The interesting thing about these Commandments is their extraordinary ramification. The Commandments are a very comprehensive code with the essentials neatly summarised in ten sentences. The 8th Commandment is a case in point: it can be made to deal with property, poverty, honesty in thought and life, and justice generally as well as the subject of its direct prohibition.

During the last hundred years or so there has been a lot of high minded talk about the rights and/or wrongs of private property which has often been condemned as a result of the impact of socialist ideals and the challenge of Communism. Much of the discussion has been heady and windy as some have gone so far as to demand the abolition of private property altogether. Indeed, sometimes, Christians have appealed to the communism of our Lord or to that of the Early Church or, to that of the Religious Orders to justify such a stance. Such appeal is unfair just as it is to exhort celibacy because Christ was celibate.

This Commandment, however, recognizes private property. Stealing is the unauthorized taking of what is another's and we are instructed not to steal. The Bible is thoroughly realist, and implicit in all its pages is the right to hold property. The reason is not hard to see. A person is a rational, individual, self-existent being. As rational he is free and master of his actions; as an individual self-existent being, he exists in his own right; he is an end, not a means. The attainment of his proper end involves certain external means eg freedom, for there can be no moral growth unless there is room and scope for conscious choice, and this involves certain rights, including that of some degree of external possessions. It is worth thinking about what St Thomas Aquinas said about Private Property. In summary Aquinas argued that we care more for what is our own than we do for what is others, ~ that human affairs are better managed when we are responsible for particular things,

that peace is promoted when we are content with what we have. Such views rest on a realist view of human nature, tainted as it is by self-interest and sin. It saws nothing, of course, about an ideal state in the future when private property may conceivably be done away.

But while private property is defensible by Christian standards, we only defend it as used on Christian principles. In extremity the right to private property must lapse so that a man may take what is essential to live, even if the owner refuses to give it.

Secondly, poverty. To'possess nothing is not a Christian ideal. Some may embrace it as a special vocation, but for most Christians it is an impracticable thing and unnecessary. Our Lord's ideal is the poor in spirit and it-is, therefore, incumbent on us to see that all get a fair share of essential goods such as food, clothing and warmth. To this end the British system of rationing during and after WW2 commended itself to the Christian conscience whereas the European practice of rationing by price did not.

Thirdly, honesty. The need for this Commandment, today is obvious. Our prisons are full of those who have committed theft and robbery, often with violence, and our papers and screens are full of stories about swindlers, forgers and burglary, as well as lying. We are warned not-to leave things lying around; cameras seek to protect us and our property. If people obeyed the Commandment none of this would be necessary. Some years ago the Headmaster of a great public school said that he no longer expelled for stealing, for it happened so often and there was little conscience on the matter, even if they could discover the culprit. "Scrounging" is a word we don't hear very often today: it remains a euphemism for theft.

We don't steal, of course. Of course, we don't. We don't climb drainpipes and go off with the jewels; We don't steal from multiple stores or water the milk but we need the reminder all the same. What about the employer who underpays his staff? Or the employee who does not do a full day's work? Or the man who makes a false return on his Income Tax Form? Or travels at half fare when over the age limit or goes beyond the fare limit? Or uses the office equipment without the prior approval of the company? Or who forgets to return borrowed books? Or who steals people's affections by subtle innuendo, and criticism? Or who steals people's reputations? Or who steals God's glory by claiming it for oneself? Those who indulge in such activities do form a climate of public opinion - and a wrong one. The Commandment bids us, then, to be completely honest in all our doings, in our work ("If any would not work, neither let him eat" wrote St Paul), in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Finally, this leads me to mention the cognate problem of betting and gambling. The annual turnover on gambling is mind-boggling and well over 80% of people are said to gamble, encouraged today by spineless governments viz the demand for Casinos! We bet. on cards,. horses, football, cricket, flies; we indulge ourselves in the Lottery and sweepstakes; we speculate on the Stock Exchange. Common to all these, like it or not., is the same principle as in thieving: something for nothing, reward for no labour.

And the effect? Firstly, the economic effect is that money is exchanged without recognition of human or social value, for it is entirely non-productive, and to that extent the whole community is poorer. Money which is earned creates a true sense of value, but. there is :me> exchange value in gambling where self-interest is the predominant motive. Secondly, socially: official figures and considered opinion suggests that there is a link between gambling losses and theft.

The cause of this is a perversion of Man's healthy instinct for adventure and for self-motivation. The Christian deplores attempts by rich and poor alike to get something for nothing and without doing something creative or productive. Gain through others' loss is wrong. An appeal to chance and a belief in luck? A belief in the living God? The two are mutually exclusive.