Should a Christian Swear an Oath?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The question: the Sermon on the Mount vs. the professional oath

• The question posed (in the host's frame, reading the text): in the Sermon on the Mount, Scripture — Jesus said: you have heard that it was said to the people long ago: do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. But I tell you: do not swear an oath at all. All you need to say is simply yes or no; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. That's the text (from the Sermon on the Mount) as the host reads it and names its place. So some of our audience members have read these verses, and that has sparked a question for them — because they're in professions that require members to swear an oath. This would include members of the military, doctors, lawyers, judges, political office holders, just to name a few. Is swearing an oath when you go into one of these roles — for example, the military or law enforcement — a violation of Christian teaching? And is there an alternative for Christians?

Scriptures: Matthew 5:33-34; Matthew 5:37

The root teaching: be known for telling the truth

• His answer: you know, this is a teaching of honesty — Scripture that we don't often consider, and we should consider it more than we do. And the root teaching is honesty, integrity. And there's a problem in our culture — and I see it even in church: people take the truth very lightly. And so it's very easy to lie, to get out of trouble; it's easy to shade the truth when it's in our best interest — or we think it's in our best interest. And so I think we need to really heed the words of Jesus. What he's really trying to say, at the bottom line, is: we should — as Christians, we should be known as telling the truth, at all times. Now, I will hasten to add: maybe you don't have to say everything you think, or everything you know. Also, you're not obligated to tell the truth — you shouldn't lie, but you're not obligated to tell the truth, the full whole truth, nothing but the truth, to everyone who asks. So: to your spouse, there's a high degree of accountability; to a stranger, you're not obligated to explain a lot of things. So part — one question could be: to whom do you owe the truth? And so, like, if it's the Nazis who are knocking on your door, saying: do you have Jews in your house? — do you have an obligation to tell them the truth? And, you know, there could be different questions on that. That brings up another issue: is there a hierarchy, where you can do a lesser evil to avoid a greater evil? But aside from those rare cases, I think what Jesus is saying is: we should be known as people of our word. We always tell the truth — it's a given; we're going to always tell the truth. Our friends, our employees, employers, our co-workers are going to know: whatever we say, they can count on.

What an oath actually implies — two standards, and no authority to swear

• And so, when you — if you think about it: when you swear by an oath, what you're actually implying is: normally you can't trust me to tell the truth, but in this formal, witness, rare case, I promise you. And again, our society doesn't fully appreciate this, but when you say 'oath', what that technically means is: you're calling God to be your formal witness. So what you're saying is: if I'm not telling the truth, I'm asking God to strike me dead, right now. So for people that really believe in God, that believe in judgment, believe in heaven and hell — that's pretty serious. So in generations past, for people to take an oath — and usually they would do it on the Bible — that is actually saying: I want God to judge me, and if I am lying, or if I don't keep my promise, I want God to kill me and send me to hell. And so for Old Testament people that are believers, that's about as strong as you can say. But Jesus comes against that, saying no — because you're implying there are two standards of truth: that most of the time, you can't count on me to be honest, but this time you can.
• And also, maybe you don't really have authority to do that. You know, and Jesus uses the example: don't swear by God's throne — don't swear by heaven, because it's God's throne; nor by earth, because it's his footstool (heard as 'foot stol'); nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the king (heard as 'the seity of the king'); nor shall you swear by your head, because you can't make one hair white or black. I guess some people try to challenge the Lord on that. So he's saying: whatever you would swear by, you don't have authority. Now, in the Old Testament, we find God swearing by himself — that's okay, because he's vouching for himself. But who would we call? We don't have control over — so you swear on the Holy Bible: can you change the Holy Bible? You know, you don't have the right to say that. And so Jesus is saying: just be known for telling the truth.

