Question 110: What does God forbid in the Eighth Commandment?
Question 110: What does God forbid in the Eighth Commandment? Answer: God does not forbid only open theft and robbery, which are forbidden by law. Theft in God's sight includes all acts of defrauding our neighbors, even though they may outwardly appear lawful; such as false weights, measures, and measures, fraud, counterfeiting, usury, and any other means forbidden by God. Moreover, God forbids all covetousness and all indiscriminate waste of His gifts. Eighth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal Some people commit theft by actually committing it, but others harbor it in their hearts without actually acting on it. This is precisely the greed within their hearts. This greed, when put into action, manifests as theft. Through this commandment, God reveals the sinful nature of greed within humanity. Evil angels were those who, wanting to become like God, attempted to steal from Him. Disobeying God's command in the Garden of Eden and eating the fruit of the tree of the knowle...