Throughout the history of Western
Civilization, oaths have been understood to be solemn declarations made
in the presence of God, to Whom we are accountable.[1]
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) devotes an entire
chapter (ch. xxii) to "Lawful Oaths and Vows." An oath is said
to be "a part of religious worship" (§ I; cf. The Larger
Catechism Q. 108.), which can only be done in the Name of God (§§
II, VI), and must be subordinated to "the Word of God" (§
VII). See also Larger Catechism Q. 108. (one of "the duties
required in the second commandment," citing "Deut. vi. 13.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by
his name." [Emphasis in Catechism]).
The Bible says that an oath is made in the presence of God. It is
therefore sacred, an act of worship.
The Bible says
it's OK to take an oath. In fact, the Westminster Confession of
Faith says "it is a sin to refuse an
oath touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by lawful
authority."[2] Here's are some things the Bible
says about oaths:
1.
God swears oaths. In fact, we could
speak of the Bible itself as divided into the "Old Oath" and
the "New Oath." A "Testament" is a promise to
transfer property. The Bible says God made these
promises under a solemn oath. No oath, no salvation.[3]
- Hebrews 7:20-22 And inasmuch as He was not made priest
without an oath {21} (for they have become priests without an
oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD
has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According
to the order of Melchizedek'"), {22} by so much more Jesus
has become a surety of a better covenant.
2. As God is holy, we are to be holy. So the Bible has
numerous provisions regarding our oath-taking.
- The most obvious is the Third Commandment, "Thou
shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain."
"Taking the Lord's Name" means making an oath. The
commandment is not that it should never be done, but that it not
be done in vain, or falsely. In fact, God wants us to take
His Name. It's a way of praising Him:
- Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD
thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His Name.
- Deuteronomy 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD
thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear
by His Name.
3. In some circumstances, swearing
an oath is commanded by God.
- Exodus 22:10-11 "If a man delivers to his neighbor a
donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is
hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, {11} then an oath of the LORD
shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his
neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he
shall not make it good."
4. By claiming God's Name, we remind our
audience that God Lives.
Taking oaths has a long history among God's people. The
Reformed/Presbyterian heritage (which is part of this country's
heritage, as well as my own personal history) is very pro-oath. Reformed
Theology has always seen the oath as an act of religious worship. People
who lived at the time the Constitution was ratified understood this.
John Witherspoon, Presbyterian theologian, mentor
of many of the Founders, and signer of the Declaration of
Independence, explained that religion and the oath were inseparable:
An oath is an appeal to God, the Searcher of hearts, for the truth
of what we say and always expresses or supposes an imprecation [a
calling down] of His judgment upon us if we prevaricate [lie]. An
oath, therefore, implies a belief in God and His Providence
and indeed is an act of
worship, and so accounted in Scripture, as in that
expression, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt swear by
His name. . . . . Persons entering on public offices are also
often obliged to make oath that they will faithfully execute their
trust . . . . [4]
A well-known expositor of the theology of the Reformation, A.A.
Hodge, a Professor at Princeton, wrote in 1869 about the requirements of
God's Law:
1. A lawful oath consists in calling upon God, the occasion being
of sufficient seriousness and importance, to witness the truth of what
we affirm as true, or our voluntary assumption of an obligation to do
something in the future-with an implied imprecation of God's disfavour
if we lie or prove unfaithful to our engagements. This last is
generally expressed by the phrase forming the concluding part of the
formula of most oaths, "So help me God;"-i.e., Let
God so help me as I have told the truth, or as I will keep my promise.
Hence an oath is an act of supreme religious worship, since it
recognizes the omnipresence, omniscience, absolute justice and
sovereignty of the Person whose august witness is invoked, and whose
judgment is appealed to as final.
2. It hence follows that it is a sin equivalent to that of
worshipping a false god if we swear by any other than the only true
and living God; and a sin of idolatry if we swear by any thing or
place, although it be associated with the true God.
This principle is fully recognized in Scripture. We are told to
swear by the true God: "Unto me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear," Isa. xlv.23; "He that sweareth in the
earth shall swear by the God of truth," Isa. lxv.16; "Thou
shalt fear JEHOVAH thy God, and serve him, and
shalt swear by his name," Deut. vi.13. We are forbidden to swear
by the name of false gods: "How shall I pardon the for this? thy
children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods."
Jer.v.7; Josh. xxiii.7.
