The Ten Commandments are a series of religious and moral imperatives that are recognized as a moral foundation in several of the Abrahamic religions, including the Catholic Church.Pottenger, p. 13 As described in the Old Testament books Exodus and Deuteronomy, the Commandments form part of a covenant offered by God to the Israelites to free them from the spiritual slavery of sin. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church—the official exposition of the Catholic Church's Christian beliefs—the Commandments are considered essential for spiritual good health and growth, and serve as the basis for Catholic social teaching. A review of the Commandments is one of the most common types of examination of conscience used by Catholics before receiving the sacrament of Penance.O'Toole, p. 146

The Commandments appear in the earliest Church writings; the Catechism states that they have "occupied a predominant place" in teaching the faith since the time of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). The Church had no official standards for religious instruction until the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215; evidence suggests the Commandments were used in Christian education in the early Church and throughout the Middle Ages. The perceived lack of instruction in them by some dioceses was the basis of one of the criticisms launched against the Church by Protestant reformers. Afterward, the first Church-wide catechism in 1566 provided "thorough discussions of each commandment", but gave greater emphasis to the seven sacraments. The most recent Catechism devotes a large section to interpret each of the commandments.

Church teaching of the Commandments is largely based on the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers. In the New Testament, Jesus acknowledged their validity and instructed his disciples to go further, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.Kreeft, p. 202 Summarized by Jesus into two "Great Commandments" that teach love of God and love of neighbor,Schreck, p. 303 they instruct individuals on their relationships with both. The first three commandments require reverence and respect for God's name, observation of the Lord's Day and prohibit the worship of other gods. The others deal with the relationships between individuals, such as that between parent and child; they include prohibitions against lying, stealing, murdering, adultery and covetousness.

Numbering

The Old Testament refers to ten individual commandments, even though there are more than ten imperative sentences in the two relevant texts: Exodus 20:1–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. The Old Testament does not make clear how the texts should be divided to arrive at ten commandments. The division traditionally used by the Catholic and Lutheran churches was first derived by the Latin Church Father Augustine of Hippo (354–430) who modified the original order in his book Questions on Exodus.Kreeft, pp. 201–203Stapleton, "The Ten Commandments" Other Christian communities, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and many Protestant churches, use the formulation standardized by the Greek Fathers of the Christian East. The two forms have slightly different numbering, but maintain exactly the same substance despite some Protestant claims to the contrary. Rabbinic Jewish numbering is more closely aligned with the Eastern Church tradition, considering the text against covetousness as a single proscription, but differs from Christian denominations in that it considers what many Christians call a prologue to be the entire first commandment.Brown, p. 82

History The Ten Commandments are recognized as a moral foundation by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They first appear in the Book of Exodus, according to which Moses, acting under the orders of God, freed the Israelites from physical slavery in Egypt. According to Church teaching, God offered a covenant—which included the Ten Commandments—to also free them from the "spiritual slavery" of sin.Barry, p. 85 Some historians have described this as "the central event in the history of ancient Israel".Noble, p. 53

The coming of Jesus is seen by the Catholic Church as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and Jews, who were chosen, according to Peter Kreeft, to "show the true God to the world".Kreeft, p. 77 Jesus acknowledged the Commandments and instructed his followers to go further, requiring, in Kreeft's words, "more, not less: a 'righteousness (which) exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Explaining Church teaching, Kreeft states, "The Commandments are to the moral order what the creation story in Genesis 1 is to the natural order. They are God's order conquering chaos. They are not man's ideas about God, but God's ideas about man." The Church teaches that Jesus freed people from keeping "the burdensome Jewish law (Torah or Mosaic Law) with its 613 distinct regulations [but] not from the obligation to keep the Ten Commandments", because the Ten "were written 'with the finger of God', unlike [those] written by Moses". This teaching was reaffirmed at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and at the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

