80. Insofar as Someone Refrains from Every Form of Stealing as Being a Sin, So Far He Loves Honesty

In the natural sense stealing means not only to steal and rob, but also to swindle and by some subterfuge take from another his goods. In the spiritual sense stealing means to deprive another of the truths of his faith and the goods of his charity. And in the highest sense stealing means to take from the Lord something that is His and attribute it to oneself, thus to claim His righteousness and merit for oneself.

These are all forms of stealing. And they are also bound up together, as are all forms of adultery and all forms of murder, as we discussed above. They are bound up together because one is present in another.