3. The literal meaning of the Third Commandment is, "Thou
shalt not take the name of thy God in that which is false"-that
is, to confirm an untruth. The command not to take a false oath, or
any oath upon a trifling occasion, by implication carries with it the
permission to call upon the God of truth to confirm the truth upon all
worthy occasions. Hence the oath is enjoined in the Old Testament as
a recognized religious institution. Deut. vi.13; x.10, etc.[5]
- John Locke
- Lastly, those are not all to be tolerated
who deny the being of God. Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are
the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist. The
taking away of God, though but even in thought, dissolves all;
besides also, those that by their atheism undermine and destroy all
religion, can have no pretence of religion whereupon to challenge
the privilege of toleration.
- Essay on Toleration, Chas Sherman ed., (NY:
Appleton-Century, 1937) pp. 212-13
-
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Iredell (1788):
- According to the modern definition of an
oath, it is considered a "solemn appeal to the Supreme Being
for the truth of what is said by a person who believes in the
existence of a Supreme Being and in a future state of rewards and
punishments according to that form which would bind his conscience
most.
- Jonathan Elliot, ed., Debates on the Adoption
of the Federal Constitution, Vol. 4, p.196
Debates in the Convention of North Carolina, Wednesday, July 30,
1788.
-
- Rufus King, very influential Founder
(but unknown to most secularists):
- [In o]ur laws . . . by the oath which they
prescribe, we appeal to the Supreme Being so to deal with us
hereafter as we observe the obligation of our oaths. The Pagan world
were and are without the mighty influence of this principle which is
proclaimed in the Christian system -- their morals were destitute of
its powerful sanction while their oaths neither awakened the hopes
nore fears which a belief in Christianity inspires.
- Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the
Convention of 1821, Assembled for the Purpose of Amending The
Constitution of the State of New York (Albany: E. and E.
Hosford, 1821), p. 575, Oct. 30, 1821.
-
- Hon. OLIVER WOLCOTT
- I do not see the necessity of such a test as
some gentlemen wish for. The Constitution enjoins an oath upon all
the officers of the United States. This is a direct appeal to that
God who is the avenger of perjury. Such an appeal to him is a full
acknowledgment of his being and providence. An acknowledgment of
these great truths is all that the gentleman contends for. For
myself, I should be content either with or without that clause in
the Constitution which excludes test laws. Knowledge and liberty are
so prevalent in this country, that I do not believe that the United
States would ever be disposed to establish one religious sect, and
lay all others under legal disabilities. But as we know not what may
take place hereafter, and any such test would be exceedingly
injurious to the rights of free citizens, I cannot think it
altogether superfluous to have added a clause, which secures us from
the possibility of such oppression. I shall only add, that I give my
assent to this Constitution, and am happy to see the states in a
fair way to adopt a Constitution which will protect their rights and
promote their welfare.
- Jonathan Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the
Federal Constitution, Vol. 2, p.202
Fragment of the Debates in the Convention of the State of
Connecticut, January 9, 1788
-
- Jurare est Deum in testum vocare, et est actus divini cultus.
- To swear is to call God to witness, and is an act of
religion.
3 Co. Inst. 165. Vide 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 3180, note; 1 Benth.
Rat. of Jud. Ev. 376, 371, note.
The
rest of this page is devoted to reprinting Scripture
references to oaths. Most people are unaware of the significance of
oaths in the Bible. Perhaps these verses will help us recover a missing
dimension of the Christian life.
Verses from Nave's Topical Bible
God Makes Oaths
Genesis 22:15-17 Then the Angel of the LORD
called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, {16} and said: "By
Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you
have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son;
{17} "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply
your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on
the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their
enemies.
Psalm 89:35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie
to David:
Psalm 95:11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My
rest.'"
Psalm 105:9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His
oath to Isaac,
Psalm 132:11 The LORD has sworn in truth
to David; He will not turn from it: "I will set upon your throne
the fruit of your body.
Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has
sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to
pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of
My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee
shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.
Isaiah 49:18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these
gather together and come to you. As I live," says the LORD,
"You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.
Jeremiah 11:5 "that I may establish the oath which I have
sworn to your fathers, to give them 'a land flowing with milk and
honey,' as it is this day." ' " And I answered and said,
"So be it, LORD."
Jeremiah 22:5 "But if you will not hear these words, I
swear by Myself," says the LORD, "that
this house shall become a desolation."' "
Jeremiah 49:13 "For I have sworn by Myself," says
the LORD, "that Bozrah shall become a
desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall
be perpetual wastes."
