Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic XII
James Dodson
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CHAPTER XII
Of the Decalogue
I. In the Decalogue, so called in Greek from the number ten of the precepts, there first occurs the common inscription. This expresses:
1. The essence of the true God, by the name Jehovah.
2. His relation to this people, both common—by creation, preservation, and separation from other peoples—and special, by the Covenant of Grace erected with the fathers, under the name “God of Israel.” This does not occur here by way of promise or command, but by way of a description of God.
3. The recently bestowed benefit of deliverance from the dreadful Egyptian bondage; for this they owed grateful obedience to God.
II. In the first precept it is forbidden to have any other or foreign god besides Jehovah, in whatever way this may at last be done, since He Himself gives His glory to no other: Isa. 42:8. Therefore here must be reckoned as forbidden: the Papistic religious worship of creatures; the bare Socinian faith in a creature; all Gentile idolatry with its remnants; magic; divination; superstition; and finally all blind obedience and trust given to creatures, just as covetousness is hence called idolatry: Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5.
III. But it is commanded to have Jehovah for God—not only, namely, the Father, but the Triune God. To this belong all duties of confession, faith, reverence, patience, obedience, trust—
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—and supreme love: Deut. 10:12, “and now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of Jehovah and His statutes,” etc.; Matt. 22:37, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” etc.
IV. The Socinians wrongly wish that under the New Testament the following were additions:
1. The worship of the Son, which was already expressly commanded: Ps. 2:12, “kiss the Son”; and exercised: Gen. 48:16, “the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.”
2. The worship of the Father in the Son as Mediator, which likewise was commanded, faith in the Messiah being prescribed: Hab. 2:4, “the just shall live by his faith”; and exercised: Ps. 80:16, 18, “let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, upon the Son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.” Dan. 9:17, “for the Lord’s sake,” etc. Thus the place in John 16:24, ἕως ἄρτι οὐκ ᾐτήσατε οὐδὲν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου [hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name], etc., must be understood of Jesus of Nazareth as the consummated Priest, and of a greater degree of confidence.
3. The duty of praying, which was commanded: Ps. 50:15, “call upon Me in the day of trouble,” etc.; and exercised by all the saints.
4. The form of the Lord’s Prayer, which is not a new duty, but an aid in the old duty; nor does it contain anything altogether new in respect of its matters or their order.
V. In the second precept, the subject is likenesses or images of any kind, of things heavenly, earthly, and subterranean. Except for an image of God, which cannot even be made, they are not absolutely forbidden to be made for ornament, for the exercise of art, for honorable remembrance, and for manifold instruction; but it is forbidden to make them for ourselves, so that through them we may worship God—
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—and thus bow down to them. Where God further describes Himself, both from His most just zeal in punishing the sins of parents even upon corrupt children—although He does not always use this right: Ezek. 18:4, 20, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,” etc.—and from His kindness toward the obedient. Since God added such a description of Himself to this precept, it must by no means be deleted under the New Testament, nor rejected as positive, nor depressed as an appendix of the first; as is done by Papists and Lutherans.
VI. But the Papists show here the consciousness of the prohibition of that very manifold worship of images which, contrary to the practice of the primitive church, they themselves introduced from the eighth century.
Objection 1. Adoration once belonged to the serpent and cherubim.
Reply: By no means. But the Israelites were to worship God dwelling between the cherubim, and to look upon the serpent as a symbol of Christ; and because of idolatrous worship afterward, it was piously broken in pieces: 2 Kings 18:4.
Objection 2. Images of saints are holy.
Reply: Images are nowhere called holy; nor ought the temple, or living men, to have been religiously worshipped because of holiness.
Objection 3. Miracles are performed through images.
Reply: Most of these are fictitious; nor were the prophets themselves, because of miracles once performed, to be honored with religious worship.
The Lutherans likewise urge practice and doctrine: that images are not indeed to be worshipped, but to be placed in churches for the instruction of the people. Yet God has ordained His Word for this purpose: Luke 16:29, “they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them”; Rom. 10:17, ἄρα ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ [so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God], etc. And images alone cannot rescue us—
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—indeed, they frequently teach vanity: Hab. 2:18, “the molten image, and a teacher of lies”; Zech. 10:2, “for the teraphim have spoken vanity,” etc.
