worship, and in the duties of neceffity and mer

cy.

CHA P. XXII.

Of lawful Oaths and Vows.

A

Lawful oath is a part of religious worfhip, wherein upon juft occafion, the perfon fwearing, folemnly calleth God to witness what he afferteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he fweareth'.

II. The name of God only is that by which men ought to fwear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence: therefore to

p Ifai. 58. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the fabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the fabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and fhalt honour hin, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor fpeaking thine own words. Mat. 12. I. to the 13th verse.

I. a Deut. 10. 20. Thou fhalt fear the Lord thy God, him fhalt thou ferve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and fwear by his name.

b Exod, 20. 7. Thou shalt

L

not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Lev. 19. 12. And ye shall not fwear by my name falfely, neither fhalt thou prophane, the name of thy God: I am the Lord. 2 Cor. 1. 23. Moreover I call. God for a record upon my foul, that to spare you, came not as yet unto Corinth. See alfo 2 Chron. 6. 22, 23.

II. c Deut. 6. 13. Thou fhalt fear the Lord thy God, and ferve him, and fhalt fwear by his name.

swear vainly or rafhly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to fwear at all by any other thing, is finful, and to be abhorred". Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the word of God under the New Testament, as well as under the Old, so a lawful oath, being imposed by lawful authority, in fuch matters ought to be taken.

III. Whofoever taketh an oath ought duly to confider the weightinefs of fo folemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully purfuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself by oath to any thing but what is good and juft, and what he believeth fo to be, and what he is able and refolved to perform".

d Jer. 5. 7 How fhall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forfaken me, and fworn by them that are no Gods: when I fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and affembled themfelves by troops in the harlots' houses. Jam. 5. 12. But above all things, my brethren, fwear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath but let your yea, be yea, and your nay, nay; left ye fall into condemnation. See the 3rd commandment in Exod. 20 7.

e Heb. 6. 16. For men verily wear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Ifa. 65. 16.

f 1 Kings 8. 3t. If any man trefpafs against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to fwear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house. Ezra 10. 5. Then arose Ezra, and made the chief pricfts, the Levites, and all Ifrael to swear, that they should do according to this word; and they sware.

III. g Jer. 4. 2. And thou fhalt fwear; The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteoufnefs; and the nations fhall bless themfelves in him, and in him fhall they glory. See alfo Exod. 20. 7.

h Gen, 24 2, 3, 9. And Abraham faid unto his eldeft fervant of his house, that ruled

Yet it is a fin to refuse an oath touching any thing that is good and juft, being impofed by lawful authority'.

IV. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common fenfe of the words, without equivocation or mental refervation. It cannot oblige to fin; but in any thing not finful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt': nor is it to be violated, although made to hereticks or infidels".

i Numb. 5. 19, I. And the prieft fhall charge her by an oath, and fay unto the woman, If no man hath lien with thee, and if thou haft not gone afide to uncleannefs with another inftead of thy hufband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curfe. -Then the priest fhall charge the woman with an oath of curfing, and the priest fhall fay unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curfe, and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot and thy belly to fwell.

Neh. 5. 12. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they fhould do according to this purpose.

IV. k Pfal. 24. 4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his foul to vanity nor fwor deceitfully. Jer. 4. 2. let. g.

1 Pfal. 15. 4. In whofe eyes a vile perfon is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord: be that fweareth to bis own hurt, and changeth not. I Sam. 25. 22, 32, 33, 34.

m Ezek. 17. 16, 18, 19. As I live, faith the Lord God, furely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whofe oath he de fpifed, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he fhall die. Seeing he defpifed the oath, by breaking the covenant, (when lo, he had given his hand,) and hath done all thefe things, he fhall not efcape. Joh. 9. 18, 19. 2 Sam. 21. I

V. A vow is of the like nature with a promiffory oath, and ought to be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like faithfulness".

VI. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone": and that it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith, and confcience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, or for obtaining of what we want; whereby we more strictly bind ourselves to neceffary duties, or to other things, fo far and fo long as they may fitly conduce thereunto".

V. n Ifa. 19. 21. And the Lord fhall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians fhall know the Lord in that day, and fhall do facrifice and oblation, yea, they fhall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. Eccl. 5. 4, 5, 6. When thou voweft a vow unto God, defer not to pay it for be bath no pleafure in fools; pay that which thou haft vowed. Better is it that thou fhouldeft not vow, than that thou fhouldeft vow, and not pay. Pfal. 66. 13, 14. I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath fpoken when I was in trouble. Pfal. 61. 8.

V. o Pfal. 76. 11. Vow and pay unto the Lord your God; let all that be round about him bring prefents unto him that ought to be feared. Jer. 44. 25, 26.

p Deut. 23. 21. 23. When thou fhalt VOW a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou fhalt not flack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will furely require it of thee; and it would be fin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt keep and perform,

even

a free-will-offering, according as thou haft vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou haft promifed with thy mouth. Pfal. 50. 14. Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Moft High.

Gen. 28. 20, 21, 22. And Jacob vowed a vow, faying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on; fo that I come again to my father's house in

VII. No man may vow to do any thing forbidden in the word of God, or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is not in his own power, and for the performance whereof he hath no promife or ability from God. In which refpects, popith monaftical vows of perpetual fingle life, profeffed poverty, and regular obedience, are fo far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are fuperftitious and finful fnares, in which no Chriftian may entangle himself".