The
Commandments:
Our Blueprint for Moral
Life
The Commandments in Scripture
The Ten Commandments is also referred to as the
‘’Decalogue’’. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
(CCC 205A) explains that ‘’Decalogue’’ means literally ‘’Ten
Words’’. God revealed to His people on the holy mountain.
They are pre- eminently the words of God. They are
handed on to us in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.
We are reminded that we must first understand the
Decalogue in the context of the Exodus, God’s great
liberating event at the center of the Old Covenant
(CCC 205). The ‘’Ten Words’’ point out the conditions of a
life freed from the slavery of sin. The Decalogue is a path
of life:
If you love the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, and
by keeping His commandment and His statutes, and His
ordinances, then you shall live and multiply (Dt. 30:16)
The ‘’Ten Words’’ sum up and proclaim God’s law. They
contain the terms of the covenant concluded between God
and His people (CCC 2058)
They belong to God’s revelation of Himself and His glory.
The gift of the Commandments is the gift of God Himself
and His holy will. In making His will known, God reveals
Himself to His people (CCC 2059).
The Commandments in Church Tradition
CCC 2064 confirms that the tradition of the Church
has acknowledged the primordial importance and
significance of the Decalogue, in fidelity to
Scripture and in conformity with the example of
Jesus:
• The Ten Commandments have occupied a
predominant place in the catechesis of baptismal
candidates and the faithful ever since St.
Augustine (CCC 2065).
• The Ten Commandments state what is required in
the love of God, and the love of neighbor. The first
three concern love of God, and the other seven
love of neighbor (CCC 2067)
• The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten
Commandments are obligatory for Christians and
that the justified man is still bound to keep them
(CCC 2058).
The Church Says…
The Ten Commandments, set in the context of
Exodus, is great liberating act of God which
stands at the center of salvation history.
CFC 873
The Ten Commandments reveal in their
primordial content, gave obligations. They are
fundamentally immutable, and they oblige
always and everywhere. The Ten Commandments
are enslaved by God in the human heart.
CCC 272
TEN COMMANDMENTS
The TEN COMMANDMENTS or The DECALOGUE (Greek Deka,Ten,and logos,
word) are the ten words of saying, the latter name generally applied by the Greek
fathers.
The ten commandments are precepts bearing on the fundamental obligations of
religion and morality and embodying the revealed expression of the Creator’s will in
relation to man’s whole duty to God and to his fellow creatures. They are found twice
recorded in the Pentateuch. In Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, but are given in an
abridged form in the catechisms. Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone.
This Divine Code was received by from Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of
Mount Sinai, and by him made the ground-work of the Mosaic Law.
Christ resumed these commandments in the double precept of charity- Love of
God and of the neighbor; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in
Matthew (Mt.19) and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). He also simplified or
interpreted them e.g by declaring unnecessary oaths equally unlawful with false by
condemning hatred and as well as murder, by enjoining even love of enemies, by
condemning indulgence of evil desires as fraught with the same malice as adultery
(Matthew 5).
The Church,on the other hand, after changing the day of rest, from the Jewish sabbath or seventh day of the
week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day. The
Council of Trent condemns those who deny that the ten commandments are binding on Christians.
The system of numeration found in Catholic Bibles, based on the Hebrew text, was made by St. Augustine in his
book of “Questions of Exodus”.
The First Commandment
“I’m the Lord your God, You shall have no other God’s before me”.
I. “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve”.
- Faith
- Hope
- Charity
II. “Him only shall you serve”
- Adoration
- Prayer
- Sacrifice
- Promises and Vows
III. “You shall have no other God’s before me”
- Superstition
- Idolatry
- Dininition and Magic
- Irreligion
- Atheism
- Agnosticism
IV. “You shall not make for yourself a graven image …”
- Sacred Image
Blessed be God Forever …
Reporters:
Rodelyn C. Ramos
Melody C. Sembegan
Ariane D. Pabon
