The Rules of Reason

[chandler]

At Church recently the priest briefly discussed something I’d never heard before. He stated that when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, no part of them covered morality. (I found that odd. What about the 6th & the 10th?). Instead, he stated that that was why the Church created the Rules of Reason, in order to cover morality. And that was it! Nothing more! And so I would like to know:

1. Where can I read these?
2. When and by whom were they created?
3. Why were they created? (I mean, who would think that God wasn’t being thorough enough?)
   Thank you.

 

[DreadVandal]

chandler:

At Church recently the priest briefly discussed something I’d never heard before. He stated that when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, no part of them covered morality. (I found that odd. What about the 6th & the 10th?). Instead, he stated that that was why the Church created the Rules of Reason, in order to cover morality. And that was it! Nothing more! And so I would like to know:

1. Where can I read these?
2. When and by whom were they created?
3. Why were they created? (I mean, who would think that God wasn’t being thorough enough?)
   Thank you.

Based on what you have told us, I have no clue as to what your priest was talking about. That being said, I will try to say a few things about the basic nature of morality and the commandments.

First, the Church does teach, and you can read this in Scripture (see Romans chapter 1), that the basic principles of morality are knowable by reason. This is called the natural law. Reason directs us toward what is good and away from what is bad. All people (who do not have a disorder so severe that it disables their reasoning) have this innate knowledge of morality. So, why the 10 commandments?

Well, certainly the commandments deal with morality. But they deal with morality in a covenantal context. The ten commandments are an encapsulation of the whole set of rules and commandments required of Israel in order to be in proper relationship with their God. In fact, the whole Law, including the ten commandments, can be encapsulated in this, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, soul, and strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As Jesus said, " On these all the commandments rest."

So, I’ll now offer a speculative interpretation of your priests remarks. Perhaps he was saying that basic morality is something known through reason by all people and that the 10 commandments were explicit revelation that dealt with the specific covenant with Israel. That is about the most sense I can make of it. I hope this helps. God bless.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

DreadVandal:

Perhaps he was saying that basic morality is something known through reason by all people and that the 10 commandments were explicit revelation that dealt with the specific covenant with Israel.

That was a good explanation, Dread.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

And you might trying reading Pope John Paul’s encyclical Faith and Reason.

 

[Ender]

chandler:

At Church recently the priest briefly discussed something I’d never heard before. He stated that when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, no part of them covered morality. (I found that odd. What about the 6th & the 10th?). Instead, he stated that that was why the Church created the Rules of Reason, in order to cover morality. And that was it! Nothing more! And so I would like to know:

1. Where can I read these?
2. When and by whom were they created?
3. Why were they created? (I mean, who would think that God wasn’t being thorough enough?)
   Thank you.

It is not clear exactly what point the priest was trying to make but this section of the Catechism goes to the relationship between the 10 commandments and natural law.

**The Decalogue and the natural law **

2070 The Ten Commandments belong to God’s revelation. At the same time they teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law: From the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of man the precepts of the natural law. Then he was content to remind him of them. This was the Decalogue.

**[2071](http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:openWindow%28%27cr/2071.htm%27%29;)** The commandments of the Decalogue, although accessible to reason alone, have been revealed. To attain a complete and certain understanding of the requirements of the natural law, sinful humanity needed this revelation: A full explanation of the commandments of the Decalogue became necessary in the state of sin because the light of reason was obscured and the will had gone astray. We know God's commandments through the divine revelation proposed to us in the Church, and through the voice of moral conscience."

I cannot begin to explain what the priest meant by saying that no part of the commandments covered morality.

2061 The Commandments take on their full meaning within the covenant. According to Scripture, man’s moral life has all its meaning in and through the covenant.

Ender