Objection 1. Images of cherubim were once placed in the temple.
Reply: Not publicly, but secretly, and by the express command of God, for typical reasons.
Objection 2. From all time images have obtained among Christians, even in the age of the apostles: Gal. 3:1, οἷς κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμοὺς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς προεγράφη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐσταυρωμένος [before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you].
Reply: This use only began from the end of the fourth century, while the apostle is speaking of the living and clear preaching of the gospel.
Objection 3. Use for instruction, imitation, memory, etc., flows from this.
Reply: These can be obtained otherwise, and greater and more certain inconveniences arise from images.
VII. Moreover, here are forbidden:
1. Every corporeal conception of God.
2. Every communion with idols, even by excessive toleration.
3. Every εἰδωλοποιΐα [idol-making].
4. Finally, spiritual worship is commanded, suitable to the divine majesty: John 4:24, “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”; Rom. 12:1, “that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,” τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν [your reasonable service]; Ps. 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker,” etc.
VIII. The Socinians wrongly wish that under the New Testament this was added to this precept: that idolatry and the places where it is practiced must be avoided in every way, from 1 Cor. 10:14, φεύγετε ἀπὸ τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας [flee from idolatry]; 1 John 5:21, τεκνία, φυλάξατε ἑαυτὰ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων [little children, keep yourselves from idols]. Yet in former times all communion with idols was most severely—
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—forbidden; and today the use of things offered to idols, and of idols, is unlawful only because of the conscience of the idol, danger, or scandal.
IX. The third precept treats of the whole name of God: it is to be taken up indeed in an oath and outside an oath, but not לשוא [in vain]. There is added the threat of most severe vengeance, signified by not holding guiltless, compared with Exod. 34:7, נקה לא ינקה [by no means clearing], “visiting iniquity,” etc.
X. Such abuse of the divine name occurs:
1. In light and jesting matters.
2. In things evil in themselves, such as blasphemy and cursing, either of ourselves or of others: Lev. 24:15–16, “whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin; and he that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him,” etc.; Exod. 21:17, “and he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death,” etc.
3. In false things, to which perjuries belong: Lev. 19:12, “ye shall not swear by My name falsely,” etc.
Therefore perjury is not committed if the thing promised was evil and is not performed; if the one who alone requested the promise releases it; if one pursues the vow of his mind with all diligence and yet cannot possibly perform it. But it is not excused merely because damage would come to us from the thing to be performed: Ps. 15:4, “he sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not,” etc.; nor because of fraud discovered after the oath: Josh. 9:15, 18, “and the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by Jehovah God of Israel,” etc.; nor because of the heresy or unbelief of the one to whom we have sworn: Josh. 2:14; 9:15, etc.; nor because of carefully sought equivocations, or mental reservations, by which, by introduced lying and simulation, one plays with God and men.
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XI. On the other hand, the fitting use of the divine name is here commanded:
1. In the profession of true religion: Matt. 10:32, “whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven,” etc.
2. In the public and private worship of God.
3. In an oath, conceived by the true God: Deut. 6:13, “thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name”; Jer. 4:2, “thou shalt swear, Jehovah liveth,” etc.; not by idols: Exod. 23:13, “make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth,” etc.; Jer. 5:7, “thy children have forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are no gods,” etc., which are destitute of the necessary perfections.
The Papists object:
1. The saints swore by the soul: 2 Cor. 1:23.
Reply: Not as avenger, but as subject to vengeance.
2. The same swore by Pharaoh and angels: Gen. 42:15; 1 Tim. 5:21.
Reply: Either Joseph acted wrongly, or in both cases there is a solemn obtestation, not an oath.
3. God is represented in the creature.
Reply: Yet the divine and infinite perfections which are required here do not reside in them.
XII. The Socinians wrongly maintain that rash oaths were only then forbidden under the New Testament, contrary to Eccles. 9:2, “he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath,” etc.; and promissory oaths, which, under the condition of divine cooperation in a possible and still lawful matter, are lawful. Consequently, they wrongly speak of an oath by Christ, as though He were only now at last to be worshipped, apart from eternal deity. The Mennonites also wrongly forbid every oath to Christians today, contrary to the clear prophecies: Isa. 45:23, “unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear”—
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—etc.; and the example of God, Christ, and the saints: Ps. 95:11, “unto whom I sware in My wrath”; Rev. 10:5–6, “and the angel,” etc., “lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever,” etc.; Rom. 9:1, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost”; 2 Cor. 1:23, “I call God for a record upon my soul,” etc.; and contrary to the acknowledgment of divine knowledge, power, and justice, which is in an oath.
