Ways of violating this commandment
In ordinary conversation one may violate this Commandment in five ways. The first is by detraction: “Detractors, hateful to God” [Rm 1:30]. “Hateful to God” here indicates that nothing is so dear to a man as his good name: “A good name is better than great riches” [Prov 22:1]. But detractors take away this good name: “If a serpent bite in silence, he is no better that backbites secretly” [Eccles 10:11]. Therefore, if detractors do not restore this reputation, they cannot be saved.
Secondly, one may break this precept by listening to detractors willingly: “Hedge in your ears with thorns, do not listen to a wicked tongue, and make doors and bars for your mouth” [Sir 28:28]. One should not listen deliberately to such things, but ought to turn away, showing a sad and stern countenance: “The north wind drives away rain as does a sad countenance a backbiting tongue” [Prov 25:23].
Thirdly, gossipers break this precept when they repeat whatever they hear: “Six things there are which the Lord hates, and the seventh His soul detests... one who sows discord among brethren” [Prov 6:16,19]. Fourthly, those who speak honied words, the flatterers: “The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unjust man is blessed” [Ps 9:24]. And again: “O My people, they who call you blessed deceive you” [Is 3:12].
Special effects of telling lies
The prohibition of this Commandment includes every form of falsehood: “Refuse to utter any lie; for the habit of lying serves no good” [Sir 7:14]. There are four reasons for this. The first is that lying likens one to the devil, because a liar is as the son of the devil. Now, we know that a man’s speech betrays from what region and country he comes from, thus: “Even your accent betrays you” [Mt 26:73]. Even so, some men are of the devil’s kind, and are called sons of the devil because they are liars, since the devil is “a liar and the father of lies” [Jn 8:44]. Thus, when the devil said, “No, certainly you shall not die,” [Gen 3:4], he lied. But, on the contrary, others are the children of God, who is Truth, and they are those who speak the truth.
The second reason is that lying induces the ruin of society. Men live together in society, and this is soon rendered impossible if they do not speak the truth to one another. “Therefore put away lying, speak the truth, every man with his neighbor; for we are members one of another” [Eph 4:25].
The third reason is that the liar loses his reputation for the truth. He who is accustomed to telling lies is not believed even when he speaks the truth: “What can be made clean by the unclean? And what truth can come from what is false?” [Sir 24:4].
The fourth reason is because a liar kills his soul, for “the mouth that lies kills the soul” [Wis 1:11]. And again: “You will destroy all who speak lies” [Ps 5:7]. Accordingly, it is clear that lying is a mortal sin; although it must be known that some lies may be venial.
It is a mortal sin, for instance, to lie in matters of faith. This concerns professors, prelates and preachers, and is the gravest of all other kinds of lies: “There shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition” [2 Pet 2:1]. Then there are those who lie to wrong their neighbor: “Do not lie to one another” [Col 3:9]. These two kinds of lies, therefore, are mortal sins.
There are some who lie for their own advantage, and this in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is out of humility. This may be the case in confession, about which St. Augustine says: “Just as one must avoid concealing what he has committed, so also he must not mention what he has not committed.” “Does God have any need of your lie?” [Job 13:7]. And again: “There is one who humbles himself wickedly, and his interior is full of deceit; and there is one who humbles himself exceedingly with a great lowness” [Sir 19:25 Vulgate].
There are others who tell lies out of shame, namely, when one tells a falsehood believing that he is telling the truth, and on becoming aware of it he is ashamed to retract: “In no wise speak against the truth, but be ashamed of the lie of your ignorance” [Sir 4:30]. Other some lie for desired results as when they wish to gain or avoid something: “We have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected” [Is 28:15]. And again: “He who trusts in lies feeds the winds” [Prov 10:4]
Finally, there are some who lie to benefit another, that is, when they wish to free someone from death, or danger, or some other loss. This must be avoided, as St. Augustine tells us. “Accept no person against your own person, nor against your soul a lie” [Eccles 4:26]. But others lie only out of vanity, and this, too, must never be done, lest the habit of such lead us to mortal sin: “For the bewitching of vanity obscures good things” [Wis 4:12].
ARTICLE 11
THE NINTH (TENTH) COMMANDMENT
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”
[St. Thomas places the Tenth Commandment before the Ninth. The Tenth Commandment is wider in extension than the Ninth, which is specific. ]
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” There is this difference between the divine and the human laws that human law judges only deeds and words, whereas the divine law judges also thoughts. The reason is because human laws are made by men who see things only exteriorly, but the divine law is from God, who sees both external things and the very interior of men. “You are the God of my heart” [Ps 72:26]. And again: “Man sees those things that appear, but the Lord sees the heart” [1 Sam 16:7]. Therefore, having considered those Commandments which concern words and deeds, we now treat of the Commandments about thoughts. For with God the intention is taken for the deed, and thus the words, “You shall not covet,” mean to include not only the taking by act, but also the intention to take. Therefore, it says: “You shall not even covet your neighbor’s goods.” There are a number of reasons for this.
The first reason for the Commandment is that man’s desire has no limits, because desire itself is boundless. But he who is wise will aim at some particular end, for no one should have aimless desires: “A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money” [Eccles 5:9]. But the desires of man are never satisfied, because the heart of man is made for God. Thus, says St. Augustine: “You hast made us for You, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You” [ Conf. I]. Nothing, therefore, less than God can satisfy the human heart: “He satisfies your desire with good things” [Ps 102:5].
The second reason is that covetousness destroys peace of heart, which is indeed highly delightful. The covetous man is ever solicitous to acquire what he lacks, and to hold that which he has: “The fullness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep” [Eccles 5:11]. “For where your treasure is, there is your heart also” [Mt 6:21]. It was for this, says St. Gregory, that Christ compared riches to thorns [Lk 8:14].
Thirdly, covetousness in a man of wealth renders his riches useless both to himself and to others, because he desires only to hold on to them: “Riches are not fitting for a covetous man and a niggard” [Sir 14:3]. The fourth reason is that it destroys the equality of justice: “Neither shall you take bribes, which even blind the wise, and pervert the words of the just” [Ex 23:8]. And again: “He who loves gold shall not be justified” [Sir 31:5]. The fifth reason is that it destroys the love of God and neighbor, for says St. Augustine: “The more one loves, the less one covets,” and also the more one covets, the less one loves. “Nor despise your dear brother for the sake of gold” [Sir 7:20]. And just as “No man can serve two masters,” so neither can he serve “God and mammon” [Mt 6:24].
Finally, covetousness produces all kinds of wickedness. It is “the root of all evil,” says St. Paul, and when this root is implanted in the heart it brings forth murder and theft and all kinds of evil. “They that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the desire of money is the root of all evil” [1 Tim 6:9-10]. And note, furthermore, that covetousness is a mortal sin when one covets one’s neighbor’s goods without reason; and even if there be a reason, it is a venial sin.
ARTICLE 12
THE TENTH (NINTH) COMMANDMENT
“You Shall Not Covet your Neighbor’s Wife.”