KINDS OF SIN 53 



and hence the enumeration of sins based upon it is 

 more or less external and does not, in fact, tran- 

 scend the standpoint of the Old Law, except in so 

 far as it interprets the Decalogue in the light of 

 the New Testament. Nevertheless this division 

 is useful, especially for the examination of con- 

 science, which is one of the requisites of a good 

 confession. 2 



The sins against the Ten Commandments are enumer- 

 ated in the following verses, handed down by the School- 

 men: 



Est Deus, est nomen, sunt sdbbata suntque parentes, 

 Mors, moechus, fur turn, testis falsus, domus (et) uxor. 



Or, in amplified form: 



Idola sperne, Dei non sit tibi nomen inane, 

 Sabbato sanctifices, habeas in honore parentes, 

 Non occisor eris, moechus, fur, testis iniquus, 

 Non alii nuptam, non rem cupias alienam. 



2. Sins of Commission and Omission. — This 

 classification is purely formal and of no particu- 

 lar value for judging the nature of sin. 



a) When all other conditions are equal, a sin 

 of commission is worse than a sin of omission 

 because the negative precepts of the law bind un- 

 der a more serious penalty than those which are 

 affirmative, and to transgress them involves a 



Nash, Freiburg 190s; M. Hetzen- 2 This division is adopted by Sa- 



auer, Theologia Biblica, Vol. I, Frei- betti, Slater, Noldin, and other 

 burg 1908, pp. 634 sqq. present-day moralists. 



