073. The EIGHTH commandment
QUESTION 73. Which is the Eighth Commandment?
ANSWER:The Eighth Commandment is Thou shalt not steal.
QUESTION 74. What is required in the Eighth Commandment?
ANSWER:The Eighth Commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.
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Q. 1. What is the subject matter of this commandment?
A.The wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.
Q. 2. What does it require with reference to these?
A.The procuring and furthering of them.
Q. 3. In what manner does it enjoin us to procure and further them?
A. Only in a lawful manner; for it requires the LAWFUL procuring and furthering of them.
Q. 4. Whose wealth is it we should procure and further?
A. Our own wealth, and that of others.
Q. 5. By what lawful means should we procure and further OUR OWN wealth? A By labour and industry in some honest calling, Ephesians 4:28.
Q. 6. What is included in the labour and industry we should exercise in our respective stations and callings?
A. Frugality in managing the affairs of our calling, and a moderate endeavour to recover our own when wrongfully detained from us.
Q. 7. What is to be understood by frugality in managing the affairs of our calling?
A. Prudence and moderation in our expenses, so as to be sure always to spend within our incomes, Proverbs 31:16.
Q. 8. Is it warrantable to go to law, for recovering our own, when wrongfully detained?
A. Yes, surely; provided other means have been previously tried without success.
Q. 9. How do you prove that it is warrantable for Christians to go to law with one another, when urged by necessity?
A. From the lawfulness of magistracy, which is the ordinance of God, Romans 13:2, “for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well,” 1 Peter 2:14.
Q. 10. Does not our Lord find fault with this method, when he says, “If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also?” Matthew 5:40
A. The meaning is, that we should rather part with a little of our right, than run ourselves into unnecessary charges at law, perhaps vastly beyond the value of what we are seeking to regain; and thus discover a contentious and quarrelsome spirit, unbecoming Christianity.
Q. 11. Does not the apostle also blame Christians for this practice, when he says, “Ye go to law one with another; why do ye not rather take wrong?” 1 Corinthians 6:7.
A. The apostle is there speaking of bringing pleas unnecessarily before Heathen magistrates; and his meaning is, that Christians should make up differences among themselves, by submitting to arbitration; or even by suffering some wrong, rather than by vexatious law-suits, (especially about lesser matters) thus bringing a scandal upon the religion which they profess.
Q. 12. How is the necessity of labouring in an honest calling enforced in scripture?
A. From the necessity of eating: the apostle argues from the natural necessity of the one, to the moral necessity of the other, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 - “This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
Q. 13. Can we procure and further our wealth and outward estate, merely by our own labour and industry?
A. Our own industry is necessary; but without the Lord’s blessing upon it, it will not be successful; “for it is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich,” Proverbs 10:22.
Q. 14. What ends should we propose to ourselves, in endeavouring to further, or increase, our own outward estate?
A. That we may honour the Lord, with our substance, Proverbs 3:9; live comfortably ourselves, Ecclesiastes 5:19; and be useful to others, Ephesians 4:28.
Q. 15. By what means should we procure and further the wealth and outward estate of OTHERS?
A. By exercising justice and righteousness towards all, Psalms 15:2; and by relieving the wants and necessities of those who stand in need of our charity, 1 John 3:17.
Q. 16. What is the rule and standard of that justice and righteousness we should exercise towards all men?
A. That we so deal with others, as we would have them deal with us, if we were in their place or condition; or, that we should never do that to another, which, if we were in the other’s place or circumstances, we would reckon to be unjust, Matthew 7:12.
Q. 17. In what cases is this rule to be particularly applied, according to the scope of this commandment?
A. In all contracts, or matters of traffic and commerce between man and man; and likewise in making satisfaction for injuries.
Q. 18. How is it to be applied in contracts, or matters of traffic between man and man?
A. It is to be applied thus: that in buying and selling, there be always a just proportion between the price and the thing sold; or, that the sale be according to the worth or value of the goods; without taking the advantage of ignorance or poverty on either side, Genesis 23:15-16.
Q. 19. How may the worth and value of goods be known?
A. By this general maxim, That every thing is worth as much as it may be currently sold for.
Q. 20. May not the price of the same commodity vary and change at different times?
A. Yes; according to the plenty or scarcity of the commodity at the time of sale.
Q. 21. What satisfaction should be made to others, for taking or detaining what belongs to them, or in any manner defrauding them?
A. No other satisfaction is agreeable to God’s will of precept, or will gain the approbation of men, but RESTITUTION, if the injuring party is ever capable to make it, Leviticus 6:2-6; 1 Samuel 12:3.
