The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q75. What is forbidden in the Eighth Commandment?

A. The Eighth Commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth or may unjustly hinder our own
or our neighbour’s wealth or outward estate.[1]

Proofs

[1] Proverbs 21:17; 23:20–21; 28:19; Ephesians 4:28.

Comments

The Eighth Commandment is so simply worded: “Thou shalt not steal.” Everyone should understand that what the Commandment forbids is stealing. Why then does our Confession answer to what is forbidden in the Commandment with a sentence which is much harder to comprehend and swallow? What, after all, does it mean to “hinder our own or our neighbour’s wealth or outward estate”? What does our being forbidden to steal have to do with our own wealth and outward estate? With these questions in mind, it may appear to some that the answer to this catechism question, as well as some others, is very contrived and go beyond Scripture and the plain sense of the commandments. However, we must remember the rules of interpretation of the Ten Commandments as given in WLC 99, especially, rule no. 6: “That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto.” If we keep in mind this rule and the fact that the Eighth Commandment respects the private ownership of wealth, and the outward estate bestowed upon individuals by God, then we can better appreciate the generic statement of the divines. It simply says that the Eighth Commandment forbids anything that unlawfully acts against God’s providential assignment of earthly wealth to anyone. When a person denies another of his rightful possession of anything we call it theft. We do not normally talk about stealing from ourselves, but when,—by our irresponsibility,—we squander away God’s gracious provision of daily bread and temporal wealth to us, we do break the Eighth Commandment.

Some examples of theft that is forbidden would include: (1) Shoplifting; (2) All infringement of copyrights; (3) All withholding of wages from our employees without just cause (Lev 19:13; Prov 3:27); (4) Keeping something which we find in the streets though the owner’s address is known, or that is significant enough for the owner to return to look for it, or will attempt to see if anyone has returned it at the Police station (Deut 22:1, 3); (5) Any form or extortion and oppression especially of the poor and afflicted (Mt 18:28–30; Prov 22:22–23; Ps 37:21); (6) Defrauding others in our buying, when we under-value that which we know to be good, or take an advantage of others’ ignorance of the worth of their commodities (Prov 20:14); (7) Defrauding others in selling, when we praise that which we sell against our consciences in order to fetch a price greater than the worth of the product (Deut 25:13, 15; Prov 11:1; Mic 6:10–11); and (8) Abetting with thieves by receiving or knowingly purchasing stolen goods (Prov 29:24).

In respect to our own wealth, the Eighth Commandment forbids, for example, (1) Lavish or irresponsible spending of our substance (Lk 15:13; Prov 23:21; 21:17); (2) Idleness, sloth and indiscreet management of our callings, to our detriment (Prov 23:20–21; 24:30–34); (3) Bribery in the sale of public justice (Ex 23:8; Isa 1:23); and (4) Gambling and making use of any unwarrantable ways for the getting of money (cf. Acts 19:24), such as sale and publication of lewd magazines.