Reply Obj. 1:  Worship is merely a declaration of faith:  wherefore the precepts about worship should not be reckoned as distinct from those about faith.  Nevertheless precepts should be given about worship rather than about faith, because the precept about faith is presupposed to the precepts of the decalogue, as is also the precept of charity.  For just as the first general principles of the natural law are self-evident to a subject having natural reason, and need no promulgation; so also to believe in God is a first and self-evident principle to a subject possessed of faith:  “for he that cometh to God, must believe that He is” (Heb. 11:6).  Hence it needs no other promulgation that the infusion of faith.

Reply Obj. 2:  The affirmative precepts are distinct from the negative, when one is not comprised in the other:  thus that man should honor his parents does not include that he should not kill another man; nor does the latter include the former.  But when an affirmative precept is included in a negative, or vice versa, we do not find that two distinct precepts are given:  thus there is not one precept saying that “Thou shalt not steal,” and another binding one to keep another’s property intact, or to give it back to its owner.  In the same way there are not different precepts about believing in God, and about not believing in strange gods.

Reply Obj. 3:  All covetousness has one common ratio:  and therefore the Apostle speaks of the commandment about covetousness as though it were one.  But because there are various special kinds of covetousness, therefore Augustine distinguishes different prohibitions against coveting:  for covetousness differs specifically in respect of the diversity of actions or things coveted, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. x, 5). ________________________

FIFTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 100, Art. 5]

Whether the Precepts of the Decalogue Are Suitably Set Forth?

Objection 1:  It would seem that the precepts of the decalogue are unsuitably set forth.  Because sin, as stated by Ambrose (De Paradiso viii), is “a transgression of the Divine law and a disobedience to the commandments of heaven.”  But sins are distinguished according as man sins against God, or his neighbor, or himself.  Since, then, the decalogue does not include any precepts directing man in his relations to himself, but only such as direct him in his relations to God and himself, it seems that the precepts of the decalogue are insufficiently enumerated.

Obj. 2:  Further, just as the Sabbath-day observance pertained to the worship of God, so also did the observance of other solemnities, and the offering of sacrifices.  But the decalogue contains a precept about the Sabbath-day observance.  Therefore it should contain others also, pertaining to the other solemnities, and to the sacrificial rite.

Obj. 3:  Further, as sins against God include the sin of perjury, so also do they include blasphemy, or other ways of lying against the teaching of God.  But there is a precept forbidding perjury, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”  Therefore there should be also a precept of the decalogue forbidding blasphemy and false doctrine.