Jeremiah 51:14 The LORD of hosts has
sworn by Himself: "Surely I will fill you with men, as with
locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you."
Luke 1:73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
Hebrews 3:11,18 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter
My rest.'" {18} And to whom did He swear that they would not enter
His rest, but to those who did not obey?
Hebrews 4:3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He
has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'
" although the works were finished from the foundation of the
world.
Hebrews 6:13-14,17 For when God made a promise to Abraham,
because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14
saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will
multiply you." {17} Thus God, determining to show more abundantly
to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by
an oath,
Hebrews 7:21,28 (for they have become priests without an oath,
but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD
has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According to
the order of Melchizedek'"), {28} For the law appoints as high
priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came
after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Revelation 10:5-6 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and
on the land raised up his hand to heaven {6} and swore by Him who lives
forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the
earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are
in it, that there should be delay no longer,
[Back to text]
Swearing in God's Name
Deuteronomy 6:13 "You shall fear the LORD
your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
Deuteronomy 10:20 "You shall fear the LORD
your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take
oaths in His name.
Joshua 23:7 "and lest you go among these nations, these
who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their
gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor
bow down to them,
1 Samuel 20:42 Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace,
since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD,
saying, 'May the LORD be between you and me, and
between your descendants and my descendants, forever.' " So he
arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
1 Samuel 24:21 "Therefore swear now to me by the LORD
that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not
destroy my name from my father's house."
1 Kings 22:16 So the king said to him, "How many times
shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the
name of the LORD?"
2 Chronicles 18:15 So the king said to him, "How many
times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in
the name of the LORD?"
Psalm 63:11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who
swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall
be stopped.
Isaiah 48:1 "Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called
by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of
Judah; Who swear by the name of the LORD, And make
mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness;
Jeremiah 12:16 "And it shall be, if they will learn
carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the LORD
lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be
established in the midst of My people.
Jeremiah 44:26 "Therefore hear the word of the LORD,
all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My
great name,' says the LORD, 'that My name shall no
more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt,
saying, "The Lord GOD lives."
Zechariah 5:4 "I will send out the curse," says the
LORD of hosts; "It shall enter the house of
the thief And the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It
shall remain in the midst of his house And consume it, with its timber
and stones."
[Back to text]
Biblical Form: "The LORD
Lives!"
Numbers 14:28 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD,
'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:
Judges 8:19 Then he said, "They were my brothers, the
sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had
let them live, I would not kill you."
Ruth 3:13 "Stay this night, and in the morning it shall
be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you; good;
let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then
I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD
lives! Lie down until morning."
1 Samuel 14:39,45 "For as the LORD
lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall
surely die." But not a man among all the people answered him. {45}
But the people said to Saul, "Shall Jonathan die, who has
accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the LORD
lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has
worked with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan, and he
did not die.
1 Samuel 19:6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul
swore, "As the LORD lives, he shall not be
killed."
1 Samuel 20:3,21 Then David took an oath again, and said,
"Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes,
and he has said, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.'
But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul
lives, there is but a step between me and death." {21} "and
there I will send a lad, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I expressly
say to him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and
come'; then, as the LORD lives, there is safety
for you and no harm.
1 Samuel 25:26,34 "Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD
lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has
held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with
your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my
lord be as Nabal. {34} "For indeed, as the LORD
God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you
had hastened and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would
have been left to Nabal!"
1 Samuel 26:10,16 David said furthermore, "As the LORD
lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall
come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. {16} "This
thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD
lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the
Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jug of
water that was by his head."
1 Samuel 28:10 And Saul swore to her by the LORD,
saying, "As the LORD lives, no punishment
shall come upon you for this thing."
1 Samuel 29:6 Then Achish called David and said to him,
"Surely, as the LORD lives, you have been
upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is
good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the
day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you.
2 Samuel 4:9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother,
the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, "As the LORD
lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity,
2 Samuel 12:5 So David's anger was greatly aroused against the
man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD
lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
2 Samuel 14:11 Then she said, "Please let the king
remember the LORD your God, and do not permit the
avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son." And
he said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of
your son shall fall to the ground."
2 Samuel 15:21 And Ittai answered the king and said, "As
the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives,
surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or
life, even there also your servant will be."
2 Samuel 22:47 "The LORD lives!
Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!
1 Kings 1:29 And the king took an oath and said, "As the
LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every
distress,
1 Kings 2:24 "Now therefore, as the LORD
lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father,
and who has established a house for me, as He promised, Adonijah shall
be put to death today!"
