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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part II. Ethical, 20. The Mosaic Law
What are the contents of the Mosaic law, and what attitude should the Christian hold towards it?
The contents of the law, revealed by God to the Jews through the prophet Moses, are many and various. Some of them are ritual, such as those concerning circumcision, washing of hands, distinctions in food, amulets and epaulettes, bloody and bloodless sacrifices, the embellishment of the Tabernacle and so on. They, in themselves, have no intrinsic moral value. They are simply figures, pointing to some remote, yet profound and essential truth. Other Mosaic rules are temporary, such as those concerning divorce, reprisals, the pitiless destruction of enemies for the creation of a purer surrounding, etc. They allow temporarily a lower level of morality, as though offering to the Jews milk, because they are as yet incapable of assimilating solid food. Other rules of Moses, such as those revolving round the true Devotion to the one God and the proper relations with one’s fellows (of which, fortunately, the Pentateuch is full, summarising them in the Ten Commandments), build up an eternal Legislature, before the majesty of which every human will must bend. Such being the nature of the Mosaic law with contents of various ethical value, we must be extremely careful in our attitude towards it. On the one hand, we must not raise the external and temporary accommodations of the Mosaic Religion to a law of eternal validity and obligation; for, if we do so, we fall into the extreme of Nomianism or Legalism, according to which even the slightest formalities of the law bind our free will for ever. On the other hand, we must not deny, on the excuse of a false liberty, those eternal moral principles underlying the Mosaic Law; for, by so doing, we fall into the opposite extreme of Antinomianism or Antilegalism, which throws away everything, both essential and non-essential. The shadows passed with the coming of Grace, and the Sacrifice of the Cross put a stop to the sacrifices of animals. But the Decalogue remains as a foundation of indestructible morality, without which neither individual nor society will ever be safe. Wherefore the Decalogue was not written on corruptible papyrus or parchment, but, as it is mentioned in the book of Exodus (xxxi. 18), engraved on slabs of granite, for ever undecaying and indelible, “by the finger of God.”
What is, generally speaking, the plan of the Decalogue?
The Decalogue is composed of Ten Commandments, written on two tablets on both sides (Ex. xxxii. 15) in order to show perhaps that, for those times, no further legislation was necessary, and that the Ten Commandments were enough, despite their elementary character. How these Ten Commandments were arranged on the two tablets, does not very much concern us. But logically divided, they form a double column, of which the first part (i.e., the first four Commandments) defines the duties of man to God, and can be called “First Tablet,” and the second part (i.e., the last six) defines the duties of man to his neighbour and can be called “Second Tablet.” The road, then, of the Decalogue is from high to low. It begins from Heaven and brings us down to earth. It first tells us of our moral obligations to God, and afterwards of our obligations to our fellow-men. And, as there is no one nearer to us amongst our fellowmen than our parents, who are in a sense our second deities on earth, the Decalogue begins the duties to our neighbour by the fifth Commandment, that is to say, with our duties to our parents. Life, honour and property are the three precious possessions of our neighbour, but not all three are of the same value. Hence the Decalogue presents these three, one after the other, in descending order of importance, and enjoins in the sixth, seventh and eighth, the respect due to each of them. To sin by word is less than to sin in deed; and an evil desire is less than an evil thought uttered aloud. Wherefore, after the Commandments “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and “Thou shalt not steal,” follows the command “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” And, after the “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” comes, last of all, the command, “Thou shalt not covet,” prohibiting the evil desire, which sows the seed of evil, but is not in itself an accomplished evil.