Lecture 10 — Against oaths

^5:33^ You have heard it said to them of old: you shall not forswear yourself: but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord. [n. 516]

^5:34^ But I say to you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God: [n. 518]

^5:35^ nor by the earth, for it is his footstool: nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king: [n. 520]

^5:36^ neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. [n. 522]

^5:37^ But let your speech be yes, yes: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil. [n. 523]

516. You have heard it said to them of old: ‘you shall not forswear yourself.’ Above the Lord gave the fulfillment of one permissive precept, namely, about the bill of divorce. Here he fulfills another permissive precept, namely, about swearing.

And concerning this he does three things:

first, he sets down the words of the law;

second, he gives their fulfillment;

third, he answers a question.

The second is at but I say to you;

the third, at but let your speech be.

517. But it must be considered that there are two things contained in the words of the law, one of which was simply prohibitive, the other permissive. The prohibitive one: perjury, and this is you have heard, at, you shall not swear falsely (Lev 19:12), and almost the same meaning at: you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exod 20:7). The permissive one: ‘perform your oaths to the Lord’, that is when it happens that you swear, you will swear not by creatures but by God, you shall fear the Lord your God, and shall serve him only and you shall swear by his name (Deut 6:13). And according to this it seems that this sacrament, namely, to swear by God, is not a sin, but rather the law permitted it because Jews were prone to idolatry, not as if it were licit, but that the worse thing might be avoided, namely, idolatry.

But it is clear that it is in itself a good thing to show reverence to God; to swear by God is to show reverence to God. And this is clear because in the Gloss it is said each one, and, for men swear by one greater than themselves (Heb 6:16): therefore, to swear by God is a good thing in itself. Furthermore, to swear by God is to invoke God as witness; but this is good in itself: therefore to swear by God is good in itself.

518. And it should be known that swearing in itself is not something ordered, but on the contrary carries disorder in itself. Swearing by God is nothing other than invoking God as witness to human speech. But this can happen two ways. For either divine testimony is brought in to confirm human speech alone, and this is not evil; or else divine judgment is demanded, as though to say: if it is not so, may he be damned by God. But among the deeds of men, nothing is so fragile as a word, if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man (Jas 3:2). Hence to invoke God as witness in something in which man is so fragile, is to condemn the judgment of God, a man who swears much will be filled with iniquity (Sir 23:12).

But the Lord fulfills this accordingly. Hence but I say to you not to swear at all. Therefore swearing in itself is illicit. Therefore since judges compel people to swear in court, it seems that they act against a precept; and this is the opinion of certain heretics who say that swearing is permitted to no one. And Jerome answers that the Lord here prohibits swearing by creatures, and this for the sake of the Jews who were prone to idolatry: hence he does not prohibit swearing simply. But this does not seem a good explanation, for then the Lord would add nothing to the words of the law which says ‘perform your oaths to the Lord.’ And therefore it should be said, according to Augustine, that the Lord prohibits swearing by God and by creatures.

519. But then there remains a twofold question. First, that our Lord would have destroyed the law which says render your vows to the Lord; second, because according to this it seems that swearing is illicit. And Augustine answers that just as the bill of divorce was not intended by the law, but permitted on account of the cruelty of the Jews, and the Lord fulfilled it; because in no way did he will that the law be given the same way here, he commanded that they not forswear, but if they swore they should swear not by creatures but by God. But the Lord fulfills it when he says not to swear. And just as no one who keeps silence can lie, so also someone who never swears is most removed from perjury.

To the argument that swearing is illicit, it should be said, according to Augustine, that it is the same Holy Spirit who is spoken of in the holy Scriptures and who worked among the holy men. Hence whatever may be the understanding of the Scriptures is clear from the words of the holy men. Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit, and nevertheless he swore twice, for both in an oath of simple testimony: for God is my witness (Rom 1:9); and in an oath of imprecation, which is when someone pledges his salvation or his soul to God, but I call God to witness upon my soul (1 Cor 1:9). And if it is said that this is not an oath, this is ridiculous, for it is the same thing to swear by God and to swear upon my soul: *I die daily, I protest by your glory, brethren (*1 Cor 15:31); and in Greek, the by is understood as may I swear. Therefore if Paul swore it seems that the Lord did not intend to prohibit swearing, but rather carelessness in swearing. And it shows that swearing is not in itself to be sought, but rather avoided except when necessary: and thus Augustine says that Paul never swore except in writing because it should not be done except with great caution and deliberation and out of necessity unless required for the benefit of others.

