John Chrysostom on Swearing
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Adversus Oppugnatores Vitae Monasticae
Written
c. 379-383 CE.
Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae , Book 1.8
Source: John Chrysostom, 1988. "A Comparison Between A King and A Monk/Against the Opponents of the Monastic Life: Two Treatises by John Chrysostom." p. 92-93. David G. Hunter (trans.).
What is happening now is no less serious than what happened in the time of Noah; indeed it is more reprehensible because people today have been threatened with Gehenna, and yet their vices do not decrease.….. [Discussion of various vices]…… Who has not sworn an oath? But this is always from the evil one, and what is from the evil one is always worthy of punishment…. [Discussion of various vices]…..
But what consolation is there in the recital of our own evils? That all have fallen into the pit of wickedness, as if by prior agreement, this itself is the greatest evidence of the sickness which has now taken hold; but when we are consoled by the fact that our evils are shared, this is cause for even greater grief. For to have many companions in sin does not acquit us of accusations and punishments. And if someone feels discouraged by what we have said, let him wait a little while and then despair even more when we speak of things much worse than these, such as false oaths. For if swearing an oath is diabolic, what sort of punishment do you think misusing oaths will bring upon us?
Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae , Book 3. 14
Source: John Chrysostom, 1988. "A Comparison Between A King and A Monk/Against the Opponents of the Monastic Life: Two Treatises by John Chrysostom." p. 156-157. David G. Hunter (trans.).
[T]he person who swears, no matter what state of life he is in, will be condemned in the same way. When Christ gave prescriptions and laws about these matters, he did not make any distinction, nor did he say, "If a monk should swear, the oath is wicked; but if he is not a monk, it is not the same." No, he spoke simply and at one time to all people: I say to you, do not swear at all.
Source: [PG 47:372]
Greek
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Latin
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Πάλιν ὁ
ὀμνὺς, ἄν τε τοῦτο ἄν τε ἐκεῖνο ᾖ, ὁμοίως καταδικάζεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς,
ὅτε περὶ τούτων διετάσσετο καὶ ἐνομοθέτει, τοῦτον ἐποιήσατο τὸν διορισμὸν,
οὐδὲ εἶπεν· Ἐὰν μὲν μοναχὸς ὁ ὀμνύων ᾖ, ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ὁ ὅρκος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ
μοναχὸς, οὐκέτι· ἀλλ’ ἁπλῶς καὶ καθάπαξ ἅπασιν ἔλεγεν· Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ
ὀμόσαι ὅλως.
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Rursus
qui jurat, in quocumque statu versetur, pari modo damnatur. Neque enim
Christus cum hac de re statueret legemque poneret, hanc distinctionem fecit,
neque dixit, Si is qui jurat monachus sit, ex maligno est jusjurandum: si non
monachus sit, non item: sed simpliciter semelque omnibus dixit: Ego autem
dico vobis, non jurare omnino.
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Homilies on Genesis
Delivered
at Antioch c. 385-387 CE.
Homily 15.17 on Genesis
Source: Saint
John Chrysostom. 1999. Homilies on
Genesis, 1–17, p. 205. Translated by Robert C. Hill. The Fathers of the
Church: A New Translation, Volume 74. CUA Press.
By all
means avoid oaths, in response to Christ’s condemnation in the words, “It
was said to the people of old, Do not perjure yourself; but I tell you, take no
oaths at all.” So don’t tell me, I take no oath in a just cause: there is
no call for swearing in just cause or unjust. Accordingly keep your mouth clean
of any oath, and ward of all such from your tongue, your lips, and your mind so
that no evil thoughts arise within you or pass beyond your lips.
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Homilies on the Devil
Homily 1
delivered during Lent 386 CE at Antioch. Homily 2 and 3 delivered in 398 CE at
Constantinople.
Homily 1.7 on the Devil
Source: [NPNF1-09: 185]
Again he
who swears, saith he, even if he fulfil his oath, doeth the works of the wicked
one. Who is there then, who has not sworn? Yea rather who is there
who has never sworn falsely?
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Discourses against Judaizing Christians
Delivered c. 386-388
CE in Antioch.
Discourse 1.3.4
Source: John Chrysostom. 2010. Discourses
Against Judaizing Christians (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 68), p.
11-12. Translated by Paul W. Harkins. CUA Press.
Let me tell you this,
not from guesswork but from my own experience. Three days ago—believe me, I am
not lying—I saw a free woman of good bearing, modest, and a believer. A brutal,
unfeeling man, reputed to be a Christian (for I would not call a person who
would dare to do such a thing a sincere Christian) was forcing her to enter the
shrine of the Hebrews and to swear there an oath about some matters under
dispute with him. She came up to me and asked for help; she begged me to
prevent this lawless violence—for it was forbidden to her, who had shared in
the divine mysteries, to enter that place. I was fired with indignation, I
became angry, I rose up, I refused to let her be dragged into that
transgression, I snatched her from the hands of her abductor. I asked him if he
were a Christian, and he said he was. Then I set upon him virgorously, charging
him with lack of feeling and the worst stupidity; I told him he was no better
off than a mule if he, who professed to worship Christ, would drag someone off
to the dens of the Jews who had crucified him. I talked to him a long time,
drawing my lesson from the Holy Gospels: I told him first that it was
altogether forbidden to swear and that it was wrong to impose the necessity of
swearing on anyone. I then told him that he must not subject a baptized
believer to this necessity. In fact, he must not force even an unbaptized person
to swear an oath.
