Should Christians swear oaths or not? I’ve been asked this question a lot. I know you have because in Matthew 5:33 through37, Jesus says something that seemingly makes it pretty clear. We should never swear an oath. Of course, this is in the sermon on the mount. So, I’m going to read it. It says, “Again, you have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is his foottool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, which is strange in itself, by the way. >> For you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say simply be yes or no. Some translations will say, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” Mhm. >> Anything more than this comes from evil. Now, I would I want to get your take on this, >> but first, what are some different ways that people make sense of this passage? >> Well, some people take it very literally and say, “Don’t take an oath.” And even if you’re in a court of law and they want you to put your hand in a Bible, that is that is disobeying this passage. You shouldn’t need some external thing >> to validate your truthfulness. You should have the kind of integrity that you don’t need to appeal to something outside of your integrity when you say something. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. >> Uh others will say well actually in the old testament there are ways of prescribing you should go about taking oaths. >> So the old covenant has actually a place for taking oaths. God in the old testament swears an oath upon himself his own character. So, so even God is doing that. And so some people say, well, that seems to open the door for a rightful place of oath. But both of those perspectives, I think, acknowledge typically that what Jesus is going after here is a way of applying oathtaking principles in ways that are manipulative, that are dishonest, that are are playing a game with people and actually getting advantage in in unscrupulous ways that that so this is in the sermon on the mount and Jesus is helping people understand what the intent of the law has always been and is now fulfilled in him as he’s talking about what the kingdom’s about and what it means to be kingdom people and what kingdom people are like from the inside out in the way they live their lives. And so he’s he’s going after all these ways >> of thinking about the law that are missing the point. And and so he starts with the biatitudes saying you need to be poor in spirit. You need to be those who mourn. You need to be those those who are different than the world is. And then he goes and he goes after the interpretations that that rabbis have had of the law for a long time where he he deepens them far beyond what the rabbis were saying. And so with his own authority, he’s telling them what the law means. So when it comes to oaths, both of these sides agree that Jesus has in mind a a kind of oathtaking that’s manipulative. That’s getting an advantage for yourself. And so like God made my head, so I’m going to swear by this thing God made. And and so you’re appealing to God in the midst of acknowledging something that he gave, but but you’re not doing it in a way that’s honest. You’re not doing it in a way that’s that’s productive. Now, I have respect for people who say, “This is literal. I I don’t think we should take oaths. I think we should consider that as a as a legitimate way of thinking about this. Why would we need something external >> to just our word >> be a man of your word is what people say. So if that’s true, why do I need to have these like on my mother’s grave? Well, why do you need to say that, right? You you don’t need to add something to your basic integrity. So I think there’s a really good place for taking this just literally. But I also think when you appeal to the Old Testament, appeals to doing this properly, that there is a place for taking an oath and acknowledging that you’re going to do this in a way that you’re soberly swearing to this. >> Okay? So, you may you may have answered this, but part of my question is you could read this and say that Jesus is going out of his way to think of every conceivable way you could give an oath. So, do not take one by heaven. >> Do not take one by earth. So it’s kind of covering everything but uh or it is his foottool or by Jerusalem or by your head. It’s almost like he’s listing everything we can think of by which we could do an oath. Let your yes be yes, your no be no. And then a pretty stark commandment is anything more than this is not just mistake and it’s evil. So what convinces you at least maybe 6040? How confident are you in your interpretation? what leans you towards saying he’s not making a blanket oath statement that applies today but had the Old Testament in mind. >> So all those ways of appealing through an oath I think are ultimately saying I I swear to God I think >> different ways of saying >> yes so Jerusalem is the city of God. >> Okay. >> God made your head. >> Okay. >> God made the earth. God made the heavens. So, so I think those are >> are ultimately all appeals to God and his authority and before God, >> you don’t compel me to tell the truth as much as God does. So, I’m going to I’m going to do this in the presence of God consciously. I think that’s what that’s all saying. But it’s the way those appeals to God’s presence and authority are used manipulatively by these leaders he’s talking to that he’s addressing. So, I really do think there’s a place for saying I I’m not going to appeal to anything outside of my fear of the Lord that drives me to do what I do. >> And I I don’t feel like I need an external plea to that. That’s a minority view, but I think I lean toward that one. >> Oh, you do? Okay. I thought you were leaning towards the majority. >> No, the majority view is that there’s a place for doing this. So, if you go to a court of law, put your hand in a Bible and just go go ahead with it. Especially if it’s a Christian Bible, right? You know, if it’s a bdavagita, maybe not. I don’t know. But >> fair enough. >> But as a Christian, we’re okay with that, aren’t we? I’m not sure. I I think I lean toward the the minority view that why would I appeal to something? I like I never say I swear to God or I swear to my mother’s grave or I because that feels to me like my word isn’t enough. Like I shouldn’t need some external thing in addition. It’s like when people say like I try not to say, “I’m not lying here. I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m going to tell you the truth.” Well, yeah, I should hope so. Why do you need to preface what you’re saying with I’m telling you the truth here. Well, aren’t you always? And so I’m I actually hold to a a minority view on this that I think I think there’s a really good argument that there’s a place for it in normal society. But but I still hold >> I think the best I could do is I think about the other side would just be like it says in the Bible over and over again. Fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. Most common commandment reading through Deuteronomy it’s like remember remember. Yeah. >> So we shouldn’t have to be reminded. We should just know. But these are reminders about God being present and holding us accountable. Yeah. >> So an oath is a way of going, okay, I’m not just throwing this out there. There is a God who is watching and hold that would that would be the best I could think of to say why an oath would have some power as a reminder for people. >> Yeah. And and we make an oath when we get married in a sense, >> but we don’t feel the need to to go beyond saying I’m I promise. I’m making this promise to you and then we don’t appeal to something outside of it. So, so I I’m I’m got far less conviction on this. >> You do that oath before people so they hold you accountable. And of course, God is before everything. Yes. >> But with the Bible would be a way of saying I recognize this is before God, >> right? And we say in the presence of God, I make this promise. We we’ll acknowledge that. But I think that’s a little different than the kind of I swear my mother’s grave kind of thing or I >> okay >> I promise you before God. So there you go. >> So how much why does why does this matter? At some point if you’re going to be in a court of law, you kind of have to make a decision and swear or not. >> Is this just an area where Christians can agree to disagree and just go with their conscience? However, I think so. You think so? I think so. Yeah.