Q. 22. What if the person to whom the restitution should be made, or his nearest of kin, cannot be found?
A. In that case, what has been unjustly detained ought to be given to the poor, or some pious use, Numbers 5:8.
Q. 23. Is relieving the necessities of the poor a duty required in this commandment?
A. Yes; because it is a furthering the outward estate of our neighbour who is in want.
Q. 24. Why should we relieve the necessities of the poor?
A. Because, “He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the Lord; and that which he hath given, will he pay him again,” Proverbs 19:17.
Q. 25. Who are the proper objects of Charity?
A. All who are in real poverty and want, and are not able to work; especially those “who are of the household of faith,” Galatians 6:10.
Q. 26. How should our acts of charity be managed?
A. They should be conducted with prudence, namely, as our own circumstances will permit, and the necessity of the object requires, 1 John 3:17.
Q. 27. When should we perform acts of charity?
A. Presently, if the necessities of those whom we are bound to relieve, call for present assistance, Proverbs 3:28.
Q. 28. What should we shun or avoid, in our acts of charity?
A. All ostentation, or a desire to be seen of men, and commended by them, Matthew 6:2-5.
QUESTION 75. What is forbidden in the Eighth Commandment?
ANSWER:The Eighth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbour’s wealth or outward estate.
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Q. 1. What does the forbidding of THEFT necessarily suppose?
A. That there are distinct rights and properties among men, which cannot be justly invaded or encroached upon, Leviticus 6:4.
Q. 2. What would be the necessary consequences of a community of goods among men?
A. It would destroy traffic and commerce; abolish all acts of charity; encourage sloth and idleness; and if there were no right and property there could be no encroachment upon it by theft or stealing.
Q. 3. From whom are we forbidden to steal?
A. Both from ourselves and others.
Q. 4. How may we be said to steal from OURSELVES?
A. By idleness, niggardliness, and prodigality.
Q. 5. How do we steal from ourselves, or impair our own estates, by idleness?
A. When we either live without a lawful calling, Proverbs 19:15; or neglect it, if we have any, chap. 18:9 [Proverbs 19:15].
Q. 6. How may a person be said to steal from himself by niggardliness?
A. When he defrauds himself of the due use and comfort of that estate which God has given him, Ecclesiastes 6:2.
Q. 7. How do persons on the other hand, steal from themselves, by prodigality?
A. By being lavish and profuse in spending above their income, Proverbs 23:20-21.
Q. 8. What is the sin which is more directly pointed at in this commandment?
A. It is stealing from OTHERS; or laying hands upon, and taking away unjustly, that which is the right and property of another.
Q. 9. How many ways may persons be said to steal from others, or unjustly hinder their neighbour’s wealth or outward estate?
A. Several ways; particularly, by theft, robbery, resetting, defrauding, monopolising, and taking unlawful usury.
Q. 10. What is theft?
A. It is the taking away clandestinely, or privily from another, that which is his, Leviticus 19:11.
Q. 11. How is theft commonly distinguished?
A. Into private and public.
Q. 12. What is private theft?
A. It is the taking away less or more of any private person’s property, without their knowledge or consent, Obadiah 1:5.
Q. 13. Against whom is public theft committed?
A. Both against the church and commonwealth.
Q. 14. How is public theft called, as committed against the church?
A. Either Simony or sacrilege.
Q. 15. What is Simony?
A. It is the buying and selling of ecclesiastical places and offices for money, or other good deeds; so called, from the wicked practice of Simon Magus, who offered the apostles “money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost,” Acts 8:18-19.
Q. 16. What is sacrilege?
A. It is the taking away or alienating of any thing which has been dedicated to a sacred use, Proverbs 20:25; Malachi 3:8.
Q. 17. Why are these called public theft, when, for the most part, they are privately committed?
A. Because they very much affect the public interest and welfare of the church; nothing having a greater tendency to her ruin, than Simoniacal compacts and sacrilegious usurpations.
Q. 18. In what consists public theft, as committed against the commonwealth?
A. In embezzling the current coin, or doing detriment to the public for private advantage, Romans 13:7; Php 2:4.
Q. 19. What is robbery or rapine?
A. It is the taking away the goods of another by violence and open force, Job 20:19.
Q. 20. In what lies the aggravation of this crime?
A. In its being an avowed pillaging or plundering of our neighbour; and in being ordinarily accompanied with a threatening to take away his life, if he ventures to make the least resistance, Judges 9:25.
Q. 21. What is the evil of resetting 1, or receiving of what is taken away, whether by stealth or violence?
A. It is a manifest encouragement of, and participation with thieves and robbers in their sins, Psalms 50:18; and consequently, a coming under the same guilt and condemnation with them, Proverbs 29:24.