1 Kings 17:1,12 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of
Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of
Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these
years, except at my word." {12} So she said, "As the LORD
your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin,
and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks
that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat
it, and die."
1 Kings 18:10,15 "As the LORD your
God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent
someone to hunt for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he took
an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. {15}
Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts
lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him
today."
1 Kings 22:14 And Micaiah said, "As the LORD
lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will
speak."
2 Kings 2:2,4,6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here,
please, for the LORD has sent me on to
Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!" So they went
down to Bethel. {4} Then Elijah said to him, "Elisha, stay here,
please, for the LORD has sent me on to
Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!" So they came
to Jericho. {6} Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, please, for
the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan." But
he said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul
lives, I will not leave you!" So the two of them went on.
2 Kings 3:14 And Elisha said, "As the LORD
of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard
the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor
see you.
2 Kings 4:30 And the mother of the child said, "As the LORD
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So he arose
and followed her.
2 Kings 5:16,20 But he said, "As the LORD
lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing." And he urged
him to take it, but he refused. {20} But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha
the man of God, said, "Look, my master has spared Naaman this
Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD
lives, I will run after him and take something from him."
2 Chronicles 18:13 And Micaiah said, "As the LORD
lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak."
Jeremiah 4:2 And you shall swear, 'The LORD
lives,' In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall
bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory."
Jeremiah 5:2 Though they say, 'As the LORD
lives,' Surely they swear falsely."
Jeremiah 8:3 "Then death shall be chosen rather than life
by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain
in all the places where I have driven them," says the LORD
of hosts.
Jeremiah 12:16 "And it shall be, if they will learn
carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the LORD
lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be
established in the midst of My people.
Jeremiah 16:14-15 "Therefore behold, the days are
coming," says the LORD, "that it shall
no more be said, 'The LORD lives who brought up
the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' {15} but, 'The LORD
lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north
and from all the lands where He had driven them.' For I will bring them
back into their land which I gave to their fathers."
Jeremiah 22:24 "As I live," says the LORD,
"though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet
on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off;
Jeremiah 23:7-8 "Therefore, behold, the days are
coming," says the LORD, "that they shall
no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up
the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' {8} but, 'As the LORD
lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from
the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.'
And they shall dwell in their own land."
Jeremiah 38:16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to
Jeremiah, saying, "As the LORD lives, who
made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you
into the hand of these men who seek your life."
Jeremiah 44:26 "Therefore hear the word of the LORD,
all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My
great name,' says the LORD, 'that My name shall no
more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt,
saying, "The Lord GOD lives."
Jeremiah 46:18 "As I live," says the King, Whose
name is the LORD of hosts, "Surely as Tabor
is among the mountains And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.
Hosea 4:15 "Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not
Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor
swear an oath, saying, 'As the LORD lives';
Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as I live," Says the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel, "Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, And
the people of Ammon like Gomorrah; Overrun with weeds and saltpits, And
a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, And
the remnant of My people shall possess them."
[Back to text]
from Naves Topical Bible:
Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.
Leviticus 19:12 'And you shall not swear by My name falsely,
nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 5:11 'You shall not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.
Exodus 22:10-11 "If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey,
an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven
away, no one seeing it, {11} "then an oath of the LORD
shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his
neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall
not make it good.
Exodus 23:1 "You shall not circulate a false report. Do
not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Numbers 5:19-24 'And the priest shall put her under oath, and
say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you have not
gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, be free
from this bitter water that brings a curse. {20} "But if you have
gone astray while under your husband's authority, and if you have
defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with
you"; {21} 'then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of
the curse, and he shall say to the woman; "the LORD
make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD
makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; {22} "and may this water
that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell
and your thigh rot." Then the woman shall say, "Amen, so be
it." {23} 'Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and
he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. {24} 'And he shall make
the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that
brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.
Leviticus 6:2-5 "If a person sins and commits a trespass
against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about
what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a
robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, {3} "or if he has
found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely; in any
one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: {4} "then
it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore
what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was
delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, {5}
"or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its
full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it
belongs, on the day of his trespass offering.
Deuteronomy 6:13 "You shall fear the LORD
your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
Deuteronomy 10:20 "You shall fear the LORD
your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take
oaths in His name.
