Editorial July 11, 1908 Issue

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

Annie M. Knott

In our earlier studies of the Bible we were told that the first four of the Ten Commandments related to our duty to God, and the remaining six to our obligations to our fellow-men. It must be said that the first four were altogether the most impressive, although we probably could not have told why. The sixth commandment, with its stern and awful "Thou shalt not kill," was very impressive, but did not seem to have any special relation to respectable church-going people or their children, as it then appeared. Its wider significance, as understood through Christian Science, was not recognized, nor indeed the vital importance of each and every one of the commandments in providing for obedience to divine Principle in all the varied experiences of mortals on their journey out of mortality. For the many it sometimes seemed as if the tenth commandment was simply a good moral precept—a letting down, as it were, from the stern prohibitions of murder, impurity, and falsehood.

In the light of Christian Science, however, it has become evident that the tenth commandment is more metaphysical, hence of more vital import than any of those which relate to our duty to our neighbor. It is addressed wholly to mind, and its entire tendency is to turn thought away from the mortal and material to the great realities of being. It says, "Thou shalt not covet ... any thing that is thy neighbor's." It thus strikes at the very root of error,—at envy, jealousy, and lust, which lead mortals into the commission of all the crimes known to mankind. Now covetousness implies intense desire, but there can be nothing wrong in desiring aught that is good, yet we are forbidden to covet "any thing" that is our neighbor's. Does not this mean that when we wish for any good thing we should turn to the divine source of supply, and work as God works to gain that which we may legitimately desire?

In Christian Science we learn that this source is infinite, and we see that no one can suffer from our gaining all we need in this way, neither can we get anything from God, Spirit, which will not be a blessing to ourselves and others, whether lands, houses, or servants. Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you," and in Science and Health (p. 15) we read, "Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings." In coveting aught that another possesses we rob and wrong ourselves by turning away from the only source of supply, and we also disobey the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," which to the Christian Scientist would mean, Thou shalt have no other source of good than God, infinite Mind.

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