CHAPTER III

OF THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN

QUESTION I

Why God willed this Law to be especially laid down respecting honouring his Name

Although in the first precept of the divine law, in which we are commanded to worship God in piety and holiness, is necessarily contained this that follows in the second place; (for he that wishes to be honoured, also requires to be spoken of by us with the highest respect, and forbids the contrary, as the words of the Lord in Malachi also clearly show: A son honoureth the father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour?) yet, on account of the importance of the matter, God would make this law, which commands his divine and most holy name to be honoured, a distinct precept, and was pleased to prescribe it to us in clear and distinct terms.

QUESTION II

This Precept demands assiduous Exposition on the part of the Pastor

To the pastor himself this should be a most satisfactory proof, that it by no means suffices to speak on this matter in general terms: but that the nature of the subject is such as to require to be dwelt upon at considerable length, and explained to the faithful in all its relations with distinctness, clearness, and accuracy. Nor is this diligence to be deemed too great, whereas there are not wanting those, who are so blinded by the darkness of error as not to dread to blaspheme him, whom the angels glorify; and who are not deterred by the promulgation of the law from most shamefully disparaging the majesty of God every day, nay, almost every hour and moment of the day. Who perceives not that every assertion is accompanied with an oath; that every conversation abounds in curses and imprecations; so much so that a man scarcely buys, or sells, or transacts business of any sort, without interposing the solemn pledge of an oath, and, even in matters the most unimportant and trivial, thousands of times rashly makes use of the most holy name of God? It therefore becomes the part of the pastor to employ the greater care and diligence, to remind the faithful frequently how grievous and detestable is this crime.

QUESTION III

This Second Precept contains a Negative and a Positive Precept

In the exposition, then, of this precept, be it first well known that, besides what it forbids, it also contains a positive precept, enforcing certain things to be done. Of each, [the pastor] must give a separate exposition; and, to facilitate instruction on these subjects, he will first explain what the law commands, and next what it prohibits. What it commands then is, that the name of God is to be honoured, and that it is to be appealed to in oath with reverence; and, on the other hand, what it prohibits is, that any one contemn the divine name, to take it in vain, or swear by it falsely, vainly, or rashly.

QUESTION IV

What is here meant by the Name of God

When, therefore, we are commanded to honour the divine name, the pastor will enforce, that our attention is not directed merely to the letters or syllables of which that name of God is composed, or in any respect to the mere name, but to the import of a word used to express the Omnipotent and Eternal Majesty of the Godhead, Trinity in Unity. Hence we easily infer how unmeaning is the superstition of some amongst the Jews, who dreaded to pronounce the name of God, which they hesitated not to write, as if the divine power consisted in the four letters of which it is composed, and not in their signification. In the enunciation of the precept, however, the word name, although in the singular number, Thou shall not take the name of God, is not to be understood to refer to any one name in particular, but to extend to all the names by which God is usually designated; for God is called by many names, such as the Lord, the Almighty, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, the Mighty One, and others of similar import, which we meet in the Scriptures; all of which are entitled to the same veneration. The pastor will next teach how the divine name is to be duly honoured, for the Christian people, whose tongues should every day celebrate the praises of God, are not to be ignorant of a matter most useful and most necessary unto salvation.

QUESTION V

How then Name of God is to be Venerated or honoured

For although the name of God may be praised in a variety of ways, yet the force and import of all seem to be included under the following particulars. God then is praised, first, when in the presence of all we confidently confess him to be our Lord and our God; and not only acknowledge, but proclaim Christ to be the author of our salvation. [God is also praised], when we pay a religious attention to his word, by which his will is announced to us; make it the subject of our assiduous meditation; and by reading or hearing it, study to become acquainted with it, according to our respective capacity and condition of life. Again, we honour and venerate the divine name, when, from a sense of religious duty, we celebrate the divine praises, and under all circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, return him singular thanks. For the prophet saith: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee. Amongst the Psalms of David we have very many, in which, animated with surpassing piety towards God, he chants the divine praises in sweetest strains. We have that admirable example of patience, Job, who, when he had fallen into the heaviest and most appalling calamities, never ceased, with lofty and unconquered soul, to praise God. When, therefore, we labour under pain of mind and body, when tormented by miseries and misfortunes, let us instantly direct all our zeal, and the powers of our souls, to praise God, saying with Job: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

