the faithful. But other solemnities were
celebrated on account of certain particular favors temporal and
transitory, such as the celebration of the Passover in memory of the
past favor of the delivery from Egypt, and as a sign of the future
Passion of Christ, which though temporal and transitory, brought us
to the repose of the spiritual Sabbath. Consequently, the Sabbath
alone, and none of the other solemnities and sacrifices, is mentioned
in the precepts of the decalogue.

Reply Obj. 3: As the Apostle says (Heb. 6:16), "men swear by one
greater than themselves; and an oath for confirmation is the end of
all their controversy." Hence, since oaths are common to all,
inordinate swearing is the matter of a special prohibition by a
precept of the decalogue. According to one interpretation, however,
the words, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain," are a prohibition of false doctrine, for one gloss expounds
them thus: "Thou shalt not say that Christ is a creature."

Reply Obj. 4: That a man should not do harm to anyone is an immediate
dictate of his natural reason: and therefore the precepts that forbid
the doing of harm are binding on all men. But it is not an immediate
dictate of natural reason that a man should do one thing in return
for another, unless he happen to be indebted to someone. Now a son's
debt to his father is so evident that one cannot get away from it by
denying it: since the father is the principle of generation and
being, and also of upbringing and teaching. Wherefore the decalogue
does not prescribe deeds of kindness or service to be done to anyone
except to one's parents. On the other hand parents do not seem to be
indebted to their children for any favors received, but rather the
reverse is the case. Again, a child is a part of his father; and
"parents love their children as being a part of themselves," as the
Philosopher states (Ethic. viii, 12). Hence, just as the decalogue
contains no ordinance as to man's behavior towards himself, so, for
the same reason, it includes no precept about loving one's children.

Reply Obj. 5: The pleasure of adultery and the usefulness of wealth,
in so far as they have the character of pleasurable or useful good,
are of themselves, objects of appetite: and for this reason they
needed to be forbidden not only in the deed but also in the desire.
But murder and falsehood are, of themselves, objects of repulsion
(since it is natural for man to love