Reformed churches

The Reformed churches enter Freud’s discussion as a point of contrast in Christian commandment numbering: they count the command to honour one’s father and mother as the fifth commandment, rather than the fourth. The distinction reflects different traditions for ordering the commandments, not a difference in the commandment’s wording.

Numbering the Commandments

Freud identifies the commandment to honour one’s father and mother as the fourth in the Catholic and Lutheran Churches. The Reformed churches, by contrast, number it fifth, following the sequence in Exodus 20 rather than the ordering in Deuteronomy 5.

Place in Freud’s Account

The comparison makes the numbering convention visible as a denominational distinction: the same parental command occupies a different ordinal position according to the tradition’s chosen biblical sequence. The Reformed churches thus serve as the counterexample that clarifies why Freud specifies the Catholic and Lutheran numbering when calling it the fourth commandment.