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Greek Orthodox Catechism

Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926

Part II. Ethical, 17. The Decalogue

Recite the Decalogue.

I. I am the Lord thy God, Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods but me.

II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the Heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them.

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land.

VI. Thou shalt do no murder.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s.

Why do you take the Decalogue as the basis and starting point of the Second Part of the Catechism?

Because the Second Part of the Catechism, which is entitled Ethical, i.e, Moral, has for its object to teach us rules of right living, which are proper to moral beings, animated by a living Christian faith. And because there does not exist a more concise, clear and pregnant outline of rules of right living than the Decalogue, which is the essence of the Moral Law given by God to Moses, I base the Second Part of the Catechism upon the Decalogue.