicideBthe handing over of Christ to death--was likewise born from the envy of the leaders of the people, the high priests. The Wisdom of Solomon tells us that through envy of the devil, came death into the world (2:24). Thus, envy is the child of the devil, who is the enemy of our salvation. To whomever falls into her nets, Envy will bring only the malice that bears death. Cain envied his brother, and so nurtured an extreme malice within himself, which brought about the physical death of his brother Abel and the spiritual death of Cain. One can say that envy is a two-edged sword, able to hurt both the subject and the object of the envy. Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes that envy is the beginning of malice, the mother of death, the first door of sin, the root of every evil. The hierarch Basil the Great exhorts: Brethren, let us flee from envy, that intolerable evil; she is the precept of the serpent-tempter, the invention of the devil, the seed of the enemy, the pledge of God's punishment, an obstacle to pleasing God, the path to Gehenna, the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven.