Oaths

To take an oath is to swear. And to swear isto call upon God to witness that we speak the truth*(declaratory* oath), or that we will keep a promise*(promissory* oath).

It would be irreverent to call upon God as our witness in merely trifling matters. It is very wrong and sinful to swear toa he, or to take oath on a promise one does not intend to keep. Butit is lawful, in serious and important matters and with due caution, to take a sincere oath. Such an oath is usually an act of reverence to God.

The conditions necessary for a lawful oath are: truth,judgment, and justice. For Holy Writ proclaims as much when (Jer.4:2) it says: “Thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth,and in judgment, and in justice.” We must swear in truth: we must never swear to a lie or to an insincerepromise. We must swear in judgment: an oath must be made with prudence and discretion, and for no frivolous reason. We must swear in justice: a promissory oath must not pledge what it is unlawful to perform.

As we have seen, an oath, rightly made, is an act of reverence to God. It is thus an act of the virtue of religion.

But an oath, however reverent, indicates a lack and adeformity: it indicates a lack of trust between man and man. Hence,an oath is not desirable for its own sake. An oath is rather like a medicine: not good to take for its own sake, but only for the curing of an ailment. Therefore, oaths are not to be used more frequently than necessary. Scripture says (Ecclus. 23:12): “Aman that sweareth much shall be filled with iniquity.”

Men sometimes swear by creatures (“by my soul,” “by St. George,” etc.), and such expressions are really oaths if they refer, through creatures, to God. Otherwise these exclamations are not truly oaths at all. Often theyare part and parcel of expressions of cursing.

A true promissory oath that meets the conditions ofjustice and judgment must always be kept. But one must not fulfill a promissory oath that involves injustice; one cannotlawfully swear to do what is unlawful. Herod swore without judgment and justice to give to Herodias anything she might ask. When he fulfilled his oath, causing the death of St. John the Baptist, he committed a new and a greater sin. His oath itself was a sin; its fulfillment was another sin and a worse sin.

An oath is not more binding than a vow; on the contrary, a vow, by its nature, is more strictly binding than an oath. For a vow rests on reverence and fidelity, and to break it isa double offense. But an oath rests on reverence; to violate it does not necessarily involve infidelity.

An oath admits of dispensation. If a vow, with greater binding power, can be dispensed, certainly an oath, which is lessbinding than a vow, can be dispensed.

An oath is made void by certain conditions of person and time. Thus a minor cannot make a binding oath. And persons of great dignity, such as the king or the president of a country, are guaranteed trustworthy by their office, and are usually not required to swear; thus, in a sense, their oath is void as being unnecessary.