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 Dear
bro. Turner:
Does
Jas. 5:12 prohibit taking oath for
an elective office or in court?
If all oath-taking is wrong, why
did God swear? (Heb. 6:13-f)
Reply:
Space
will not permit a full study of oath-taking, but (tighten seat
belts) in its early form it indicated faith in the presence of
Almighty God. It said, "I know God hears me, and holds me
accountable for my words. I promise thus and so, aware that I am
in His presence. I acknowledge Him as witness, etc., etc."
Note
Paul's "oath": "Now the things which I write unto
you, behold, before God, I lie not." (Gal. 1:20) Or in 1
Thes. 5:27 "I charge (adjure,rt) you by the Lord that this
epistle he read unto all the holy brethren." The difference
in an oath and "cursing" should be apparent, despite
the fact that the terms are sometimes confused (cf. Herod's
oath, albeit a foolish one; and Peter denying Christ with an
"oath" (curse). (Matt. 14:7-9; 26:72) The degeneration
of the oath kept pace with loss of genuine respect for God and
absolute faith in His presence. None who are deeply aware of
God's presence could, acting impassionately, call upon God to
witness their foolish words and deeds. But as God is taken less
seriously, an oath calling upon God as witness is considered
less important.
God
"swore by Himself" i.e., called upon Himself as
witness, "because He could swear by no greater." (Heb.
6:13) The indications are that if there had been one greater. He
would have sworn by Him.
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Taking
an oath is a serious business, and imposes grave responsibility.
But
Jesus said, "Swear not at all" (Matt. 5:33-37)
"let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay..."
Here, in our day by day communications, our integrity should be
such as to call for no "witness." Jesus does not
question the use of God as witness, per se; but strikes at the
moral decay -- lying, cheating, and dishonor -- that had
developed specious "rules" concerning oaths (see Matt.
23:16-22) and made a mockery of calling God to witness our
casual transactions.
When
Jesus said, "Whatsoever is more than these (yea, nay, rt)
cometh of evil." (Matt. 5:37) He asserts that Satan and his
influence establish the clime that produces, in reaction, all
guarantees, certifications, and calling to witness. If nothing
but truth were known in the world, neither God nor Paul would
have used an oath. It was for a world made skeptical by the lies
which abound -- not because of weakness on God or Paul's part --
that a witness was called. Christ teaches a series of lessons
(Matt. 5:20-ff) that delve beneath the overt act, and get to the
heart of matters.
Lenski
says, "The man whose heart is true to God utters every
statement he makes as though it were made in the very presence
of God before whom even his heart with its inmost thought lies
bare." Taking a required oath to satisfy legal procedure
adds nothing to the word of one already wholly honest,
"before God and man."
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