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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part II. Ethical, 26. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments
What does the ninth Commandment order us?
The ninth Commandment, understood literally, orders us not to bear false witness against our neighbour in the Law Courts, and thus, by attributing to him the evil he has not done, cause him to receive unjust punishment. But, taken more generally, it recommends to us the avoidance of all sins of the tongue, such as lying, defamation, mockery, calumny and profanity. Lying perverts the facts, and calls darkness light. Defamation delights in speaking of the faults of other people. Mockery magnifies the shortcomings of other people in a comic way, and is a mixture of amusement and contempt. Calumny invents and fabricates evils, which are non-existent, to the detriment of our neighbour, in order to disparage his honour, and to destroy his reputation. Profanity shoots its arrows and sarcasm against sacred persons and things, in order to justify its own delinquencies. By the control of the tongue we bridle and direct this little member of ours, which, very often, like a small spark, kindles a whole wood. (Jam. iii. 3—5.) By ruth we put off lying, of which darkness is the symbol and the devil its father, in order to walk in the light with God. Fine words against those who criticise their brethren our Saviour pronounces in the Sermon on the Mount.
What does the tenth and last Commandment order us?
The tenth and last Commandment of the Decalogue orders us to avoid evil desire, which, if neglected in the first stages, becomes the spark and fuel of the complete sin. The first motives of evil have not their source in the Holy God; they come from us. God Himself “tempteth no man; but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.” (Jam. i. 13—15.) The strangulation of an evil desire at its birth, prevents the further development of the seed into a plant of full and complete sinfulness. But the nourishing of the seed in us, our delay in ridding ourselves of it, our enticement by the false representations of our imagination, forces at last our will to consent, and behold! the unlawful act is accomplished.