7th and 10th

• The Eighth Commandment


  "Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
• The Eighth Commandment


  • Teaches us that we must be truthful in what we say or do
  • Teaches us to bear witness to the truth
• What the Eighth Commandment teaches us not to do

  • Not to be deceptive in what we say
  • To respect the reputation and honor of all persons
• What the Eighth Commandment forbids


  • Gossiping
  • Rumor-mongering
  • Slander
  • Libel
• Sins to avoid


  • Lying
  • Deception
  • Calumny
  • Betrayal
• Virtues to be acquired


  • Truthfulness
  • Honesty
• God, who is all truth, wills the truth (CCC 2464)
• By his very nature, man tends towards truth and expects the truth (2467)
• His faithfulness endures to all generations
• As Gods people, we are called to live in the truth
• Offenses against truth


  • False witness and perjury
  • Rash judgment assuming as true the moral fault of a neighbor
  • Detraction disclosing another's faults and failings
  • Calumny harming the reputation of others by remarks contrary to the truth
  • Lying violates the nature of truthfulness and does real violence to another
  • Slander
• The evil tongue ... (or slander) is considered among the Jewish people as one of the worst sins imaginable ... one almost tantamount to murder in that the good name, livelihood, reputation, etc. can all be destroyed by a single word, look, expression
• How to avoid sins against truth

  To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible our neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way
• The Seventh Commandment


  "Thou shall not steal"
• The Tenth Commandment


  "Thou shall not covet thy neighbors goods"
• Meaning of the 7th and 10th Commandments


  • It forbids us from stealing
  • It condemns the unjust taking or damaging of the goods and property of another
• What the 7th and 10th Commandments demand

  • The practice of justice and charity in the administration of earthly goods and the fruits of labor, and the right to a just wage
  • Respect for the goods and resources of the earth
• The respect of the property of others is part of the virtue of justice
• 3 kinds of justice


  • Commutative Justice
  • Legal Justice
  • Distributive Justice
• Commutative Justice


  Regulates exchange between persons
• Legal Justice


  Regulates the individual towards the community
• Distributive Justice

  Obligations of the community to citizens
• Prohibitions


  • Stealing - The unjust taking or withholding from another what rightfully belongs to him, against his will
  • Theft - Usurping another property against the reasonable will of the owner
  • Fraud or cheating - Taking another's property by means of trickery or deceit
  • Robbery - Open and forcible taking of another person's property
  • Usury - Exacting for a loan of money an interest above the legal and reasonable rate
• Examples of prohibitions

  • Burglary
  • Pick pocketing
  • Shoplifting
  • Taking of items from another person
  • Contriving to manipulate the price of goods artificially
  • Corruption
  • Appropriation and use for private purposes of the common goods of an enterprise
  • Worked poorly done
  • Tax evasion
  • Forgery of checks and invoices
  • Excessive expense and waste
  • Willful damage of private or public property
  • Bandits
  • Bank robbers
  • Hold-uppers
  • Looters
• Obligations


  • Respect for the right to private property
  • Duty to promote its fair distribution for the common good of all
  • Practice of temperance, justice, charity and solidarity in the administration of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor
  • Practice of the corporal and spiritual works mercy to aid our neighbors in their bodily and spiritual needs