The Catechism of the Council of Trent/Part 3: The Ninth and Tenth Commandment
THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS.
"THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOUR's HOUSE; NEITHER SHALT THOU DESIRE HIS WIFE, NOR HIS SERVANT, NOR HIS HAND-MAID, NOR HIS OX, NOR HIS ASS, NOR ANY THING THAT IS HIS." [1]
IT is to be observed, in the first place, that these two precepts, which were delivered last in order, furnish a general principle these for the observance of all the rest. What is commanded in these two amounts to this, that to observe the preceding precepts of the law, we must be particularly careful not to covet; because he who covets not, content with what he has, will not desire what belongs to others, but will rejoice in their prosperity; will give glory to the immortal God; will render to him boundless thanks; will observe the Sabbath, that is, will enjoy perpetual repose; will respect his superiors; and will in fine, injure no man in word or deed or otherwise; for the root of all evil is concupiscence, which hurries its devoted victims into every species of enormity. [2] These considerations, if well weighed, must serve to induce the pastor to explain what follows with increased diligence, and the people to hear his exposition with increased attention.
But, although we have united these two commandments be cause, their object the same, the manner of treating them should be the same; yet the pastor, when exhorting and admonishing the faithful, will treat them conjointly or separately, as he may deem most convenient. If, however, he has undertaken the exposition of the Decalogue, he will point out in what these two commandments are dissimilar; how one concupiscence differs from another, a difference noticed by St. Augustine, in his book of questions on Exodus. [3] The one looks only to utility and interest, the other to unlawful desire and criminal pleasure; he, for instance, who covets a field or house, pursues profit rather than pleasure, whilst he, who covets another man's wife, yields to a desire of pleasure, not of profit.
Of these two commandments the promulgation was necessary for two reasons; the first is to explain the sixth and seventh, for, although reason alone is competent to inform us, that to prohibit adultery is also to prohibit the desire of another man's wife, because, were the desire lawful, its indulgence must be so too; yet blinded by sin, many of the Jews could not be induced to believe that such desires were prohibited by God. Nay, even after the promulgation, and with a knowledge of this law, many, who professed themselves its interpreters, continued in the same error, as we learn from these words of our Lord recorded in St. Matthew: " You have heard that it was said to them of old; thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say to you, that who soever shall see a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." [4] The second reason for the promulgation of these two commandments is, that they distinctly, and in express terms, prohibit some things of which the six and seventh commandments contain but an implied prohibition. The seventh commandment, for instance, forbids an unjust desire or endeavour to take what belongs to another; but this prohibits even to covet it, on any account; although we may, without a violation of law or justice, obtain possession of that from which we know a loss must accrue to our neighbour.
But, before we come to the exposition of the commandment, the faithful are first to be informed, that by this law we are taught not only to restrain our inordinate desires, but also to know the bound less love of God towards us. By the preceding commandments, God had, as it were, fenced us round with safeguards, securing us and ours against injury of every sort; but by the annexation of these commandments, he had for object principally, to provide against the injuries which we might inflict on ourselves by the indulgence of inordinate desires; and which should follow as a natural consequence, were we at liberty to covet all things indiscriminately. By this law, then, which forbids to covet, God has opposed a resistance to the keenness of desire, which excites to every evil, but which, blunted in some degree by virtue of this law, is felt less acutely; that thus freed from the annoying importunity of the passions, we may devote more time to the performance of the numerous and important duties of piety and religion which we owe to God.
Nor is this the only lesson of instruction which we derive from this commandment: it also teaches us that this divine law is to be observed not only by the external performance of the duties which it enforces, but also by the internal concurrence of the mind: so that between divine and human laws there is this difference, that human laws are fulfilled by an external compliance alone, whereas the laws of God (God sees the heart) require purity of heart, sincere and undefiled integrity of soul. The law of God, therefore, is a sort of mirror, in which we be hold the corruption of our own nature; and hence these words of the Apostle: " I had not known concupiscence, if the law did not say: thou shall not covet." [5] Concupiscence, which is the fuel of sin, and which originated in sin, is always inherent in our fallen nature: from it we know that we are born in sin; and, therefore, do we humbly fly for assistance to him, who alone can efface the stains of sin.
