Spirituality and Law: The Example of the Decalogue / Spiritualità e Legge: l’esempio del Decalogo

Abstract – In the age of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the need to of- fer simple and accessible pastoral tools arose. Indeed, it was in this time that the first catechisms and breviaries of prayers were written and that the Decalogue was transformed into the «Ten Commandments», that is, a list of norms and prohibitions which – without asking questions – tell the believer what is lawful and what is not. In reality, the literary context places the Decalogue within a path of liberation which is both a path of political emancipation and spiritual growth. The list of debarîm, that is, of words, that make it up is not a list of duties and prohibitions imposed by God, but the result of this double path. Israel accepts the gift of the Ten Words because they correctly tell its story of liberation and relationship with its God. In this sense we can say that the Decalogue is not ‘right’ but ‘true’. It is the room of the whole lifeworld. The paper supports this thesis by discussing some salient points of the text and demonstrating the spiritual depth of the text.