1 Kings 8:31-32 "When anyone sins against his neighbor,
and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your
altar in this temple, {32} "then hear in heaven, and act, and judge
Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and
justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
Psalm 15:1-2,4 LORD, who may abide in
Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? {2} He who walks
uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;
{4} In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who
fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and
does not change;
Ecclesiastes 8:2 I say, "Keep the king's commandment for
the sake of your oath to God.
Isaiah 48:1 "Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called
by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of
Judah; Who swear by the name of the LORD, And make
mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness;
Jeremiah 4:2 And you shall swear, 'The LORD
lives,' In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall
bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory."
Jeremiah 5:2 Though they say, 'As the LORD
lives,' Surely they swear falsely."
Jeremiah 12:16 "And it shall be, if they will learn
carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the LORD
lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be
established in the midst of My people.
Daniel 9:11 "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law,
and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and
the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured
out on us, because we have sinned against Him.
Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his
left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall
be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy
people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be
finished.
Hosea 4:15 "Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not
Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor
swear an oath, saying, 'As the LORD lives';
Matthew 26:63-64 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest
answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:
Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" {64} Jesus said to
him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you
will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven."
2 Corinthians 1:23 / Galatians 1:20 See
Below
Hebrews 6:16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath
for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
Revelation 10:5-6 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and
on the land raised up his hand to heaven {6} and swore by Him who lives
forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the
earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are
in it, that there should be delay no longer,
[Back to text]
Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with
my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention
of you always in my prayers,
Romans 9:1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not
lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 1:18 But as God is true, our word
toward you was not yea and nay.
2 Corinthians 1:23 Moreover I call God for a
record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie
not.
Galatians 1:20 (Now concerning the things
which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord,
that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind,
Philippians 1:8 For God is my record, how
greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:5 For neither at any time
did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness;
God is witness.
1 Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a
preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
I cannot take a secular oath. To do so is to declare publicly
that my words are not made in the Presence of God. It is to swear
in the name of some other god than the God of the Bible. I can
only take an explicitly Trinitarian "test oath."
Conclusions
Because of the importance attached to oaths by Scripture and
centuries of common law experience, it is important for us to consider
the oath of office.
If we are tempted to think that the oath is not important, perhaps
because we have heard some Christians say the Bible says we should never
take an oath at all, we
should reconsider our position.
NOTES
1.
"Wigmore has traced the long history of the oath from its
'summoning of Divine vengeance upon false swearing,' to 'a method of
reminding the witness of the Divine punishment somewhere in store for
false swearing,' 6 Wigmore on Evidence 285" Imbrie v. Marsh,
3 NJ 578, 71 A2d 352 at 354, 18 ALR2d 241 at 243 (1950).
Rushdoony quotes Calvin:
We shall soon see that to swear by God's name is a species or part
of religious worship, and this is manifest too from the words of
Isaiah (xlv.23), for when he predicts that all nations shall devote
themselves to pure religion, he thus speaks, "As I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear by
me." [Calvin, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses,
II, 408.]
Rushdoony, "Swearing as Worship," Institutes of Biblical
Law, n.p.: The Craig Press, 1973, 115.
Webster's Dictionary (1828 ed.) defines oath:
A solemn affirmation or declaration, made with an appeal to God for
the truth of what is affirmed. The appeal to God in an oath, implies
that the person imprecates his vengeance and renounces his favor if
the declaration is false, or if the declaration is a promise, the
person invokes the vengeance of God if he should fail to fulfill it. A
false oath is called perjury.
[Back to text]
2. Ch. XXII, iii, citing Numbers 5:19,21; Nehemiah
5:12; Exodus 22:7- 11. [Back to text]
3. Cf. R. Rushdoony, "Oath and
Covenant," in Institutes of Biblical Law 522-525 (1973); G.
North, "Oaths, Covenant, and Contracts," in The Sinai
Strategy, 51-71 (1986). [Back to text]
4. The Works of John Witherspoon
(Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), vol. VII, pp. 139-40, 142, from his
"Lectures on Moral Philosophy," Lecture 16 on Oaths and Vows.
Quoted in Dreisbach, In Search of a Christian Commonwealth: An
Examination of Selected Nineteenth-Century Commentaries on References to
God and the Christian Religion in the United States Constitution,
48 BAYLOR L. REV. 927, 982 (1996), with
attribution to Witherspoon, Of Oaths and Vows, in LECTURES
ON MORAL PHILOSOPHY 130 (Varnum
L. Collins, ed., 1912) [Back to text]
5. A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith, 287
(1869 [1978]). Hodge was a professor at Princeton, 1877-86. [Back
to text]