QUESTION VI

Other Ways of obeying this Precept

The name of God is also not less honoured, if we confidently implore his assistance, to relieve us for instance from our afflictions, or to give us constancy and strength to endure them with fortitude. This God wishes us to do: Call upon me, says he, in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me; and of such supplication we have illustrious examples in many parts of Scripture, especially in Psalms 16: 43 and 118 Finally, we honour the name of God, when we call him to witness the truth of what we assert, a mode differing very much from those above mentioned; for the means already enumerated are in their own nature so good, so desirable, that nothing more happy or more to be wished for can be conceived, than to spend night and day in such practices of piety: I will bless the Lord at all times, says David: his praise shall continually be in my mouth; but with regard to an oath, although in itself good, it should seldom be used.

QUESTION VII

Oaths should seldom be taken

The reason of this difference is, that an oath was instituted only as a remedy to human frailty, and a necessary means of proving the truth of what we advance. As then it is inexpedient to apply medicine to the body, unless it be necessary, and as its frequent use is pernicious; so, with regard to an oath, we should never recur to it, unless when there is weighty and just cause; and a frequent use thereof, far from being advantageous, is on the contrary highly detrimental. Hence the admirable observation of St. Chrysostom, that oaths were introduced amongst men, not at the beginning of the world, but long after, when vice had overspread the whole orb of the earth; when nothing remained in its proper place and order, and in universal confusion all things were borne upwards and downwards; when, what was the most serious evil of all, mortals almost universally cast themselves down in degrading servitude to idols; then at length it was that oaths broke their way into the communications of men. For when perfidy and wickedness had risen to such a height that no one could easily be induced to believe his fellow, then was God appealed to as a witness.

QUESTION VIII

In what the Nature of an Oath consists

But, as in this part of the precept our chief object is to teach the faithful the conditions necessary to render an oath pious and holy, it is first to be observed, that to swear, whatever may be the form or sense of the oath, is nothing else than to call God to witness, for to say, God is my witness, and to swear by God, are exactly the same thing. It is also an oath to swear by things created, in order to gain credit; as, for instance, to swear by the holy Gospels of God, by the cross, by the reliques or names of the saints, and all such things. Of themselves, indeed, such objects give no weight or authority to an oath: but it derives its obligation from God, the splendour of whose divine majesty shines forth in them; and hence they who swear by the gospel swear by God himself, whose truths are therein contained. This holds equally true with regard to those who swear by the saints, who are the temples of God, who believed the truth of his gospel, and were most faithful in its observance, and diffused its doctrines amongst the remotest nations and people.

QUESTION IX

Of the Form of Oath consisting of an Execration

This is also true of oaths uttered by way of execration, such as is that of St. Paul: I call God to witness upon my soul; for by this form [of oath] we subject ourselves to God as the avenger of falsehood. That some of these forms may, however, be used as though they had not the force of an oath, we do not deny; but even in such cases it is useful to observe what has been said with regard to an oath, and to direct such forms to the very same rule and standard.

QUESTION X

Oaths are Affirmatory and Promissory

Oaths are of two sorts, affirmatory and promissory: the first, which is called assertory, when, under its sacred sanction, we affirm anything, past or present; such as the affirmation of the apostle, in his epistle to the Galatians: Behold! before God, I lie not. The other, or promissory, is when we promise and confirm for certain the future performance of anything, which also includes threats; such as that of David, who swore to Bathsheba his wife, by the Lord my God, that her son Solomon should be heir to his kingdom, and his successor on the throne.

QUESTION XI

Conditions of a Lawful Oath

But although, to constitute an oath, it is sufficient to call God to witness; yet, to constitute a proper and holy oath, many more conditions are required, which must be carefully explained. They, as St. Jerome observes, are briefly enumerated in these words of Jeremiah: Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; words which indeed briefly sum up the conditions, in which the perfection of every oath is comprised, viz. truth, judgment, and justice.

