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Question 1: Why do Protestants number the Ten Commandments differently than we Catholics?
Answer: The Scriptures tell us that there were Ten Commandments, but do not indicate how they were divided. The Protestant division follows rather Ex. 20:2-27, while the Catholic follows Deut. 5:6-21. The Catholic division is older and more logical. We hold that desire for another man’s wife and desire for another man’s property are essentially two distinct crimes, and therefore, merit two separate commandments, the ninth and tenth. On the other hand, the first commandment insists on the virtue of religion and forbids all sins against that virtue, the chief of which is idolatry. Logically, therefore, the Protestant second commandment has no reason for being, and was born of the necessity of controversy to justify the early Reformers.