But the passages which they object from Matt. 5:34, “but I say unto you,” μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως, μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὅτι ὑποπόδιόν ἐστι τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, μήτε εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως, μήτε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ σου ὀμόσῃς [swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; neither shalt thou swear by thy head], etc.; and James 5:12, “but above all things, my brethren,” μὴ ὀμνύετε, μήτε τὸν οὐρανόν, μήτε τὴν γῆν, μήτε ἄλλον τινὰ ὅρκον· ἤτω δὲ ὑμῶν τὸ ναὶ ναί, καὶ τὸ οὒ οὔ [swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay], etc., must be understood of a light and false oath, and especially one by creatures, since these alone are named there, and by no means God Himself, who otherwise could not have been passed over.
XIII. The fourth precept treats of the Sabbath, or the seventh day of rest. Its remembrance, or diligent observance, is commanded: both by its sanctification, or application to sacred exercises, public and private; and by rest from every work of ours, even the least, which is not of piety, charity, necessity, or honesty, compared with Matt. 12:2, 5, 7, “have ye not read in the law,” ὅτι τοῖς σάββασιν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τὸ σάββατον βεβηλοῦσι καὶ ἀναίτιοί εἰσιν [how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?], etc.; “if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless,” etc. This rest is imposed on all men—
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—and beasts, with the penalty of death and cutting off added elsewhere. This observance of the day is further commended by God’s example in the first creation, and by His ancient consecration then made at the same time; as elsewhere there is mentioned the memory of Egyptian deliverance, the necessary refreshment of beasts and men, and finally the sacramental sealing of a better rest: Deut. 5:14–15, “remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt,” etc.; Exod. 31:17, “it is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever,” etc.
XIV. With the Dordrecht divines, we hold a middle way concerning the nature of this precept. On the one hand, this precept is in some measure ceremonial; as its matter is reckoned among ceremonies: Gal. 4:10, “ye observe days, and times, and months, and years; I am afraid of you,” etc.; Col. 2:16–17, “let no man therefore judge you,” etc.; ἅ ἐστι σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ [which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ]. And it is claimed as a sacrament for the Jews: Exod. 31:13, 16–17, “verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth sanctify you,” etc. It is also immediately joined with the sanctuary: Lev. 19:30, “ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary.” Finally, some ceremonial things depend here on this act: namely, the species of that day, the sacrifices, the rigid and prefigurative rest, and, finally, the determination of the last day out of seven, which after the fall was mystical with respect to the rest of Christ and of Christians.
Objection 1. The eternity of the Sabbath is from Exod. 31:16–17.
Reply: This eternity is periodic, not absolute, as in circumcision.
Objection 2. The law of the Decalogue is wholly—
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—moral.
Reply: This precept also, as to its chief substance, is such.
Objection 3. The seventh day also had to be observed before the fall.
Reply: Then because of the memory of God’s rest from creation simply; but after the fall, also for another typical reason.
XV. But this commandment, as to its chief substance, is also moral. This is evident against the Socinians and many others: from its placement in the Decalogue, or moral law; from its chief foundation, which is moral, namely, God’s rest, blessing, etc.; from its ancient giving in the state of integrity itself: Gen. 2:2–3, “and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested,” etc.; and finally from the fact that it is nowhere read to have been wholly abrogated under the New Testament, but rather confirmed in the religious observation of the Lord’s Day.
Objection 1. Rest could not have been commanded to Adam, because it declares the impurity of works, and was typical.
Reply: It could have been commanded for an entirely different reason, namely, that God might be publicly and equally worshipped according to His own good pleasure.
Objection 2. We read nothing in Moses concerning Sabbath observation.
