Murther.
Do Not Kill
The catechism teaches that the sixth commandment forbids hatred, verbal abuse, and harm toward anyone, and instead requires active love and prayer even for enemies.
Teacher. What is contained in that commandment: Do not kill?✦1 Student. That we hate no one, [missing text], and revile no one. [Missing text] us, that we [missing text] our foes: do good to those who hate us, and pray for every kind of prosperity and well-being for even our deadliest enemies.
Read the original English
Master. What is … in that commaundement… doe not kyll.
Scho. That we hate, …, … reuile no man. … i… … vs, that we … t…en our f…es: do good to them that hate vs: and … we praye for al prospe… and good happe to our verye mortal ennemies.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Deut.5.17 — You shall not murder.
Notes
- 1 ↩The EEBO-TCP witness is damaged: 'What is … in that commaundement… doe not kyll.' One word after 'is' and a short run after 'commaundement' are illegible. The most plausible restored sense, matching neighboring catechetical questions and answers that speak of what a commandment 'contains,' is 'What is contained in that commandment: Do not kill?'
John Ponet's Short Catechisme (1553) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit