Seventh Commandment - Don't Steal

[Reuben_J]

I think the charity is in the forgiveness of a sin - not in the denial of it.

Yes - the charity of the owner who forgives the thief for harvesting his plot of corn without his permission. That it’s okay, he doesn’t have to pay for it and that’s he is welcome to it. But this doesn’t mean that the thief is off the hook with God. He still sins and needs to confess the act. Remember the Christian’s principle - the horizontal relationship with our fellow man and the vertical relationship with God. The cross symbolizes this nicely. Both (God and man) needs to be appeased.

But there are mitigating circumstances and the degree of sinning is lessened according to them. Also, the act of contrition and the asking of forgiveness are necessary for the expiation of this sin. Otherwise, it is justification for poor people to keep on stealing to feed themselves. They don’t work - they idle all day and then when they’re hungry they steal what does not belong to them - on the false understanding that they have committed no sin because they are starving.

No. I don’t believe Moses meant the seventh commandment to be negotiable. A sin is a sin - forgiveness of that sin is another matter.

Agree?

Yes, agree.