have them do unto you"--the golden rule. Thence flows a series of
deducted precepts calculated to protect the moral and inherent rights
of our nature.

But we are more concerned here with what is known as the positive Law
of God, given by Him to man by word of mouth or revelation.

We believe that God gave a verbal code to Moses who promulgated it in
His name before the Jewish people to the whole world. It was
subsequently inscribed on two stone tables, and is known as the
Decalogue or Ten Commandments of God. Of these ten, the first three
pertain to God Himself, the latter seven to the neighbor; so that the
whole might be abridged in these two words, "Love God, and love thy
neighbor." This law is in reality only a specified form of the natural
law, and its enactment was necessitated by the iniquity of men which
had in time obscured and partly effaced the letter of the law in their
souls.

Latterly God again spoke, but this time in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Saviour, after confirming the Decalogue with His authority, gave
other laws to men concerning the Church He had founded and the means of
applying to themselves the fruits of the Redemption. We give the name
of dogma to what He tells us to believe and of morals to what we must
do. These precepts of Jesus Christ are contained in the Gospel, and are
called the Evangelical Law. It is made known to us by the infallible
Church through which God speaks.

Akin to these divine laws is the purely ecclesiastical law or law of
the Church. Christ sent forth His Church clothed with His own and His
Father's authority. "As the Father sent me, so I send you." She was to
endure, perfect herself and fulfil her mission on earth. To enable her
to carry out this divine plan she makes laws, laws purely
ecclesiastical, but laws that have the same binding force as the divine
laws themselves, since they bear the stamp of divine authority. God
willed the Church to be; He willed consequently all the necessary means
without which she would cease to be. For Catholics, therefore, as far
as obligations are concerned, there is no practical difference between
God's law and the law of His Church. Jesus Christ is God. The Church is
His spouse. To her the Saviour said: "He that heareth you, heareth me,
and he that despiseth you despiseth Me."

A breach of the law is a sin. A sin is a deliberate transgression of
the Law of God. A sin may be committed in thought, in desire, in word,
or in deed