Reply: It is gathered from the precept, and from the places: Gen. 4:3, 26, “and it was in the end of days,” and “Cain brought,” etc.; “then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah”; Gen. 8:10, 12, “and he stayed yet other seven days,” etc.; Exod. 16:23, “tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto Jehovah”; Heb. 4:3–4, 10, εἰσελευσόμεθα εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν... καίτοι τῶν ἔργων ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου γενηθέντων· εἴρηκε γάρ που περὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης οὕτω· καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ [we do enter into rest… although the works were finished from the foundation of the world; for He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise: and God did rest from all His works], etc.
Objection 3. The Sabbath—
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—was given to the Israelites in the wilderness: Neh. 9:14; Exod. 20:12.
Reply: This commandment was renewed with some extension, according to the whole moral law, concerning which the same thing is also said there.
Objection 4. Sabbaths are said to cease under the New Testament: Isa. 66:23; Rom. 14:5–6.
Reply: These things are to be understood of Jewish Sabbaths as such.
XVI. The moral parts of this precept are:
1. Public and solemn worship of God: Heb. 10:25, μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν [not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together], etc.
2. A fixed time for the same worship.
3. One day out of seven to be appointed for it, lest anything be withdrawn from God of that measure of time which He gave in integrity and never changed. This one day is now said, from the New Testament, to be the first of the week, because of Christ’s resurrection and other benefits greater than creation; hence it is called the Lord’s Day: Rev. 1:10.
4. The solemn sanctification of this day to the worship of God, and rest from our ordinary work, and from whatever is adverse to that sanctification.
XVII. The Papists have most wickedly added a very great number of feast days to the one day of the week through the whole year. Consecrating these idolatrously to their saints, they greatly detract at the same time from Christian liberty and charity. But the feasts observed in some Reformed churches—Easter, Pentecost, Nativity, etc.—ought not to be held in the same place, since they are few, celebrated in memory of the greatest benefits of Christ, and are not imposed by the consenting church as necessary.
XVIII. The fifth precept treats of parents, who comprehend all other superiors under themselves; and concerning these, honor is commanded, that is, esteem—
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—esteem owed, to be shown by mouth and deed; with the promise of long life in Canaan added, with respect to the Israelites. This promise, however, is said to be not absolute, but bound to the condition of God’s glory and the salvation of the elect. Nor is there any other commandment in the law which has a special promise annexed to it.
XIX. Therefore here are commanded:
1. Humility of heart.
2. The exhibition of honor by fitting words and gestures: Lev. 19:32, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man,” etc.
3. Obedience to the magistrate, to be rendered in all things not contrary to God, to every magistrate—even an unbelieving or heretical one—and by all men, even clerics: Rom. 13:1, πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω [let every soul be subject unto the higher powers], etc.
4. The due obedience of parents, which the Papists greatly overthrow, especially by monastic vows, which they wish to be valid without the consent of parents, contrary to Num. 30:3, 5, “if a woman vow a vow unto Jehovah,” etc., “in her father’s house in her youth,” etc.; “and if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth,” etc., “it shall not stand,” etc.
Objection 1. Fathers and kindred are not to be regarded in the worship of God: Gen. 12:1; Deut. 33:9.
Reply: If God commands a duty, it only has force to that extent.
Objection 2. Fathers and kindred are to be hated: Luke 14:26; Matt. 10:37.
Reply: There is forbidden such love of them as is above God, or equal with Him.
XX. Here likewise parents are commanded to conduct themselves as worthy of this honor, by nourishment, kindness, and piety toward their children: Eph. 6:4, 9, καὶ οἱ πατέρες μὴ παροργίζετε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκτρέφετε αὐτὰ ἐν παιδείᾳ καὶ νουθεσίᾳ κυρίου [and ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord], etc. Since this flows from the very nature of the thing, it is wrongly—
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—said by the Socinians to have been added only under the New Testament. They also imagine that God then showed Himself not as Father, but as Lord—contrary to Deut. 32:6, “is not He thy father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee and established thee?” and Ps. 103:13, “like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear Him,” etc.
XXI. In the sixth precept unjust homicide is forbidden; therefore not:
1. Every killing of animals, even harmful ones.
2. Simple accidental killing: Exod. 21:13, “if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee,” etc.; Deut. 19:6, “and he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not,” etc.; unless notable imprudence or neglect has intervened.
