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Both the Catholic and
Protestant
traditions present the Ten Commandments with the difference being the
Catholics combine into one the Protestant’s first two
commandments, and the Protestants combine into one the
Catholic’s
last two commandments. For the Catholics, the Ninth Commandment forbids
carnal concupiscence (any intense or immoral form of human desire); the
Tenth forbids coveting another's goods. For the Protestants, the First
Commandment forbids placing any god before Jehovah; the Second forbids
making and/or worshiping idols.)
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or
his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's (Ex 20:17).
Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery
with her in his heart (Matt 5:28).
I. Three Kinds of
Covetousness
John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust
of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life (1 Jn 2:16).
According to the etymology of (origin) "concupiscence," it can refer to
any intense or excessive form of human desire, but most often it refers
to desires of a sexually immoral nature. In most cases, when Bible
translations use the word “lust,” they are
depicting
concupiscence. Christian theology generally defines
“concupiscence” as the activity of the physical
appetites
contrary to God’s standards and human reason. The apostle
Paul
identifies concupiscence with the battle between the
“flesh” and the “spirit” (Gal
5:16-17).
Though human desire, in itself, is not sinful, concupiscence stems from
the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man's moral faculties
and when it goes outside God’s boundaries of right and wrong,
it
inclines man to commit sins.
Because man is a composite being – spirit and body
– and
because he is under the influence of sin, there exists a certain
tension in him; a certain struggle of desires and tendencies between
“spirit” and “flesh.” This
tension is a
consequence of sin, and at the same time a confirmation of it. It is
part of the daily experience of the spiritual battle going on within
each of us.
However, the apostle Paul does not despise and condemn the body, which
with the spiritual soul constitutes man’s nature and his
ability
to think and reason. Rather, Paul exhorts us to put off the morally bad
desires and works of the flesh and put on the morally good desires and
works of the Spirit (Eph 4:22-24). He calls us to be transformed by the
renewing of our mind (Rom 12:2) and to think on the things which are
above (Col 3:2; Phil 4:8). He says we are to no longer give opportunity
to the devil (Eph 4:27) or our fleshly desires (Rom 13:13-14). Rather,
we are to walk by the Spirit so that we will not carry out the desires
of the flesh (Gal 5:16), for, as Paul writes in Galatians 5:25,
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the
Spirit.”
Purification of the Heart
The heart is the seat of moral desires, thinking, choices, and
behavior. Jesus said: “For out of the heart come evil
thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
slanders” (Mat 15:19). Therefore, the struggle against
fleshly,
ungodly covetousness includes purifying the heart and practicing
temperance (self-denial, restraint, moderation). As Pastor Hermae said
in relation to fleshly, ungodly covetousness and concupiscence:
“Remain simple and innocent, and you will be like little
children
who do not know the evil that destroys man's life (Mandate 2, 1: PG 2,
916).
In the sixth beatitude, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). In regard to the
Ninth
Commandment, “pure in heart” refers to those who
have
attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness,
chiefly in three areas: love (Rom 13:9-10; Heb 13:4; 1 Cor 7:1-9);
chastity or sexual rectitude (1 Thess 4:7; Eph 4:17-19; Col 3:5; 2 Tim
2:22); love of truth and orthodoxy of faith (2 Tim 3:16-17; Tit
1:15-16; 1 Tim 1:3-4; 2 Tim 2:23-26).
The important point here is that there is a connection between purity
of heart, purity of body, and purity of faith. Augustine affirmed this
point when he said: “The faithful must believe the articles
of
the Creed so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live
well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may
understand what they believe” (Defide et symbolo 10, 25: PL
40,
196).
The “pure in heart” are promised that they will see
God
face to face and be like him (Matt 5:8; 1 Cor 13:12; Heb 12:14; 1 Jn
3:2-3). Therefore, purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of
God, just as Jesus and James say that obedience to God (which equals
loving God) and drawing near to God are preconditions for God loving us
and drawing near to us – specifically and individually (Jn
14:21,23; Jam 4:8). And even now, purity of heart enables us to see God
more nearly as He is, understand Holy Scripture more nearly as is
intended, treat others more nearly as we ought (our neighbor), and
regard the human body – ours and others – as a
temple of
the Holy Spirit.
II. The Battle for Purity
Baptism confers on the baptized the grace of purification from all
prior sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against
concupiscence of the flesh and ungodly desires. With God's gracious
empowerment and continued assistance, we can prevail:
1.
by the virtue, the
gift, and the practice of chastity before marriage – for
chastity
frees us to look on others and love them with an upright and undivided
heart;
2. by purity of intention –
which consists in
seeking the greatest good of individuals and the larger community;
3. by simplicity of vision –
which consists in
seeking to find and to fulfill God's will in everything so as to please
God in everything (Rom 12:2; Col 1:10);
4. by purity of vision, both externally
with the eyes and internally with the mind and desires;
5. by discipline of feelings and
imagination –
which consists in refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that
incline us to turn aside from the path of God's commandments, for
dwelling on the ungodly things arouses desire for ungodly things (Wis
15:5);
6. by memorizing and meditating on
scripture helpful for the battle against impurity;
7. by prayer – often,
persistent, thoughtful, and from the heart.
Regarding this kind of prayer, Augustine gives us a model to follow:
“Loving Father, I thought that self-discipline and
self-denial
arose from one's own powers, which I could not consistently find in
myself. I was foolish enough not to know . . . that no one can be
self-controlled unless You grant it. For You would surely have granted
it if my inner groaning had reached Your ears and I with firm faith had
cast my cares on You (Conf. 6, 11, 20: PL 32, 729-730).
Purity requires modesty – an integral part of temperance
(restraint, seriousness, moderation). Modesty helps protect the inner
desires and thoughts of the one practicing modesty and those observing
the modest person, for modesty refuses to unveil what should remain
hidden. Modesty promotes chastity, morality, and godly love. It
influences how one looks at others and behaves toward them –
in
conformity with God’s standards for purity, love, and
marriage.
Modesty protects the integrity of persons, the mystery of marriage, and
the intentions of love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving
relationships. It requires that God’s conditions for the
definitive (sexual) giving and commitment of man and woman to one
another be fulfilled (marriage). Modesty is decency. It inspires one's
careful choice of clothing. It keeps silence or holds back where there
is an obvious risk to purity from curiosity. It is discreet (careful
not to attract attention or give offense; giving careful thought for
the future).
There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests,
for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in
certain advertisements, TV programs, Internet sites, magazines or any
other media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things.
Therefore, modesty avoids entertainment inclined to voyeurism and
illusion. It inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist
the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies
that promote impurity of heart, mind, and life. Truly, purity of heart
brings freedom from the widespread eroticism prevalent in our culture
today.
The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another.
Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual
dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of
being a servant to and child of a holy God. Teaching modesty to
children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for God,
godliness, marriage, and a community where moral purity is promoted
rather than ignored or demoted.
So called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of
human freedom. The necessary precondition for the development of true
freedom is to let oneself be educated in the will of God regarding
purity and morality. Those in charge of education ought to give young
people instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart,
the sanctity of marriage, the benefits of purity, the costs of
impurity, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man.
The teachings of Christ and the rest of Holy Scripture provide
continual renewal for the life and culture of fallen man; they combat
and remove the error and evil which flow from the ever-present
attraction of sin. They never cease to purify and elevate the morality
of peoples. They take the spiritual qualities and endowments of every
age and nation, and with the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, they
sow seeds that when well received, will blossom, as it were, from
within – where purity begins. And finally, they fortify,
complete, and restore sinners to Christ and the purity of a Christ-like
life.