QUESTION XII

Of the Truth of an Oath

Let truth, then, hold the first place in an oath; that is to say, let what is sworn be true, and let him who sweareth believe it to be true, founding his conviction not upon rash grounds or slight conjecture, but upon motives of undoubted certainty. Truth is a condition not less necessary, as is obvious, in a promissory, than in an affirmatory, oath; for he who promises must be disposed really to perform and fulfil his promise, when the appointed time comes. For as no conscientious man will ever promise to do what he considers to be opposed to the most holy commandments and will of God; so, if he have once promised and sworn to do what is lawful, he will never swerve from his engagement; unless, perhaps, change of circumstances should so alter the state of the case, that, if he wished to stand to his promise, he would incur the displeasure and enmity of God. That truth is necessary to a lawful oath David also declares, when, having asked who is worthy to sit in the tabernacle of the Most High, he answers: He that sweareth unto his neighbour, and deceiveth him not.

QUESTION XIII

Who is said to Swear in Judgment, and for what reason an Oath is not to be tendered to Children

The second condition is judgment; for an oath ought not to be taken rashly and inconsiderately, but with deliberate consideration. When a man is about to take an oath, therefore, he should first consider whether he be or be not necessarily compelled [to do so], and whether the whole matter, if well weighed, be such as appears to require an oath. Time also, place, and many other circumstances must be taken into consideration; and he should not be influenced by love, or hatred, or any other passion of the mind, but by the force and necessity of the matter itself. For unless this diligent attention and consideration precede, an oath must certainly be hasty and rash; and of this character is the irreligious affirmation of those, who, on any most unimportant and trifling occasions, swear without reason or purpose, and from a mere evil habit. This we see done everywhere, every day, by sellers and buyers, the former of whom, to sell at the highest price, the latter, to purchase at the cheapest, hesitate not to praise or dispraise with an oath the goods on sale. As then judgment and prudence are necessary, hence St. Cornelius Pontiff decreed, that an oath should not be administered to children before puberty, that is, before their fourteenth year, because children, by reason of their tender age, are not yet competent to perceive or distinguish so acutely.

QUESTION XIV

How an Oath is taken in Justice

The last [condition of an oath] is justice, a condition which is required most particularly in promissory oaths. Hence, if a person swear to do anything unjust or unlawful, he sins by taking the oath, and heaps sin upon sin by performing his promise. Of this the gospel supplies an example: king Herod having rashly bound himself by oath, gave to a dancing girl, as a reward for the pleasure which she had afforded him by her dancing, the head of John the Baptist. Such was also the oath taken by the Jews, who, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, bound themselves by oath not to eat, until they had killed Paul.

QUESTION XV

What Reasons there are to show that an Oath is sometimes Lawful

These things thus explained, there can be no doubt that a man may safely take an oath, if he have observed, and as it were, guarded it by these conditions, a position which is however easily proved by many arguments. This the law of the Lord, which is pure and holy, hath commanded: Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, says Moses, and shalt serve him only; and thou shalt swear by his name: All they, says David, shall be praised, that swear by him. The sacred Writings also inform us, that the holy apostles, the lights of the Church, sometimes made use of an oath; and this is evident from the epistles of St. Paul. And that the angels themselves have sometimes sworn: The angel, says St. John in his Revelation, swore by him that liveth for ever. Finally, God himself, the Lord of angels, sweareth, and, as we read in many passages of the Old Testament, confirmeth his promises with an oath. This he did to Abraham, and to David; and of the oath sworn by the Almighty, David says: The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

QUESTION XVI

It is proved that an Oath rightly taken is praiseworthy

If any one consider the whole matter attentively, and look to its origin and its end, it can be no difficult matter to explain the reason, why the taking of an oath is not only lawful but laudable. An oath has its origin in faith, by which men believe God to be the author of all truth, who can never deceive nor be deceived, to whose eyes all things are naked and open, who, in fine, by his admirable providence, superintends all human affairs, and governs the world. Imbued, therefore, with this faith, men appeal to God as a witness of the truth, whom it were wicked and impious not to believe.

QUESTION XVII

The End of an Oath is the Suppression of Controversies and Litigation

With regard to the end of an oath, its entire scope and intent is to establish the justice and innocence of a man, and to terminate disputes and contests, as also the apostle teaches in his epistle to the Hebrews.

