Title: Thou shall not kill (5th Commandment)

Biblical Background:
According to the Bible not all killing is a murder. Murder is the unlawful
taking of human life. The command not to murder applies to human beings
and not to animals. God gave animals to mankind for his use (Genesis 1:2630, 9:1-4). But, this does not mean that humans have the right mistreat
animals and the environment. (Genesis 2:15; Deuteronomy 22:6-7; 25:4,
Proverbs 12:10).
Under the old covenant ancient Israelites were allowed to kill other
humans under very special circumstances such as punishments for certain
sins, for example, murder (Exodus 21: 12-14; Leviticus 24:17, 21) and
adultery (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22-24). God also allowed the
Israelites to engage in warfare and even gave them instructions about
waging war (Deuteronomy 20: 1-20). God also recognized that humans might
accidentally kill each other, and he made provisions for this (Numbers 35:934, Deuteronomy 19:1-13).
This primary reason God hates murder is that out of all creation, only
human are made in his image and likeliness (Genesis 1-26:27; 9:4-6). Even
before the codification of the 10 commandments in Mt. Sinai, the murder of
other human beings was wrong (Genesis 4:812; 4:23-24; 9: 4-6; Exodus 1:1617). While on earth, Jesus spoke out against murder (Matthew 5:21-26; Mark
10:17-19). We also see in the writings of Paul (Romans 1:18, 29-32; 13: 8-10;
Galatians 5: 19-21); James (James 2:8-11, 4:1-3), Peter (1Peter 4:15-16) and
John (Revelation 9:20-21; 21:7-8; 22:14-15) that murder is wrong.
Principle of Sacredness and Celebration of Life
The fifth commandment says: Thou shalt not kill. This principle is a
call to respect the sacredness of life and celebrate the joy of life. Gods
nature is to create and nurture life. Gods adversary the devil seeks to
destroy all life forms. He revels in destruction and death. If we are children of
our Creator, then we will imitate our heavenly Father by doing all we can in
the nurturing and protection of life. We will be unabashedly pro-life. This prolife stance is not simply to curse the abortionist and defend the unborn fetus,
but to defend and protect the weak, sick, orphans, poor, homeless and the
rejected.

How can we claim to defend the unborn fetus when we are indifferent
to the plight of the born? The poor children, of single mothers, the orphans,
and other children need our help. This pro-life stance leads us not just to be
vigorous defenders of life for the unborn but ardent advocates for a quality of
life that is healthy and nurturing for those born under unfortunate
circumstances. This principle also celebrates life. Life is to be lived with
passion, joy and enthusiasm. In all of Gods marvellous creation we see joy
and hope. The innocent smile of a babys face, the mating dance of the birds,
the rebirth of nature during spring after the long, cold winter, the warm
summer sunshine upon our skin, the delicious golden apples falling from the
tree. Life testifies of beauty, joy and power. But even in nature we
experience dark forces. The wind and fire destroys millions of trees, there are
devastating tornadoes, earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes that caused
millions of dollars in damage and produced untold misery for millions of
people. How are we to interpret this? We cannot, but these events suggest
that even nature itself has been affected by sin. But even amidst the
destructive forces of nature we can still discern the hand of a loving God
mitigating the forces of destruction and even directing them towards the
fulfilment of His ultimate purpose.
Issues about the Fifth commandment
Firstly the commandment forbids 'unauthorized' killing. Under the Old
Covenant God authorized killing in two situations, in the context of holy war
and for capital offences. The holy war conditions are clearly spelt out by
Moses. In cities within the Promised Land everybody was to be killed, in cities
at a distance the men only were to be killed and only if a preliminary offer of
peace was not accepted. There were over twenty capital offences ranging
from murder to contempt of court. In these situations the Israelites had the
obligation of carrying out the judicial killing as God's representatives.
Secondly the commandment forbids 'intentional' killing. Anyone killing
another human being unintentionally was able to flee to a city of refuge
where he would gain some protection from the 'avenger of blood'. The
natural death of the high priest would later atone for the killing and the
guilty party would be freed. However this 'manslaughter' provision applied
only in very limited circumstances:

'For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbour to cut
wood, and as he swings his axe to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his
neighbour and kill him'.
Killing resulting from negligence was not excused as unintentional.
Neither was killing 'in hostility' even if not necessarily premeditated.
To put it another way, God authorized only the killing of the guilty.
'Innocent' blood could not be intentionally shed under any circumstances and
specific groups who could potentially be exploited such as the poor, widows
and orphans, alien, the handicapped, slaves and servants and the aged were
singled out for special protection. However membership of one of these
protected groups did not confer any immunity from capital punishment.
There was to be no partiality shown to the guilty.
So in summary, the Old Testament teaching is that the intentional or
hostile killing of any innocent human being is a capital offence. There is no
provision for diminished responsibility on the basis of age or illness and there
is no provision for compassionate killing even at the person's request.
Similarly there is no recognition of a 'right to die' as human life belongs to
God and is not the personal possession of any human being. Accordingly only
God has the authority to take human life. Man can only do so under God's
delegated authority, even if the life is 'his own'.
Violations against the Fifth Commandment
Murder and wilful abortion are the direct violations of this
commandment PCP II stresses the crime against the unborn who can neither
defend their God-given life nor cry out in even the feeblest of cries for help.
Their cries do reach the heart if the creator (382). It further stresses the
churchs condemnation of direct-willing abortion (585). Any action that
deliberately takes away the life of other people is completely against this
commandment.
Regarding euthanasia, recent debates have spurred questions on
whether it is justified and acceptable or not. It is understood as an action
that aids an ailing person to die. It connotes that an ailing individual is either
in extreme pain or in a state of comatose, that the chance for survival is
considered to be too slim and the best option to alleviate the pain is to

shorten the life of the patient. Therefore, death is the only foreseen solution
to ease the suffering of the ailing person.
The mere consent of ending the suffering, though noble and notable,
still shows that one has willing fully taken the life of another. God is the giver
of life and he alone is entitled to end the life He has given. The act of
euthanasia actually degrades the dignity of people who are sick, vulnerable
and disadvantaged, and since they are already regarded as burden and
difficult to bear rather than people to endure with in the name of hope and
faith. The Church upholds that life is a gift from God, thus sacred must
strictly adhere to the Natural Law, allowing nature to take its course in
ending the life of a person.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly mentions human acts
that completely run contrary to the commandment. These are direct and
intentional murder and cooperation in it, direct abortion, euthanasia, and
suicide. God places primary on the values of life, thus must be respected
and protected. Directly aborting a fetus and ending the life of those suffering
(or in near-death situation) are direct violations of the commandment.
Suicide, on the other hand, is considered a grave offense that completely
disregards the love of God and the dignity of human life.
With the recent natural disaster and atrocities committed against
nature, there is a growing consciousness on the importance of the
environment, and considering it as something that has life, which needs to
be cherished and nourished. Generally, any form of destruction of the
environment is also violation on the primacy of life. People are dependent to
their environment. They fulfil their basic needs from the different provisions
of environment. If environmental resources are abused and depleted,
humanitys chances of survival also decrease. Though God looks at person as
special, He also values the bounty of earth as a manifestation of His glory
and His love for His people. Any deliberate disregard of His creation does not
glorify and honor Him.

Saint Louis University

School Of Nursing
Theology IV

Thou shall not kill

th
(5 Commandment)
Submitted by:
Arevalo, Janine Kieth
Archog, Rhea
Caraan, Kevin Michael
Opinaldo, Arreeya Jasmine
Quilapio, Amira Fatmah
Submitted to:
Jaime Doctolero