3. Homicide plainly necessary for self-defense: Exod. 22:2, “if a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him,” etc.; Luke 12:38, ἐὰν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ φυλακῇ [and if he shall come in the second watch], etc.
4. All homicide in war, and in capital punishments, for which God has furnished the magistrate with the sword: Rom. 13:4, εἰκῇ δὲ τὸ μάχαιραν οὐ φορεῖ· οὐ γὰρ εἰκῇ τὴν μάχαιραν φορεῖ, Θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν, ἔκδικος εἰς ὀργὴν τῷ κακὸν πράσσοντι [he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil].
XXII. But murder is truly forbidden:
1. Of any man: Gen. 9:6, “whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man”; Exod. 21:20, “if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished,” etc.; even of ourselves, since God alone is Lord of life and death, and in Scripture self-murder is attributed to none but the desperate.
2. In whatever manner, whether it is done by force or fraud, immediately or mediately, etc.
3. Of whatever degree, by the thoughts of the heart—
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—Lev. 19:17, “thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart,” etc.; 1 John 3:15, πᾶς ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστί [whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer], etc.; by the words of the mouth, Jer. —, “he smote him with the tongue,” etc.; and by external works of various kinds.
4. By whatever persons, private or public, if they indulge that evil affection.
Moreover, God appointed the penalty of death for those who have killed others in act, from Noah onward: Gen. 9:6, “whoso sheddeth man’s blood,” etc. Nor do the Papists rightly establish their promiscuous innumerable asylums from the cities of refuge appointed in Num. 35:14.
XXIII. Here the love of ourselves and of our neighbor is commanded; and this can also be found in the following precepts. The Socinians wrongly wish the prohibitions of hatred and anger to have been added under the New Testament, contrary to Prov. 14:29, “he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly”; Eccles. 7:9, “the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit”; 1 John 3:15, etc.
Likewise, the prohibition of insulting gestures and words is not new, contrary to Ps. 57:4, “their tongue is a sharp sword”; Ps. 64:4, “who whet their tongue like a sword; they bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words,” etc.
Finally, vengeance by magistrates is not forbidden, for private vengeance had long before been most severely forbidden: Lev. 19:18, “thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people”; Prov. 20:22, “say not thou, I will recompense evil,” etc. Nor did the Savior, by His perpetual saying in Matt. 5:39–41, μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅστις σε ῥαπίσει ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην [resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also], etc.; nor Paul in Rom. 12:19, μὴ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδικοῦντες—
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—ἀγαπητοί, ἀλλὰ δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ· γέγραπται γάρ [dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written], etc., abolish public vengeance, which is God’s own by means of the magistrate.
XXIV. The seventh precept forbids adultery, by which conjugal faith is violated. God willed that this most grievous sin formerly be punished in Israel by the death penalty; and even be examined by the bitter water of jealousy: Num. 5:14.
XXV. To this must be referred:
1. All carnal impurity, such as sodomy, incest, simultaneous polygamy, concubinage, fornication, whoredom: Lev. 19:29, “do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore,” etc.; 1 Cor. 6:18, φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν [flee fornication]; Heb. 13:4, πόρνους δὲ καὶ μοιχοὺς κρινεῖ ὁ Θεός [whoremongers and adulterers God will judge].’
2. All lust of the heart: Prov. 6:24–25, “lust not after her beauty in thine heart,” etc.; Matt. 5:28, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ [whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart].
3. Every occasion of lust, such as gluttony, idleness, dishonorable pictures, shameful uncovering of the body, lascivious speech, vulgar dances, cosmetics, stage plays, etc.
XXVI. On the other side, chastity is commanded, whether in marriage or celibacy. Again the Socinians vainly wish that the prohibitions of polygamy and divorce were added under the New Testament, although they were never lawful in conscience, even if tolerated politically in the commonwealth: Lev. 18:18, “neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister,” etc.; Mal. 2:14–15, “Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,” etc.; Matt. 19:8, πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ὁ Μωσῆς—
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—ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν, ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως [Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so], etc.
So also the looking upon a woman to lust after her is forbidden, contrary to the tenth precept and Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Likewise all whoredoms and feastings are forbidden, which Solomon by no means approved: Eccles. 2:24, “is it not good in man that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor?” Eccles. 11:9, “rejoice, O young man, in thy youth,” etc.; “but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment,” etc. Finally, fasting was commanded, which God formerly urged more explicitly and determinately.