Although it is uncertain what role the Ten Commandments played in early Christian worship, evidence suggests they were recited during some services and used in Christian education.Pelikan, p. 60 For example, the Commandments are included in one of the earliest Christian writings, known as the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles or the Didache.Hardon, pp. 1–9 Scholars contend that the Commandments were highly regarded by the early Church as a summary of God's law. The Protestant scholar Klaus Bockmuehl believes that the Church replaced the Commandments with lists of virtues and vices, such as the seven deadly sins, from 400 to 1200.Bockmuehl, p. 15 Other scholars contend that throughout Church history the Commandments have been used as an examination of conscience and that many theologians have written about them. While evidence exists that the Commandments were part of catechesis in monasteries and other venues, there was no official Church position to promote specific methods of religious instruction during the Middle Ages. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) was the first attempt to remedy this problem. Surviving evidence reveals that some bishops' efforts to implement the council's resolutions included special emphasis on teaching the Commandments in their respective dioceses.Bast, p. 4 Centuries later, the lack of instruction in them by some dioceses formed the basis of one of the criticisms launched against the Church by Protestant reformers.Bast, p. 3

Catechisms produced in specific dioceses from the mid-fourteenth century emphasized the Commandments and laid the foundation for the first official Church-wide catechism, the 1566 Roman Catechism.Bast, p. 6 Commissioned by the Council of Trent, it provided "thorough discussions of each commandment" but gave greater emphasis to the seven sacraments to emphasize the Catholic belief that Christian life was dependent upon the grace solely obtained through the sacramental life provided by the Catholic Church. This emphasis conflicted with Protestant beliefs, which held the Commandments as the source of divine grace.Brown, p. 79 While more recent papal encyclicals offer interpretations of Church teaching on individual commandments, throughout history official Church teachings on the Commandments are based on their mentions in the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers Origen, Irenaeus and Augustine. Later, theologians Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure offered notable commentaries on the Commandments. Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church, considered them to be the "primary precepts of justice and all law, and natural reason gives immediate assent to them as being plainly evident principles.".Aquinas, p. 293 Aquinas also underlined the disposition into two synoptic tables, where: "Three of these Commandments that were written on the first tablet referred to the love of God; and the seven Commandments written on the other tablet related to the love of our neighbor". In the same way, the Lord gave the twofold Great Commandment, for God and for the neighbour, by virtue of the four reasons of charity.

The most recent Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official summary of Church beliefs, devotes a large section to the Commandments, which serve as the basis for Catholic social teaching.Carmody, p. 82 According to the Catechism, the Church has given them a predominant place in teaching the faith since the fifth century. Kreeft explains that the Church regards them as "a path of life", and a "path to freedom" just as a schoolyard fence protects children from "life-threatening dangers". Australian writer Michael Tate suggests that the phrase "ten commandments" could be better replaced with "ten responses" which ought to "characterise a liberated people freed from slavery by 'the Lord , your God'".

First commandment "I am the your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me."The first commandment according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church The first commandment, according to Church teaching, "means that [followers] must worship and adore God alone because God is alone."Kreeft, p. 207 The Catechism explains that this prohibits idolatry, providing examples of forbidden practices such as the worship of any creature, and of demons ... power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state [and] money. Augustine interpreted this commandment as "Love God and then do what you will". Explaining this sentiment, Kreeft states that all sin "serves some other god, obeys another commander: the world or the flesh or the devil", if God truly be loved then one will do what God wills.Kreeft, p. 205

The Catechism associates this commandment with the three theological virtues. The first virtue, faith, instructs Catholics to believe in God and avoid heresy, apostasy, and schism. The second virtue, hope, cautions Catholics against despair and presumption. According to the Catechism, the last virtue, charity, can be met only if Catholics refrain from indifference or ingratitude toward God, and avoid spiritual laziness and a hatred of God stemming from pride.Schreck, p. 304 The Catechism enumerates specific violations of this commandment, including superstition, polytheism, sacrilege, atheism, and all practices of magic and sorcery. It further prohibits astrology, palm reading, and consulting horoscopes or mediums. The Catechism attributes the latter actions to a "desire for power over time, history, and in the last analysis, other human beings as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers".Kreeft, p. 208

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