520. But it could be said that it is evil to swear by God, but not to swear by something less than God. And the Lord excludes this, hence neither by heaven. To swear by creatures can be either with idolatry or without idolatry. For if judgment is attributed to these things, namely by demanding judgment from created things, then that is idolatry, as with the ancients who said the sky was God. In another way it can be without sin or idolatry in two ways. First, inasmuch as a created thing is pledged to God by calling for judgment on it, as when men swear by their heads. Second, inasmuch as in any created thing there appears some evidence of divine majesty, as if it is sworn by the sky, his strength and power are manifest in the sky. Hence here he sets down more excellent created things by which someone could swear.

And this excellence is manifest in three things, namely, the two elements: heaven and earth, under which are contained all other things as middles between extremes. And as to the fact that he says neither by heaven: heaven is my throne and earth my footstool (Isa 66:1). Chrysostom: he does not say neither by heaven because it is some kind of large body, or nor by the earth which is mother of all things, but he shows their excellence by their relationship to God.

521. But does God have members and a position and that kind of thing? Hence this is explained in two ways. First, literally. For seat is said of that thing where someone rests, and he rests wherever he perfectly stands. For thus among corporeal created things the heaven participates more greatly in divine goodness and the earth less; thus heaven is called the seat, earth the footstool. Likewise men are accustomed to sitting at judgment. And heaven is said because the Lord sometimes judges by those things that come from heaven, by these he judges people (Job 36:31), namely by lightning and that sort of thing.

But mystically, by heaven holy men are understood, whose conversation is in heaven: but our conversation is in heaven (Phil 3:20). Through these God judges: the spiritual man judges all things (2 Cor 2:15). Earth represents sinners, because of their earthly affections, who mind earthly things (Phil 3:19); footstool, because if they do not fulfill the law that they are under, they will be punished.

522. For man’s way of life, he sets the city, and among the other cities Jerusalem is preeminent because God is worshipped there; and this is nor by Jerusalem: glorious things are said of you, O city of God (Ps 87:3), and, Jerusalem, which is built as a city (Ps 122:3).

And by members of the body. But because it could be said that we should not swear by the greater members, but by the lesser ones, for this reason he says nor by your head. For anyone can do what he wishes with what is his own; but man does not have power over his own head as to every least thing; therefore, he should not swear by it. And this is for you cannot make one hair white or black, according to nature, that is: no one can add to his stature one cubit (Matt 6:72).

523. But it may be said, how then will we speak? He answers and first satisfies the question, second, gives the reason. Therefore he says let your speech be. And this can be explained in three ways. The first in this way. If someone should ask, is this so? Let your speech be yes, yes; no, no. It is or it is not. Second, that the mouth not say something and the heart feel something else and the actions show something else again: who speak peace with their neighbors: but evils are in their hearts (Ps 28:3). The third is like this, and it is more literal. Let your speech be yes, yes: if a thing is, it is; if it is not, it is not; as though he were saying: you shall say one thing simply. For this is the definition of the true: to be what is and not to be what is not. And this is Hilary’s explanation, Christ Jesus . . . was not: it is and it is not. But it is, was in him (2 Cor 1:19).

524. He does not say it is evil, but it is of evil, not from your own but from another, since to swear is of the body, although nevertheless it may be expedient that the other might believe; and this is how the Apostle swore. Or, according to Chrysostom, and that which is over and above these, by this it is clear that in the old law he prohibited one oath, namely, perjury, but he allowed another, namely, swearing out of necessity. He removes the third oath, namely, a superstitious one, which is when a created thing is shown reverence that is owed to the creator.