In common with the other commandments these also are partly mandatory, partly prohibitory. With regard to the prohibitory part, the pastor will make known to the faithful what sort of concupiscence is prohibited by this law, lest some may consider that which is not sinful to be sinful, such as the concupiscence mentioned by the Apostle, when he says: "The flesh lusteth against the spirit;" [6] and that which was the object of David's most earnest desires: " My soul hath coveted to long for thy justifications at all times." [7] Concupiscence, then, is a certain commotion and impulse of the mind, urging to the desire of pleasures which it does not actually enjoy; and as the other propensities of the soul are not always sinful, neither is the impulse of concupiscence. It is not, for instance, sinful to desire meat and drink, when cold to wish for warmth, when warm to wish to become cool. This species of concupiscence was originally implanted in the human breast by the Author of Nature; but, in consequence of primeval prevarication, it passed the limits prescribed by Nature, and became so depraved, that it frequently excites to the desire of those things, which conflict with the spirit, and are repugnant to reason. How ever, if well regulated, and kept within proper bounds, it is still the source of many blessings to the world.
In the first place, it prompts us by fervent prayer to supplicate God, and humbly to beg of him those things, which are the objects of our most earnest desires. Prayer is the interpreter of our wishes; and did not this well regulated concupiscence exist within us, Christians would not so often address the giver of all good gifts in prayer. It also imparts in our estimation a higher value to the gifts of God: the pleasure derived from the realization of our wishes, and the value which we set on the objects which they pursue, are proportioned to their intensity; and the gratification which we thus receive from the desired object serves also to increase our devotion and gratitude to God. If then, it is, at any time, lawful to covet, it will be readily conceded, that every species of concupiscence is not forbidden. St. Paul, it is true, says that " concupiscence is sin;" [8] but his words are to be understood in the same sense as those of Moses, whom he cites; [9] a sense conveyed by the Apostle himself, when, in his Epistle to the Galatians, he calls it " the concupiscence of the flesh:" " Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." [10] That natural, well regulated concupiscence, therefore, which passes not its proper limits, is not prohibited; still less is that spiritual desire of the virtuous mind, which prompts to those things that war against the flesh, and to which the Sacred Scriptures exhort us: " Covet ye my words:" [11] " Come over to me all ye that desire me." [12] It is not, then, the mere motion of concupiscence, directed equally, as it may be, to a good or a bad object, that is prohibited by these commandments: it is the indulgence of criminal desire; which is called " the concupiscence of the flesh," and " the fuel of sin," and which, when it sways the assent of the mind, is always sinful. That which the Apostle calls " the concupiscence of the flesh" is alone prohibited; that is to say, those motions of corrupt desire which are contrary to the dictates of reason, and outstep the limits prescribed by God.
This concupiscence is condemned, either because it desires what is evil, such as adultery, drunkenness, murder, and such heinous crimes, of which the Apostle says: " Let us not covet evil things, as they also coveted;" [13] or because, although the objects may not be bad in themselves, yet circumstances concur to render the desire of them criminal, when, for instance, they are prohibited by God or his Church. We are not warranted in desiring that which it is unlawful to possess; and hence, in the Old Law, it was criminal to desire the gold and silver from which idols were wrought, and which the Lord forbad " any one to covet." [14] Another reason why this sort of concupiscence is condemned is, that it has for its object that which belongs to another, such as a house, servant, field, wife, ox, ass, and many other things; all of which, as they belong to another, the law of God forbids us to covet. The desire alone of such things, when consented to, is criminal, and is numbered among the most grievous sins. When the mind, yielding to the impulse of evil desires, is pleased with, or does not resist, evil, sin is necessarily committed, as St. James, pointing out the beginning and progress of sin, teaches, when he says: "Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured: then, when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; but sin, when it is completed, begetteth death." [15] When, therefore, the law says: " Thou shall not covet," it means that we are to restrain our desires from those things which belong to others: a thirst for what belongs to others is intense and insatiable: it is written: " A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money;" [16] and of him Isaias says; " Wo to you that join house to house, and lay field to field." [17]
But a distinct explanation of each of the words, in which this commandment is expressed, will place the deformity and grievousness of this sin in a clearer light. The pastor, therefore, will teach that by the word " house" is to be understood not only the habitation in which we dwell, but, as we know from the usage of the inspired writers, the entire property of its owner. Thus to signify that God had enlarged their means and ameliorated their condition, he is said in Exodus to have built houses for the midwives. [18] From this interpretation, therefore, we perceive, that we are forbidden to indulge an eager desire of riches, or to envy others their wealth, or power, or rank, content with our own condition, be it humble or elevated. To desire the glory won by others is also prohibited, and is included in the word " house."