QUESTION XVIII

In what sense Christ forbade Oaths

Nor does this doctrine at all clash with those words of the Redeemer in St. Matthew: Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time; thou shalt not forswear thyself but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King: neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black; but let your communication be, yea, yea: nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil. It cannot be said that in these words oaths are universally condemned, and under all circumstances, for we have seen above that the Lord himself and the apostles frequently swore; but the object of the Lord was to reprehend the perverse opinion of the Jews, which had led them to suppose that nothing hindered the taking of an oath, but its falsehood. Hence, even on the most trivial and unimportant matters, they themselves made very frequent use of oaths, and exacted oaths from others. This practice the Redeemer condemns and reprobates, and teaches that, unless necessity require, an oath is never to be taken.

QUESTION XIX

What Christ meant by asserting that what is beyond a Simple Assertion of the Truth is “of evil”

For oaths have been instituted as remedies for human frailty, and in reality proceed from evil, whereas they indicate either the inconstancy of him by whom, or the contumacy of him for whom, they are taken, who cannot be induced to believe without them. Necessity, however, affords a just plea for an oath; and in fact, when the Saviour says: Let your communications be, yea, yea: nay, nay, he evidently forbids the habit of swearing in familiar conversation and on trivial subjects. The Lord therefore admonishes us particularly against being too prompt and prone to swear; and this admonition must be carefully impressed on the minds of the faithful; for that out of the unrestrained habit of swearing grow almost countless evils, is a fact supported by the evidence of Scripture, and the testimony of the holy Fathers. We read in Ecclesiasticus: Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing; for in it there are many falls; also: A man that maketh much swearing shall be filled with iniquity, and the plague shall never depart from his house. On this subject, much may be read in the writings of St. Basil, and also in the treatise of St. Augustine against lying. Thus much respecting the positive, let us now come to explain the negative part of the commandment.

QUESTION XX

Why False and Rash Swearing is so great a Sin

We are forbidden to take the name of God in vain; for he who, not guided by deliberation, but hurried on by rashness, takes an oath, evidently binds himself under the guilt of a grievous sin. That this is a most grievous crime, the very words declare: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, words, which would seem to assign the reason, why [a rash oath] is so grievous and enormous a deed; because it derogates from the majesty of him, whom we profess to recognize as our Lord and our God. By this commandment, therefore, we are forbidden to swear falsely; for he, who does not shrink from the enormity of appealing to God to witness a falsehood, offers a signal injury to the Deity, branding him either with ignorance, as though the truth could be concealed from his all-seeing eye, or at least with improbity and depravity, as though he could bear testimony to falsehood.

QUESTION XXI

How they who Swear truly may be Guilty of Perjury

Not only he who affirms as true what he knows to be false, is a false swearer, but also he who swears to what is really true, believing it to be false. For as the essence of a lie consists in speaking contrary to the conviction of one’s mind, such persons are evidently guilty of a lie and of perjury.

QUESTION XXII

How a Man may sin who swears a Falsehood, thinking it the Truth

On the same principle, he who swears to that which he thinks to be true, but which is really false, also incurs the guilt of perjury, unless he has used all possible care and diligence to arrive at the truth. For although his assertion is agreeable to his conviction, he is nevertheless guilty according to this precept.

QUESTION XXIII

He who does not do what he has sworn, or vowed to do, sins

He who binds himself by oath to the performance of anything, not intending to fulfil his promise, or, having had the intention, neglects its performance, is also guilty of perjury; and this equally applies to those who, having bound themselves to God by pledge of a vow, neglect its fulfilment.

QUESTION XXIV

He that sweareth a Mortal Sin, or against the Precept of the Gospel, sins

This commandment is also violated, if justice, which is one of the three conditions of an oath, be wanting; and hence, if any one swear to commit some mortal sin, murder, for instance, violates this commandment, although he should have really and truly intended to perpetrate the crime, and his oath should have possessed what we first pointed out as necessary, that is, truth. To these should be added such oaths as are sworn through a sort of contempt; an oath, for instance, not to obey the evangelical counsels, such as celibacy and poverty. None, it is true, are obliged to follow these divine counsels, but by swearing to their non-observance, a man contemns and violates them.