1 re•set n. In Scots law, the receiving and harboring of an outlaw or a criminal. From the definition it seems clear that the sin is that of “receiving stolen property.” [ed. WD]
Q. 22. How do men commonly defraud one another?
A. In buying, selling and borrowing.
Q. 23. How do they defraud in buying?
A. By depreciating and vilifying what they intend to buy, that they may have it cheaper than the value, Proverbs 20:14.
Q. 24. How do they defraud one another in selling?
A. By taking an unreasonable price, 1 Thessalonians 4:6; or, cheating by false weights and measures, Deuteronomy 25:13-15.
Q. 25. How do they defraud in borrowing?
A. When they borrow what they know they can never be able, in the ordinary course of providence, to pay, Psalms 37:21.
Q. 26. If a man’s creditors compound with him for less than he owes, is he therefore discharged of the whole debt?
A. Though his creditors, for fear of losing all, may compound and discharge for a part, so that there can be no action in law for the remainder; yet, in the court of conscience, and before God, he is bound, if ever he is able, to pay every farthing: and, if he is an honest man, he will never reckon his substance his own, till he do it, Romans 13:8.
Q. 27. How may servants defraud their masters?
A. By wasting their masters’ goods, which they may have in their hands; and not working faithfully for their wages, Titus 2:9-10.
Q. 28. How may masters defraud their servants?
A. By detaining from, or tricking them out of their wages, Leviticus 19:13; or by exacting of them too rigorous labour, Exodus 5:9.
Q. 29. What is it to monopolise?
A. It is to engross commodities, in order to enhance the price of them.
Q. 30. What is the worst kind of monopolising or forestalling?
A. It is the buying up grain, or other provisions, in large quantities, in order to exact a higher price for them afterwards.
Q. 31. In what consists the evil of this sin?
A. They who are guilty of it enrich themselves upon the spoils of others, Ezekiel 22:29; they “grind the faces of the poor,” Isaiah 3:15; and bring upon themselves the curse of the people, Proverbs 11:26 - “He that withholdeth corn, the people shall CURSE him; but blessings shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.”
Q. 32. What is it to take USURY, according to the proper signification of the word?
A. It is to take gain, profit, or interest, for the loan of money.
Q. 33. What kind of usury or interest is lawful?
A. That which is moderate, easy, and no way oppressive, Deuteronomy 23:20, compared with Exodus 22:21.
Q. 34. How do you prove that moderate usury is lawful?
A. From the very light of nature, which teaches, that since the borrower proposes to gain by the loan, the lender should have a reasonable share of his profit, as a recompense for the use of his money, which he might otherwise have disposed of to his own advantage, 2 Corinthians 8:13.
Q. 35. What is the usury condemned in scripture, and by right reason?
A. It is the exacting of more interest or gain for the loan of money, than is settled by universal consent, and the laws of the land, Proverbs 28:8 - “He that by usury, and unjust gain, increaseth his substance, shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.”
Q. 36. How do you prove from scripture, that moderate usury, or common interest, is not oppression in itself?
A. From the express command laid upon the Israelites not to “oppress a stranger,” Exodus 23:9; and yet their being allowed to take usury from him, Deuteronomy 23:20; which they would not have been permitted to do, if there had been an intrinsic evil in the thing itself.
Q. 37. Is it warrantable to take interest from the poor?
A. By no means; for, if such as are honest, and in needy circumstances, borrow a small sum towards a livelihood, and repay it in due time, it is all that can be expected of them; and therefore the demanding of any profit or interest, or even taking any of their necessaries of life in pledge, for the sum, seems to be plainly contrary to the law of charity, Exodus 22:25-28; Psalms 15:5.
Q. 38. Were not the Israelites forbidden to take usury from their brethren, whether poor or rich? Deuteronomy 23:19 - “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother.”
A. This text is to be restricted to their poor brethren, as it is explained, Exodus 22:25, and Leviticus 25:25, Leviticus 25:35; or, if it respects the Israelites indifferently, then it is one of the judicial laws peculiar to that people, and of no binding force now.
Q. 39. What is the spring of all these different ways by which men defraud and injure one another in their outward estate?
A. Covetousness, Luke 12:15, or an inordinate prizing and loving of worldly goods, Psalms 62:10.
Q. . What should affright and deter every one from such wicked practices?
A. The consideration of the curse that shall enter into the house of the thief, Zechariah 5:3-4; and of the vengeance that shall light upon such as go beyond and defraud their neighbour: for, “the Lord is the avenger of all such,” 1 Thessalonians 4:6.