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The Catechetical Instructions
of
St. Thomas Aquinas

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Summary of The Ten Commandments

These are the ten precepts to which Our Lord referred when He said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt., xix. 17). There are two main principles of all the Commandments, namely, love of God and love of neighbour. The man that loves God must necessarily do three things: (1) he must have no other God. And in support of this is the Commandment: "Thou shalt not have strange gods"; (2) he must give God all honour. And so it is commanded: "Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain"; (3) he must freely take his rest in God. Hence: "Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day."

But to love God worthily, one must first of all love one's neighbour. And so: "Honour thy father and mother." Then, one must avoid doing harm to one's neighbour in act. "Thou shalt not kill" refers to our neighbour’s person; "Thou shalt not commit adultery" refers to the person united in marriage to our neighbour; "Thou shalt not steal" refers to our neighbour’s external goods. We must also avoid injury to our neighbour both by word, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," and by thought, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods" and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife."

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