Next follow the words, "nor his ox nor his ass," from which we learn that it is unlawful to desire not only things of greater value, such as a house, rank, glory, because they belong to others; but, also, things of little value, whatever they may be, animate or inanimate. The words, "nor his servant," come next, and include slaves as well as other servants, whom it is not less unlawful to covet than the other property of our neighbour. With regard to freemen, who, induced by wages, affection or respect, serve voluntarily, it is unlawful, by words, or hopes, or promises, or rewards, to bribe or solicit them, under any pretext whatever, to leave those to whose service they have freely bound themselves; and if, before the period of their engagement has expired, they leave their masters or employers, they are to be admonished, on the authority of this commandment, to return by all means, until they shall have completed their full time of service. The word " neighbour" is mentioned in this commandment, to mark the wickedness of those, who covet neighbouring tenements, lands, houses and the like, which lie in their immediate vicinity; for neighbourhood, which consists in friendship, is transformed by covetousness from love into hatred. But this commandment is by no means transgressed by those, who desire to purchase or have actually purchased, at a fair price, from a neighbour, the merchandize which he has for sale: instead of doing him an injury, they, on the contrary, render him a considerable service, because to him the money is much more convenient and useful than the merchandize of which he disposes.
The commandment, which forbids us to covet the goods of our neighbour, is accompanied with another, which forbids to covet our neighbour's wife; and which prohibits not only that criminal concupiscence, which tempts the adulterer to desire the wife of another, but, also, the wish to be united to her in marriage. When, of old, a bill of divorce was permitted, it might easily happen, that she, who was repudiated by one husband, might be married to another; but this our Lord forbad, lest husbands might be induced to abandon their wives, or wives conduct them selves with such peevish moroseness towards their husbands, as to impose on them a sort of necessity of repudiating them. But, in the Gospel-dispensation, this sin acquires a deeper shade of guilt, because, the wife, although separated from her husband, cannot marry another during his lifetime. To him, therefore, who wishes to be united in marriage to another man's wife, the transition from one criminal desire to another is easy; he will desire either the death of the husband or the commission of adultery.
The same principle holds good with regard to females who have been betrothed to another: to covet them in marriage is also unlawful; and whoever strives to dissolve the contract, by which they are affianced, violates the most sacred engagements of plighted faith. And if to covet the wedded wife of another is highly criminal, it is no less so to desire in marriage the virgin who is consecrated to religion and to the service of God. But should any one desire in marriage a woman who is already married, supposing her to be unmarried, and not disposed, had he known that she was already married, to indulge such a desire, he does not violate this commandment. Pharaoh [19] and Abimelech, [20] as the Scripture informs us, were betrayed into this error; they wished to take Sarah to wife, supposing her to be unmarried, and the sister, not the wife of Abraham.
In order to make known the remedies calculated to neutralize the evil consequences of the vice of covetousness, the pastor will explain the positive part of the commandment. God then commands, that " if riches abound, we set not our hearts upon them:" [21] that we be prepared to sacrifice them to a love of piety and religion: that we contribute cheerfully towards the relief of the poor; and that, if we ourselves are consigned to poverty, we bear it with patience and with a holy joy. And, indeed, liberality to the poor is a most effectual means of extinguishing in our own hearts the desire of what belongs to another. But, on the praises of poverty and the contempt of riches, the pastor will find little difficulty in collecting abundant matter, for the instruction of the faithful, from the Sacred Scriptures and the works of the Fathers. [22]
To desire, with all the ardour and all the earnestness of our souls, the consummation, not of our own wishes, but of the holy will of God, as it is expressed in the Lord's Prayer, is a further duty inculcated by this law. It is his will that we be made eminent in holiness; that we preserve our souls pure and undefiled; that we practise those spiritual duties which are opposed to sensuality; and that, having subdued our unruly appetites, and repressed the inordinacy of those senses which supply matter to the passions, we enter, under the guidance of reason and of the spirit, upon a virtuous course of life.
