Chapter 24
Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
- A lawful oath is a part of religious
worship, wherein the person swearing in
truth, righteousness and judgment,
solemnly calleth God to witness what he
sweareth,1 and to
judge him according to the truth or
falseness thereof.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 being
imposed, by lawful authority, in such
matters, ought to be taken.4
- Whosoever taketh 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 knoweth to be truth; for that by
rash, false, and vain oaths, the Lord is
provoked, and for them this land
mourns.5
- An oath is to be taken in the plain
and common sense of the words, without
equivocation or mental
reservation.6
- 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:7 but
popish monastical vows, of perpetual
single life,8
professed poverty,9
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.10
Footnotes:
1. Ex
20:7; Dt 10:20; Jer 4:2.
2. 2Ch
6:22-23.
3. Mt
5:34,37; Jas 5:12.
4. Ne
13:25.
5. Lev
19:12; Jer 23:10.
6. Ps
24:4.
7. Ps
76:11; Ge 28:20-22.
8. 1Co
7:2,9.
9. Eph
4:28.
10.
Mt 19:11.
©1998 Limerick Free
Baptist Church
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Free
Baptist Church of Limerick