QUESTION XXV

A Man who swears, being led by Slight Conjecture, sins

He also sins against this commandment, and the second condition of an oath, which is judgment, by swearing on slight and remote conjectures; for, although such an oath be true, and believed to be so by him who swears, it still in some manner involves a falsehood; for he who swears so negligently, exposes himself to great danger of perjury.

QUESTION XXVI

He who swears by False Gods sins grievously

He who swears by false gods likewise swears falsely; for what is more foreign to truth than to appeal to lying and fictitious deities, as to the true God?

QUESTION XXVII

He who dishonours the Word of God, either by a False Interpretation or a Vain Application, sins

But whereas the Scripture, when it prohibits perjury, adds: Thou shalt not profane the name of thy God, it therefore prohibits irreverence to the other things also, to which, in obedience to the authority of this commandment, reverence is due; such as the word of God, the majesty of which is recognized and revered not only by the pious, but also sometimes by the impious, as we read in Judges, of Eglon, king of the Moabites. But he is guilty of the most flagrant irreverence towards the word of God, who, to support heresy and impiety, wrests the sacred Scriptures from their true and genuine sense; and of this wickedness we are admonished by the prince of the apostles in these words: There are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. It is also a shameful profanation and defilement of sacred Scripture, to pervert the words and sentences which it contains, which should be honoured with all reverence, to some profane purpose, such as scurrility, fable, vanity, flattery, detraction, fortune-telling, satirical libels, and the like. Such a profanation of the divine word, the Council of Trent commands to be punished.

QUESTION XXVIII

How they sin who do not invoke God under their Calamities

In the next place, as they, who in affliction implore his aid and assistance, honour God; so they, who invoke not his succour, deny him due honour; and these David rebukes, when he says: They have not called upon the Lord; there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.

QUESTION XXIX

The most serious of all these Sins is Blasphemy against God and his Saints

Far more detestable still is the guilt of those who, with impure and contaminated lips, dare to blaspheme and execrate the most holy name of God, a name which is to be blessed and praised above measure by all creatures, or even the names of the saints who reign with God; a crime so atrocious, so monstrous, that sometimes the sacred Scripture, should it happen to speak of blasphemy, uses in its stead the word blessing.

QUESTION XXX

Why Threats are added to this Precept

But as the dread of penalty and punishment has often a powerful effect in checking the licentiousness of crime, the pastor, therefore, in order the more effectually to excite, and the more easily to induce to an observance of this commandment, will diligently explain the remaining words, which are, as it were, its appendix: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that shall take the name of the Lord God in vain.

In the first place, [the pastor] will teach, that with very good reason were threats annexed to this commandment, for by their annexation is demonstrated at once the grievousness of sin, and the goodness of God towards us; who, not delighting in the destruction of men, deters us by these salutary menaces from incurring his wrath and displeasure, in order that we may experience his kindness rather than his wrath. Let the pastor urge this consideration, and dwell on it with the greatest earnestness, to the end that the faithful may be made sensible of the grievousness of the crime, and may detest it the more, and may employ greater care and caution to avoid its commission. Let him also show how prone men are to commit this sin, since it is not enough that God has passed a law for its prevention, unless he had also subjoined threats. The advantages to be derived from this reflection are indeed incredible; for as nothing is so injurious as a sort of incautious security of mind; so the knowledge of one’s own weakness is attended with the most salutary consequences. He will next observe that no determinate punishment is said to await the violation of this commandment; but that the threat is general, declaring that he who is guilty of its violation shall not escape unpunished. The various chastisements, therefore, with which we are every day afflicted, should be so many admonitions of the grievousness of this crime, for from them we may easily conjecture, that men are overtaken by the heaviest calamities because they obey not this precept, a consideration which will probably excite them to increased vigilance, for the future. Deterred, therefore, by a holy fear, let the faithful use every exertion to avoid this crime; for if on the last day we shall have to render an account for every idle word, what shall we say of the most grievous enormities, that exhibit a great contempt of the name of God!