James echoes Jesus — and Paul's 'God is my witness' weighed

• Also, we have the same teaching in the book of James — which is kind of interesting, because James often echoes — several places echoes — the Sermon on the Mount. Which, maybe he's writing to a primary Jewish audience; but maybe he's the half-brother of Jesus, so he's one of the ones that seems to actually go back to the very words of Jesus more than most of the others. But: James 5:12 — but above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no — lest you fall into judgment.
• Now, some people have also said: there's a few places in the Apostle Paul's writings, he says: I'm telling the truth, I'm not lying — you know, God is my witness (the delivered text carries debris in the phrase). Or they say: isn't he writing — isn't he, you know, taking an oath? I don't think it rises to that level. He's just trying to say, as we might say when we're challenged, or when our integrity is questioned — it's not that we can't be trusted normally, but when we're under attack, we can say: look, you know, God knows I'm telling the truth. I'm — yes, I'm verifying.

Scriptures: James 5:12

The practical case: normal speech, formal settings, and 'I affirm'

• So the practical case: I do think this means, in our normal speech, we should not say: I swear this, I swear that — because you are implying two standards of truth; you are implying less trustworthiness for most of what I say. So I don't think, in our conversation, we should ever do that. Now, when it comes to a formal declaration: many Christians, theologians, have said: well, that's not what Jesus or James is talking about — because it's more like what Paul was saying, when your integrity is challenged, or when you're formally put on formal legal notice, that: are you telling the truth, or not? And of course, in a legal context, you're assuming not just you as a Christian, but the whole society, which cannot be trusted. So many will argue there is an exception for that. However, what's very interesting: under US law, going back from early times — and this is because of a Baptist of the Reformation (as the phrase is heard): they took this very literally, and said: we don't want to take any oath. And the Quakers, and others. So under US law, you can say: I affirm — which simply means: yes, I'm affirming this statement. So you can always say — and US law, usually you'll see, if you're asked to sign something, 'do you swear or affirm' — or when you go to a court, they can ask you: do you swear or affirm (heard once as 'airm'). And sometimes they'll give you a choice. And — or if they say, do you solemnly swear, you could respond and say: I'm willing to affirm. Now, some would regard that as a technicality. But the distinction is: when you swear, you're calling God as the witness. When you affirm, you're just simply saying: I'm telling the truth. If you're wanting to know — you're challenging me, you're questioning me — I am telling the truth. But I'm not presuming to bring God into the picture. I'm not presuming — because, you know, even though the concept is: if I'm lying, God can strike me dead — but who's to say God is going to strike you dead? What if he does — does that mean you're telling the truth? Not necessarily. Who are you to manipulate God? Who are you to put God on the spot, saying: well, God, if I'm not telling the truth, you have to kill me? No, he doesn't. You know, he's sovereign; he can do what he wants to do.

His own practice — and the right to conceal [captured text ends mid-sentence]

• My personal feeling is this — what I practice: don't swear by anything. And I do, always — whenever I'm called in a legal context, I always say: I'm willing to affirm. I'm not saying that is essential. But I do think we should take this seriously: that what we say, as Christians — we should be committed to the truth. In our society, our friends and our acquaintances should know: we are going to always tell the truth. We might not say everything we know. If we're in a context where we don't owe a certain obligation to someone, we may not tell them what they might want to know. There is a right to conceal. I don't think there's a right to lie — but there is a right to conceal, from people that don't have a right to know. And you can find examples in the Old Testament, where even God himself told Samuel: when you go to anoint David as king, go with a sacrifice. If someone asks you, don't tell them about what else you're going to do — just tell them about the sacrifice. Well, some might say: that's lying. No, it's not — because the person that would be asking the question doesn't have a right to know, because they would use that to try to kill David. So you're not going to lie — but you don't have to say everything you know. So there are a lot of nuances that I've just briefly alluded to. But I think the fundamental teaching is: we should not have two standards of truth. We don't need to take oaths. We— [the captured text ends here, mid-sentence; the answer's closing words and the podcast outro were not captured — see the coverage flag on the record; nothing has been invented to fill the tail]

Scripture index: Matthew 5:33-34; Matthew 5:37; James 5:12.