350. “…speak and so act as people who will be judged…” James 2:12

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 350

Ave Maria series

Are the Ten Commandments a random list?

No.  The Ten Commandments form a unity.  One commandment refers to another.  You cannot arbitrarily toss out individual commandments.  Someone who breaks one commandment is violating the whole law.  [2069]

Mount of Beatitudes, seen from Capernaum.....145…35

What is remarkable about the Ten Commandments is that all of human life is included within them. Indeed, we men are related at the same time to God (Commandments 1-3)and to our fellow men (Commandments 4-10); we are religious and social beings.

Decalogue (Ten Words, from Greek deka=ten and logos=word).  The Ten Commandments are the central summary of the basic rules of human behavior in the Old Testament.  Jews and Christians both look to this fundamental text for orientation.

[2069]

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

"Teacher, what must I do . . .?"  The unity of the Decalogue

2069 The Decalogue forms a coherent whole. Each "word" refers to each of the others and to all of them; they reciprocally condition one another. The two tables shed light on one another; they form an organic unity. To transgress one commandment is to infringe all the others.(Compare James 2:10-11.)³⁰ One cannot honor another person without blessing God his Creator. One cannot adore God without loving all men, his creatures. The Decalogue brings man's religious and social life into unity.

JT Mount of Beatitudes