<P> In Roman Catholicism, Jesus freed Christians from the rest of Jewish religious law, but not from their obligation to keep the Ten Commandments . It has been said that they are to the moral order what the creation story is to the natural order . </P> <P> According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church--the official exposition of the Catholic Church's Christian beliefs--the Commandments are considered essential for spiritual good health and growth, and serve as the basis for social justice . Church teaching of the Commandments is largely based on the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the early Church Fathers . In the New Testament, Jesus acknowledged their validity and instructed his disciples to go further, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees . Summarized by Jesus into two "great commandments" that teach the love of God and love of neighbour, they instruct individuals on their relationships with both . </P> <P> The Eastern Orthodox Church holds its moral truths to be chiefly contained in the Ten Commandments . A confession begins with the Confessor reciting the Ten Commandments and asking the penitent which of them he has broken . </P> <P> After rejecting the Roman Catholic moral theology, giving more importance to biblical law and the gospel, early Protestant theologians continued to take the Ten Commandments as the starting point of Christian moral life . Different versions of Christianity have varied in how they have translated the bare principles into the specifics that make up a full Christian ethic . </P>

What is the story of the ten commandments