The Catholic Church Changed The Ten Commandments?

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[Salvation]

The Catholic Church
Changed The Ten Commandments?

  

Real Audio Lessons on this Topic

Commandment 1
Commandments 2-3
Commandment 4, 6, & 9
Commandments 5, 7, 8, 10

Some Protestants accuse the Catholic Church of having dropped one of the 10 Commandments. "You're idolators! You worship statues! And because you do, your Church dropped the commandment against graven images!"

The truth, of course, is that the Catholic Church did not and could not change the Ten Commandments. Latin Catholics and Protestants simply list them differently. It is incredible that such a pernicious lie could be so easily spread and believed, especially since the truth could easily be determined by just looking into the matter. But the rumor lives.

Now, below are the ways in which Protestants and Roman Catholics enumerate the Commandments:

Most common Protestant listing:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
Honour thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
Thou shalt not covet

Latin Catholic listing:

Thou shalt not have other gods besides Me
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain
Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day
Honor thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not murder
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods

So what the heck? What did happen to the commandment about graven images in the Catholic listing? Did the Church just "drop" a commandment?

Um, no. The Old Testament was around long before the time of the Apostles, and the Decalogue, which is found in three different places in the Bible (Exodus 20 and Exodous 34 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21), has not been changed by the Catholic Church. Chapter and verse divisions are a medieval invention, however, and numbering systems of the Ten Words (Commandments), the manner in which they are grouped, and the "short-hand" used for them, vary among various religious groups. Exodus 20 is the version most often referred to when one speaks of the Ten Commandments, so it will be our reference point here. Here's how the relevant portion of Exodus 20 reads:

2	I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3	Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
4	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.
5	Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6	And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7	Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8	Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9	Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10	But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11	For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12	Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13	Thou shalt not kill. 1
14	Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15	Thou shalt not steal.
16	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17	Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

So we have 16 verses and Ten Commandments (this we know because of Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13 which speak of the "Ten Words" of God). How to group these verses and Commands? Here's how different groups have handled this:   

	Verses Grouped Together
Counted as Commandment #	Jewish	Latin Catholic, Lutheran	Eastern Catholic, Orthodox, Most Protestant
1	2 (commandment to believe)	3, 4, 5, 6	3
2	3, 4, 5, 6	7	4, 5, 6
3	7	8, 9, 10, 11	7
4	8, 9, 10, 11	12	8, 9, 10, 11
5	12	13	12
6	13	14	13
7	14	15	14
8	15	16	15
9	16	17a (commandment against lust)	16
10	17	17b (commandment against greed)	17

When the Commandments are listed, they are often listed in short-hand form, such that, for ex., verses 8, 9, 10 and 11 concerning the Sabbath become simply "Remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy." Because Latin Catholics group 3, 4, 5 and 6 together as all pertaining to the concept "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," we are accused of having "dropped" the commandment against idols. That Eastern Catholics list the Commandments differently never enters the equation for people who think this way; they are simply against those they probably call the "Romish popers" and that's that (I hope it doesn't bother them that Jews would accuse them of totally forgetting the First Commandment, or that Latin Catholics could accuse some Protestants of skipping lightly over the commandments against lust. And why don't the Protestants who have a problem with our numbering system go after the Lutherans for the same thing, anyway?).

Bottom line:

• chapter and verse numbering in the Bible came about in the Middle Ages
   

• the Catholic Church (which includes Eastern Catholics, too) has two different numbering systems for the Commandments given, one agreeing with the most common Protestant enumeration;
   

• the Latin Church's numbering is the most common in the Catholic Church and is the one referred to by Protestants who, ignoring Eastern Catholic Churches, accuse the Catholic Church of having dropped a Commandment;
   

• no Commandment has been dropped, in any case, but the Latin Church's shorthand for the Commandments looks different than the typical Protestant version because of how the Commandments are grouped;
   

• everyone knows how to find Exodus 20 in the Bible, anyway -- even us stoopid Latin Catholics; and
   

• we don't care how they are grouped together; we only care that they are understood and obeyed -- not because we are under the Old Testament Moral and Ceremonial Law with its legalism and non-salvific ritual (we aren't!), but because we are to obey God as children of the New Covenant, whose moral law includes the Two Great Commandments (to love God and to love our neighbor) which surpass the Decalogue, and whose Sacraments surpass empty ritual, being media of grace.

Footnote:
¹ The Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate (the official Scripture of the Church), and the original Douay-Reims phrase the Fifth Word as "Thou shalt not murder"; later Douay-Reims versions, such as the Challoner, and the King James Bible, etc., phrase it as "Thou shalt not kill." "Thou shalt not murder," however, is the original intent and the meaning of the earliest texts. Catholics, of course, have 2,000 years of Church teaching and the Magisterium to interpret Scripture, and the meaning of the Fifth Commandment is that one is not to take innocent life. It doesn't entail pacifism, ignoring the needs of self-defense and justice, worrying about squashing bugs, etc.

---

Further Reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church: Section on the Ten Commandments

[scrabblehack]

Look up "thou shalt not commit adultery." The Hebrew word means to commit adultery, but also "idolatrous worship."
(blueletterbible.com)

In the Septuagint, the double entendre is preserved.

moich-euô ,

A. commit adultery with a woman,
2. metaph., worship idolatrously
(http://www.perseus.tufts.edu)

The Vulgate has non moechaberis -- tufts.edu doesn't give the second meaning but I have seen it in Latin dictionaries.