XXVII. In the eighth precept God forbids theft, under which robbery is here included. A distinct ownership of things is presupposed, which God prudently ordained when the human race was multiplied: Prov. 22:2, “the rich and poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all”; Prov. 30:8, “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me”; 1 Tim. 5:8, εἰ δέ τις τῶν ἰδίων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν οἰκείων οὐ προνοεῖ, τὴν πίστιν ἤρνηται [if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith], etc.
Against this, some Anabaptists urge a communion of goods, and Pelagians judge that riches must be renounced. They object:
1. The example of Christians: Acts 2:44; 4:32, 34.
Reply: There the matter concerns common use only in the greatest necessity.
2. Christ commanded this: Matt. 19:21.
Reply: Only to that man, and for his conviction.
3. It is impossible for the rich to enter heaven: Matt. 19:25.
Reply: The rich are understood to be those trusting in wealth and human powers, compared with verse 26. Meanwhile, we do not think that all civil modes of acquiring ownership—
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—can be proved to the conscience as lawful.
XXVIII. Theft is a grave crime, arguing mistrust or base concupiscence, and disturbing the peace and tranquility of the commonwealth. Therefore the law of God appointed severe penalties, various according to the nature of the offense: Exod. 22:1, 2, 4, 5, 7, etc., namely fourfold, fivefold, double restitution, etc. But among us the death penalty in simple, unqualified theft commonly seems too severe.
XXIX. Here theft is forbidden:
1. Of any thing whatsoever. From the variety of the thing stolen arise sacrilege, embezzlement of public property, kidnapping, cattle-stealing, etc.: Prov. 20:25, “it is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy”; Matt. 22:12, “render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”; Exod. 21:16, “he that stealeth a man,” etc., “and he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”
2. Of whatever manner; whether it is done by force, or by manifold hidden fraud. Yet not all usury may here be reckoned, since usury is not absolutely forbidden: Deut. 23:19, “thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury”; “unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury,” etc.; Matt. 25:27, “thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers,” etc.
Naturally equal usuries are to be reckoned otherwise, since all the places which number usury among unlawful matters—Ps. 15:5, “he putteth not out his money to usury”; Ezek. 18:8, “he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase,” etc.—speak of usury either excessive, or taken from the poor, or from Israelites. And Christ in Luke—
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—6:35, καὶ δανείζετε μηδὲν ἀπελπίζοντες [lend, hoping for nothing again], etc., urges that lending should also be given to the poor from charitable affection, without hope of usury or even of the principal itself.
3. Finally, of whatever degree; even if through covetousness it is conceived only in the mind: Prov. 15:27, “he that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house”; Heb. 13:5, ἀφιλάργυρος ὁ τρόπος [let your conversation be without covetousness]; 1 Cor. 6:10, “thieves shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” etc.
4. Finally, every occasion of theft, such as excessive anxiety, envy, idleness, wastefulness: Prov. 21:20–21, “there is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up,” etc.
XXX. Here, with respect to ourselves, contentment, frugality, diligence, etc., are commanded; and with respect to our neighbor, justice, benevolence, and even almsgiving: Isa. 58:6–7, “is not this the fast that I have chosen?” etc.; Eph. 4:28, ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω, μᾶλλον δὲ κοπιάτω ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθὸν ταῖς χερσίν, ἵνα ἔχῃ μεταδιδόναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι [let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth].
But the Socinians wrongly wish that the prohibition of covetousness was added under the New Testament, since it was formerly forbidden in every way: Ps. 119:36, “incline my heart unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness”; Isa. 5:8, “woe unto them that join house to house,” etc. Likewise, they wrongly claim that the command of liberality and temperance is new, since these also formerly lay upon all by love toward ourselves and our neighbor.
