 Although it is uncertain what role the Ten Commandments played in early Christian worship , evidence suggests they were recited during some services and used in Christian education . For example , the Commandments are included in one of the earliest Christian writings , known as the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles or the <unk> . Scholars contend that the Commandments were highly regarded by the early Church as a summary of God 's law . The Protestant scholar Klaus <unk> believes that the Church replaced the Commandments with lists of virtues and vices , such as the seven deadly sins , from 400 – 1200 . Other scholars contend that throughout Church history the Commandments have been used as an examination of conscience and that many theologians have written about them . While evidence exists that the Commandments were part of <unk> in monasteries and other venues , there was no official Church position to promote specific methods of religious instruction during the Middle Ages . The Fourth Lateran Council ( 1215 ) was the first attempt to remedy this problem . Surviving evidence reveals that some bishops ' efforts to implement the Council 's resolutions included special emphasis on teaching the Commandments in their respective dioceses . <unk> later , the lack of instruction in them by some dioceses formed the basis of one of the criticisms launched against the Church by Protestant reformers . 
