12/4/2023 0 Comments Commandments thou shalt not kill![]() Her book: “You Shall Not Kill” or “You Shall Not Murder”? The Assault On A Biblical Text (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005). in Hebrew Bible are from Vanderbilt University. What does the Hebrew word mean? Does it mean “murder,” in contrast to other forms of permitted killing of human beings? That’s the subject of a monograph by Wilma Ann Bailey, Minnie Vautrin Professor Emerita of Christian Witness and of Hebrew Bible and Aramaic Scripture at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana. “If Jesus really meant that, then what about all those battles by Israel in the Old Testament? What about David and Goliath?” And so killing is excused by Christians, and even lauded as heroic, and those Christians who refuse to bear arms are seen as fanatics, or extremists, or, at best, naive (unless, of course, they receive the Medal of Honor). Those following this interpretation then go on to argue that Jesus obviously couldn’t have meant what he said in the Sermon on the Mount. “Oh,” say some with a voice of authority, “the actual Hebrew word means ‘murder,’ it doesn’t mean other kinds of killing”–and this is most often said to justify killing in combat, or the death penalty, or killing an intruder in your home in self-defense. It seems clear.ĭesmond Doss said he got his conviction against killing because of a framed picture of the Ten Commandments that hung on a wall in his childhood home, with the sixth commandment illustrated by Cain and Abel, with a club in Cain’s hand over Abel’s lifeless body.īut today many people go to lengths to argue that the commandment doesn’t mean what it says. Douglas Deshotel is an auxiliary bishop, vicar general and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Dallas.It’s one of the shortest of the Ten Commandments. This comes from forgetting the important truth that God is the creator of the human person and for that reason is deserving of our love and respect. Pope Francis reminds us constantly of the danger of viewing the human person as a disposable commodity. If it is wrong to unjustly take the innocent physical life of our neighbor, how much more serious is it to lead them away from the source of everlasting life. If by our actions, bad example or words we lead another to fall away from God or to sin, we cause spiritual harm to our neighbor. In this case, physical harm is rendered another not out of hatred but to protect an innocent citizen, loved one or family member.Ĭausing spiritual death or harm to another also violates the teaching of the fifth commandment. ![]() The Catholic Catechism teaches that situations do arise when legitimate authority, the state or even and individual must use force against another to protect innocent life from an unjust aggressor. ![]() Likewise, directly causing bodily harm, hatred of our neighbor or failing to render aid to our neighbor all show a lack of respect owed to our brothers and sisters in the family of God. The unjust taking of innocent life is the sin of murder. John reminds us that the man who says he loves God but hates his neighbor is a liar because our neighbor is created in the image and likeness of God. Willfully harming the body or soul of the human person is a violation of the fifth commandment and is condemned throughout the Sacred Scripture.įrom Cain slaying his brother Abel to Jesus teaching that scandal kills the soul of another, we are admonished to respect our neighbor. The fifth commandment prohibits unjust attacks or harm to the human person. Body and soul, human life at all its stages, from conception in the womb until natural death, is deserving of respect. The human person is created to live forever sharing in the life of the Trinity. The value of the human person is not derived from class, social structure, government decree or economic worth but because each and every human person is a direct and willful creation of God and is given an eternal destiny. The human person is sacred and deserving of respect for this reason. Only the human person is created in the image and likeness of God distinguishing us from every other part of creation. ![]() “Let there be light and there was light, let the dry land appear and it appeared, let the waters teem with fish and so it was.” It is only the creation of the human person of which it is said, “Let us make man and woman in our image and likeness”. In the account of creation, all other areas of the created world are brought into being by a mere act of God’s will. It is a direct expression of love which exists perfectly in God.įrom the very beginning of the Bible, the special creation of the human person is emphasized. Human life is that most precious and sacred gift of God.
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