But, to extinguish the fire of passion, it will be found most efficacious to place before our eyes the evils which are inseparable from its criminal indulgence. Amongst those evils the first is our subjugation to the tyranny of sin: in him who is obedient to the impulse of passion, sin reigns uncontrolled; and hence the admonition of the Apostle: " Let not sin, there fore, reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof." [23] By resisting the ascendancy of the passions, we weaken the power and subvert the tyranny of sin; but by its indulgence \ve expel God from his throne, and introduce sin in his place. Again, concupiscence, as St. James teaches, [24] is the impure source from which flows every other sin: "All that is in the world," says St. John, " is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life." [25] A third evil of sensuality is, that it darkens the understanding: blinded by passion the sinner deems the objects of criminal desire, whatever they may be, lawful and even laudable. Moreover, concupiscence stifles the seed of divine word, sown in our souls by God, the great husbandman: " Some," says St. Mark, " are sown among thorns; these are they who hear the word, and the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust after other things, entering in, choke the word, and it is made fruitless." [26]
But they who, more than others, are the slaves of concupiscence, and whom, therefore, the pastor will exhort with greater earnestness and assiduity, are those who are addicted to improper diversions, or who immoderately abuse such as are in themselves lawful; and also, merchants, who wish for dearth, and, because they cannot sell at too high, and purchase at too low, a price, cannot bear that others, by engaging in business, contravene their oppressive monopoly. They, too, offend in this particular, who, with a view to gain by buying or selling, wish to see their neighbour reduced to want. Soldiers, also, who thirst for war, in order to enrich themselves with plunder; physicians, who wish for the spread of disease; lawyers, who are anxious for a number of causes and litigations; and artizans who, greedy of gain, and with a view to increase their own profits, wish for a scarcity of the necessary articles for food and raiment, are all offenders against this commandment. They, too, who, envious of the praise and glory won by the achievements of others, strive to tarnish, in some degree, their fame, sin against this commandment; particularly if they themselves are worthless characters, persons of no estimation in society: fame and glory are the meed of virtue and industry, not of indolence and inexertion.
- ↑ Exod. xx. 17.
- ↑ Vid. Aug. lib. 1. Retract, c. 15. et epist. 200. et lib. 9. de civitate Dei, c. 4 et 5
- ↑ Queast. 77. in Exod. Vid. item D. Thorn. 2. 2. q. 122. a. 7. ad 3. et 4
- ↑ Matt, v. 28.
- ↑ Rom. vii. 7.
- ↑ Gal. v. 17.
- ↑ Ps. cxviii. 20
- ↑ Rom. vii. 20.
- ↑ Exodus xx. 17.
- ↑ Gal. v. 16.
- ↑ Wisdom vi. 12
- ↑ Eccl. xxiv. 26.
- ↑ 1 Cor. x. 6.
- ↑ Deut. vii. 25, 26.
- ↑ James i. 14. Vid. D. Thorn. 1. 2. q. 4. art. 78. 8. item August, lib. J2. de Trinit. c. 12. item de serm. Dom. in monte c. 23. Greg. horn. 19. in Evang. et lib. 4. Moral, c 27. et in respons. 11. ad interrog. Aug. Hieron. in Amos. c. 1.
- ↑ Eccl. v. 9
- ↑ Isa . v. 8.
- ↑ Exod. i. 21.
- ↑ Gen. xii.
- ↑ Gen. xx.
- ↑ Ps. lxi. 11.
- ↑ Vid. Hier. ep. 1. ad Heliod. et 8. ad Demetriadem, et 150. ad Hedebiam quajst 1. et 16. ad Pammach. item Basil, in regul. fusius disputatis, interrog. 9. Chrys. in
- ↑ Rom. vi. 12.
- ↑ James iii. 14.
- ↑ 1 John ii. 16.
- ↑ Mark iv. 18, 19