CHAPTER 23; OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS
Paragraph 1. A lawful oath
is a part of religious worship, wherein the person swearing in truth, righteousness,
and judgment, solemnly calls God to witness what he swears,1 and
to judge him according to the truth or falseness thereof.2
1 Exod. 20:7; Deut.
10:20; Jer. 4:2
2 2 Chron. 6:22,
23
Paragraph 2. The name of
God only is that by which men ought to swear; and therein it is to be used,
with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by
that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing,
is sinful, and to be abhorred;3 yet as in matter of weight and moment,
for confirmation of truth, and ending all strife, an oath is warranted
by the word of God;4 so a lawful oath being imposed by lawful authority
in such matters, ought to be taken.5
3 Matt. 5:34,37;
James 5:12
4 Heb. 6:16; 2 Cor.
1:23
5 Neh. 13:25
Paragraph 3. Whosoever takes
an oath warranted by the word of God, ought duly to consider the weightiness
of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he knows to
be truth; for that by rash, false, and vain oaths, the Lord is provoked,
and for them this land mourns.6
6 Lev. 19:12; Jer.
23:10
Paragraph 4. An oath is to
be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation
or mental reservation.7
7 Ps. 24:4
Paragraph 5. A vow, which
is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone, is to be made and
performed with all religious care and faithfulness;8 but popish
monastical vows of perpetual single life,9 professed poverty,10
and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection,
that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may
entangle himself.11
8 Ps. 76:11; Gen.
28:20-22
9 1 Cor. 7:2,9
10 Eph. 4:28
11 Matt. 19:1