Oaths and Vows

An oath is a part of religious worship,¹ in which a person swearing in truth, righteousness, and judgment, solemnly calls God to witness what he promises² and to judge him according to the truth or falseness of it.³

The name of God is the only name by which men ought to swear. 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.⁴ Yet, in matters of great significance an oath is warranted by the word of God,⁵ under the New Testament as well as under the Old. So an oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters ought to be taken.⁶

Whoever takes an oath warranted by the Word of God, should duly consider the weightiness of so solemn an act and so affirm nothing but what he knows to be the truth. For by rash, false, and vain oaths, the Lord is profaned, and for them this land mourns.⁷

An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation.⁸

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.⁹ However, Roman Catholic monastic vows of perpetual single life,¹⁰ professed poverty,¹¹ 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.¹²

1. Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ↩︎
2.  Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”  Deuteronomy 10:20 “You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.”  Jeremiah 4:2 “If you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” ↩︎
3. 2 Chronicles 6:22–23 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.” ↩︎
4. Matthew 5:34–37 “But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”  James 5:12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. ↩︎
5. Hebrews 6:16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.  2 Corinthians 1:23 I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ↩︎
6. Nehemiah 13:25 And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.” ↩︎
7. Leviticus 19:12 “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.”  Jeremiah 23:10 The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right. ↩︎
8. Psalm 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. ↩︎
9. Psalm 76:11 Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared.  Genesis 28:20–22 Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” ↩︎
10. 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.  1 Corinthians 7:9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. ↩︎
11. Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ↩︎
12. Matthew 19:11–12 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” ↩︎