Myth: Catholics Have Rewritten the 10 Commandments

There is a minor difference between Protestants and Catholics concerning the numbering of the commandments. However, Catholics do not eliminate any commandment.

Both Protestants and Catholics refer to the same verse in the Bible (Exodus 20: 1-17) as the source of the 10 Commandments. The main difference lies in the first and second commandment, derived from Exodus 20: 1-7:

Then God delivered all these commandments: "I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain."

Both Catholics and Protestants have taken Exodus 20: 1-17 and "simplified it." That is, they have numbered the commandments and simplified the language.

Catholics and Protestants agree that the first commandment is "I am the Lord your God, you shall not have other gods besides me."

However, Catholics consider the second commandment to be from verse 7: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." Protestants consider this to be the third commandment.

Protestants consider the second commandment to be: "You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything."

Often, Protestants explain the discrepancy as an effort by the Church to validate the worship of statues and images. This is not the case.

First, Catholics do not worship statues and images. Statues and images are physical reminders only. The Catechism refers to "veneration." This is often misunderstood by Protestants to be the same as worship. However, Webster's defines the verb venerate as "to look upon with feelings of deep respect" – clearly not the same as worship.

Furthermore, the Catechism explains the role of images as such:

The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone. (Catechism 2132)

Finally, the Catechism quotes St. Thomas Aquinas from the Summa Theologica as further explanation:

Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

Second, the ban against graven images is not included as a separate commandment because it is inherent in the first. If we are to worship God alone, then we are not to worship graven images. While it may not be directly listed on a board as being part of the first, it is included in the explanation of the first commandment in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To have a second commandment banning graven images would be a mere reiteration of a portion of the first.

To make up for the added commandment, Protestants often combine the Catholic numbers 9 and 10 into one. Instead of separate commandments for "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife" and "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods," Protestants have one command: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife or goods."

The Catholic decision to separate the two was made to emphasize the danger inherent in lust for the flesh:

"St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another’s goods.

The separation of the two also demonstrates the Church’s emphasis upon the sacrament of marriage. Divorce remains a serious sin. To desire another man’s wife is to desire to disturb a covenant made by two individuals in front of God. Indeed, the last words of the marriage ceremony echo Jesus’ words: "what God has joined together, no human being must separate" (Matthew 19:6).