[ArrogantBustard]

See #38, which explains the "simple logic" behind the Latin enumeration of the commandments. Simple logic tells us that wives are not property. We aren't mohammedans. If adultery ("stealing" your neighbour's wife) is a separate offense from stealing your neighbour's property, then the desire to do these things also make two separate offenses.

And if one is to consider the first commandment to include both "have no other gods before me" and "make no image" as part of it, then quote the whole commandment that includes it.

When the Ten Commandments are actually taught, that is precisely what is done; generally several variations on 'false gods' are explored ranging from old fashioned paganism to modern worship of the State, or of public opinion.

[scrabblehack]

Hmmm....I don't see how the finger exercise could be adapted for the Catholic version.

Most people have a first, middle, and last name, although some have two middle names and others have none...that might be more memorable than the scout's pledge.

Deuteronomy 5:21 lists thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife first, followed by his field, house, manservant, maidservant, ox, ass, and everything else...

Exodus 20:17 lists thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house first, followed by his wife, manservant, maidservant, ox, ass, and everything else.

[Salvation]

**Catholics deleted no idols command **

Actually I don't think the Catholics did. I am the Lord, thy God, thou shalt have no stange gods before me.

See the table here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1799282/posts?page=3#3

[Salvation]

**The most glaring case of "picking and choosing" indulged in by ALL Christians (except the 7th Day Adventists) is ignoring the Sabbath. The commandment says honor the SABBATH.**

The early Apostles did keep the Sabbath. Then they met again on Sunday to celebrate the Lord's resurrection, read scripture and share a meal. It usually happened in a home. Bet you knew this!

[Salvation]

Good analysis. Never knew that about the #4.

[T Minus Four]

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians
become a reality, in Your way
we have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together
we give you absolute permission to move Amen

Please help me understand what is meant by the "bolded" words. It can't be what it seems.

[Vicomte13]

Yes, I knew that.

But Christians ever since have NOT kept the Sabbath, and do not keep the Sabbath.

For Catholics and the Orthodox, this is easy. Power of the keys given to Peter and the Apostles, and given by Peter and the Apostles to the leadership of the Church, in Apostolic succession. So, the Commandment to Honor the Sabbath no longer applies, because it's been superseded, by the authority God vested in Peter and the apostles, which they vested in the Church, by the Tradition of the Church that says that SUNDAY is the day of Catholic (and Orthodox) worship. Catholics do not honor the Sabbath Day and keep it holy, because the Church says they don't have to, and the Church has the authority, given by God, to bind God, which includes changing the Ten Commandments. The Church changed one, and we are bound to obey the Church, and not the Bible, on this point. Or rather, we are bound to obey the Bible and understand that the Power of the Keys in Matthew MEANS that the Church can change the law of the Bible, and that IS divine. So much for the Catholics and Orthodox.

Protestants can't do that. In fact, when Catholics do that, based on the power of the keys, Protestants see Catholics erecting the sort of traditions against the law of God that Jesus railed at the Pharisees for doing. The Bible's the inerrant, infallible Word of God, and the Church cannot modify the Ten Commandments.

But Protestants, except for Seventh Day Adventists, follow the tradition of Sunday worship, which isn't Biblical, and don't honor the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy. In effect, they follow 9 of the Ten Commandments.

I find this interesting, and I find the justifications given for that interesting.

For Catholics, the Church has the authority of God, including the authority to overrule the Bible (so long as that was done long ago; TODAY the Church could not credibly overrule Sunday and replace it with a Tuesday mandatory mass, for instance. It could try, but it would be the end of infallibility were the assertion made. Everybody would see it as an error.)

For Protestants, it's Bible alone, but they don't keep the Sabbath. A fascinating problem.

[Salvation]

**For Protestants, it's Bible alone, but they don't keep the Sabbath. A fascinating problem.**

Nor have they disposed of their globes. For the Bible tells us that the world was/is flat. LOL!

Sola Scriptura Alert!

[Vicomte13]

Actually, if you read Genesis very, very carefully, without preconceived notions, it tells you something a little bit different.

It tells you that the universe is full of water, and that the visible universe is made out of a bubble in the water. There's water outside of it above, and below: the abyss.

Now, above, the firmament is that: a solid dome. The stars and planets and sun are placed IN the firmament. Not above it. There are gates in the firmament, the gates of heaven, and these gates were opened to flood the world in the time of Noah. Similarly, the waters below are gathered, within the bubble, and dry land appeared, but there are gates in the bubble below, the wellsprings of the earth, and they too were opened to cause the Flood. The Flood wasn't caused by rain, from clouds, It was caused by water rushing down from BEYOND THE STARS AND PLANETS, when the gates of the firmament (in which the stars are fixed) were opened and the water above the bubble poured in.
Also, the Flood wasn't just rain. The water welled up from the wellsprings too.

There's water out there beyond the stars. And that is why the sky is blue. Think about it.

It's a very interesting creation myth.
But it's not true.

[T Minus Four]

Salvation, I hope you take my question seriously and take the time to answer.