XXXI. The ninth precept forbids ψευδομαρτυρίαν [false witness] against one’s neighbor. This immediately regards the court, witnesses brought forward, speech uttered against one’s neighbor, and falsehood brought forth; yet at the same time every false testimony against ourselves or against God, every false testimony for our neighbor, every false judgment of judge, plaintiff—
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—defendant, advocate, indeed every detraction of our neighbor outside judgment, is forbidden: Lev. 19:16, “thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people”; Rom. 1:30, καταλάλους [backbiters], etc.; and every lie, whether jesting or officious: Lev. 19:11, “ye shall not lie”; Ps. 5:6, “Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing”; Eph. 4:25, διὸ ἀποθέμενοι τὸ ψεῦδος, λαλεῖτε ἀλήθειαν ἕκαστος μετὰ τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ [wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor], etc. For an account must also be given of idle words: Matt. 12:36. Nor is it lawful to do evil for a good end: Rom. 3:8.
The Socinians object:
1. There are examples of lies approved by God: Exod. 1:19; Josh. 2:4–5, etc.
Reply: It is not altogether clear that there are lies here; nor were they then approved as lies, but the pious deed joined with them was approved by God.
2. The ironical speeches of God Himself: Gen. 3:22.
Reply: These are easily known as improper expressions, from the gestures and the nature of the matter.
3. No one was condemned for a jesting or officious lie.
Reply: A lie is unlawful even in itself; and the benefit of one person is almost always joined with the damage of another, whether private or public. To lying, moreover, refer every kind of perfidious omission.
XXXII. On the other side, here is commanded care for one’s good name: Eccles. 7:1, “a good name is better than precious ointment”; the pursuit of truth: Zech. 8:16–17, “speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor,” etc.; and fitting testimony, which it is plainly not lawful to refuse. But the Socinians vainly urge that now at last lies of every sort, levities, slanders, and vanities are forbidden, according to condemnations which are applied by the magistrate, as they were formerly, when permitted.
XXXIII. Finally, the tenth precept forbids concupiscence—not the natural desire of necessary things—
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—nor the supernatural desire of God and His grace, but the inordinate desire of the goods of our neighbor, which are also enumerated. From this, all concupiscence against God is rightly judged forbidden by inference from the lesser.
Here concupiscence is understood both habitually, as the corruption of our nature: James 1:14–15, ἕκαστος δὲ πειράζεται ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας ἐξελκόμενος καὶ δελεαζόμενος· εἶτα ἡ ἐπιθυμία συλλαβοῦσα τίκτει ἁμαρτίαν [every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed; then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin], etc.; and actually, both in first acts—suggestion of evil under the appearance of good, and passing inclination—and in second acts: lingering delight, deliberation, and execution. Paul also teaches this analogically even against the Papists: Rom. 7:7, 14, τὴν γὰρ ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν, εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν· οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις [for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet], etc. This is also clear from the nature of the thing, since we ought wholly to be for the glory of God.
Objection 1. The law is the rule of actions.
Reply: It is also the rule of habits.
Objection 2. Congenital habits are natural.
Reply: Only now in the state of the fall.
Objection 3. Evil habits are not in our free choice.
Reply: This must be required with respect to every sin; and in these also the will is active.
Objection 4. James distinguishes sin from concupiscence: James 1:15.
Reply: He means actual sin outwardly consummated.
Here, on the other side, are commanded a contented mind, hatred of evil, every love of good, and a pious pursuit of the restoring of nature. Nor can the Socinians, with any plausibility, say that only under the New Testament thoughts of drawing our neighbor’s goods to ourselves were finally forbidden.
XXXIV. The summary of all the precepts is rightly said in the New Testament to be the most perfect love of God and of—
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—our neighbor as ourselves: Matt. 22:37, 39. And the Socinians greatly err when they wish:
1. That by “neighbor” only Israelites and friends are denoted, contrary to the common bond of blood: Isa. 58:7, “and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh”; Acts 17:26, ἐποίησέ τε ἐξ ἑνὸς αἵματος πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων [and hath made of one blood all nations of men], etc.; and contrary to Christ’s exposition: Luke 10:29, 36; and the Old Testament commands: Exod. 23:4–5, “if thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him,” etc.; Prov. 25:21–22, “if thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and Jehovah shall reward thee.”
2. That today we are bound to love our neighbor above ourselves, which is wrongly inferred from 1 John 3:16, καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τὰς ψυχὰς τιθέναι [and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren], where we are commanded to lay down our temporal life, not for the bodily and temporal good of the brethren, but for their eternal good.