Swearing oaths

[Shimon]

Speaking of sacred cows:
Have any of you ever been a witness in a court case and sworn (sometimes with your left hand on a bible), to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Doesn't that violate this?

Mat 5:34 But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God's throne,
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, because it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King.
Mat 5:36 Nor should you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 Instead, let your word be 'Yes' for 'Yes' and 'No' for 'No.' Anything more than that comes from the evil one."

Just thought I'd throw that out for comment. I've been seriously thinking that if I ever have to testify again I'll tell the judge that I can't - on religious grounds. Wonder what would happen.

Dave :lol:

 

[Mark C]

Many believe that it does. (I am one.)

In most states, you can indicate that such an "oath" presents a problem (from the standpoint of a religious objection) and see what other options exist. It is not an unusual issue.

 

[Anonymous]

From my experiences in Michigan and Arizona, I was asked to swear or affirm that I would tell the truth. I don't know about other states.

 

[Shimon]

From my experiences in Michigan and Arizona, I was asked to swear or affirm that I would tell the truth. I don't know about other states.

I quoted the way they say it in Idaho in my first post on the topic. Now that I live in Ok, maybe it's different.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

My dad always chose the "I affirm" approach. That way he could follow God's Word without being ornery to the judge.

 

[Tlaloc]

When he was being naturalized my pastor refused to swear on the Bible, IIRC he was the only one.

He got a kick out of it because he looked anti-Christian by doing it.

 

[Shimon]

When he was being naturalized my pastor refused to swear on the Bible, IIRC he was the only one.

He got a kick out of it because he looked anti-Christian by doing it.

Pretty sad isn't it. The ones that know the Bible best know that it's wrong to swear by it while so many other 'Christians' just kinda go, "Huh?"

Dave

 

[Tlaloc]

Yep, he recounted those events while expounding on the Pharisees ideas about swearing on the Temple... Swearing is just so many empty words, and swearing by things is nonsense unless its your property you're giving as collateral or something. Pretty easy to see why swearing is banned to Christians.


I like what Deut said about 'I affirm', that is acceptable and accurate.


A pet peave of mine is when Christians confuse the meaning of swearing with vulgarity and profanity, totally different things, those that say 'don't swear' most often seem to make empty promises most often, I get a kick out of it.

 

[Shimon]

A pet peave of mine is when Christians confuse the meaning of swearing with vulgarity and profanity, totally different things, those that say 'don't swear' most often seem to make empty promises most often, I get a kick out of it.

Amen brother

Dave