Article  XXXIX

OF A CHRISTIAN MAN’S OATH^[1]

As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ, and James his Apostle, so we judge, that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the Prophet’s teaching, in justice, judgement, and truth.

Two meanings of swearing are noted in the Article: there is ‘that vain and rash swearing’, in which the divine Name is lightly spoken in ordinary affirmation or as an expletive and is condemned by all Christians; and also the witnessing on oath in a law‑court, which the Article approves.  Swearing even in this sense was rejected by the Anabaptists, and here again there was precedence for their attitude in the teaching of some Church Fathers and among the Waldensians, pioneer reformers of the twelfth century.  The Quakers, too, have always refused to take oaths, not simply because they hold it to be forbidden in the New Testament, but also on the ground of personal morality.  As Christians they invariably speak the truth; in all circumstances their word is their bond, taking an oath could only serve to cast doubt on their customary veracity.

The idea and practice of oaths permeated the structure of civilization in the Old Testament, socially and commercially, to a degree quite unfamiliar to the western way of life; hence the warnings against hasty vows and the invoking of strange gods in business transactions with the heathen.^[2]  But oaths taken under proper conditions and for a right purpose are permitted.  Jeremiah 4:2, alluded to in the Article, is a good example.  To swear by the name of the Lord was considered by the Jews to be a sign of loyalty to Him,^[3] and they conceived of God Himself taking oaths.^[4]  ‘As the Lord liveth’ was a common form of Jewish oath,^[5] and the usual gesture was to raise the right arm towards heaven,^[6] the motive being to point to the dwelling place of God.  Hence, ‘to raise the hand’ became an expression for ‘to swear’.^[7]