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Homilies on the Statues
Delivered
during Lent 387 CE at Antioch. The majority of the 21 homilies contain
condemnations against swearing oaths. Full excerpts on swearing in the homilies
available here: Chrysostom's Homilies on the Statues
Homily 8.6 on the Statues
Source: [NPNF1-09: 398]
“But
what,” says one, “if it be necessary to take an oath?” Where there is a
transgression of the law, there is no such thing as necessity. “Is it possible
then,” it is replied, “not to swear at all?” What sayest thou? Hath God
commanded, and darest thou to ask if it be possible for His law to be kept?
Why, truly it is a thing impossible that His law should not be kept; and I am
desirous to persuade you from present circumstances of this; that so far from
its being impossible not to swear, it is impossible to swear. For
behold, the inhabitants of the city were commanded to bring in a payment of
gold, such as it might have seemed beyond the power of many to do; yet the
greater part of the sum has been collected; and you may hear the tax gatherers
saying, “Why delay, man? Why put us off from day to day? It is not possible to
avoid it. It is the law of the Emperor, which admits of no delay.” What sayest
thou, I ask? The Emperor hath commanded thee to bring in thy money, and it is
impossible not to bring it in! God hath commanded thee to avoid oaths! and how
sayest thou, it is impossible to avoid them!
Homily 15.14 on the Statues
Source: [NPNF1-09: 443-444]
But thou,
if thou heedest nothing else, reverence at least that book, which thou reachest
forth in putting the oath; and open the Gospel, which thou takest in hand when
thou biddest swear; and when thou hearest what Christ there declares concerning
oaths, shudder and desist! What then does He there say concerning oaths? “But
I say unto you, Swear not at all.” And dost thou convert the Law
which forbids swearing into an oath. Oh, what contempt! Oh, what outrage!
Ὢ τῆς ὕβρεως! ὢ τῆς παροινίας!
Homily 16.5 on the Statues
Source: [NPNF1-09: 447]
For when
God declares His sentence, subtle arguments are unseasonable. God hath said, “Thou
shalt not swear.” Do not then demand of me the reasons of this. It is a
royal law. He who established it, knows the reason of the law. If it had not
been profitable, He would not have forbidden it.
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Baptismal Instructions
Likely
delivered during Lent 388 CE, in Antioch, addressed to the baptismal candidates
due to receive baptism at Easter. Numbering and translation from Harkins. Based
on Papadopolous-Kerameus (PK) manuscript tradition. Full excerpts on swearing
in the Ninth and Tenth Instructions available here: Chrysostom's Baptismal Instructions.
Ninth Baptismal Instruction (PK 1). Instruction
9.38-41
Source: Saint John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions, trans. Paul
William Harkins p. 143- 145. (Paulist Press, 1963).
38. Take
great care of this matter, then, that you may not curb my tongue from giving
further instructions. Swearing is a sin, a very serious sin. It is serious
because it does not seem to be serious, and I am afraid of it because nobody is
afraid of it. Disease is incurable precisely when it does not seem to be a
disease. Merely to speak is not a crime; so swearing does not seem to be a
crime, and people feel quite free to venture on this lawless path. If anyone
censure them for this practice, immediately they laugh and jeer, not because he
censures them for their oaths, but because he wishes to cure the disease.
Therefore let me speak at length on this matter, because I wish to tear this
habit out by its roots, which are deep, and to wipe out this evil which has
long endured.
39. I do
not speak only of perjured oaths but even of true oaths. But someone says,
So-and-so is a good man and a priest and lives a life of temperance and piety.
(Yet he swears oaths). Do not speak to me of that good, temperate, pious
priest! Let it be if you wish, Peter or Paul or even an angel who has come down
from heaven. Not even in such cases do I regard the dignity of persons. I do
not recognise the law of any servant in the matter of oaths, but only the
King’s law.
40. When
we read what the King has written, let His servant, however high his office, be
silent. If you can tell me that Christ commanded us to swear, or that Christ
did not punish the one who did so, prove it to me and I yield the point. But if
He is so careful to keep us from this practice and take such precautions
against it as to put the man who swears alongside the devil – Whatever is
beyond “yes” and “no” comes from the evil one – why do you bring up the case of
this man or that man? God will not acquit you because of the negligence of your
fellow servants, but He will judge you according to the precepts of His laws.
41. If He
has commanded it, we must obey and must not use this man or that man as an
excuse, nor meddle with the evil deeds of other people. Tell me, is there no
danger for us in sinning because the great David fell into serious sin? This is
all the more reason why we must be on our guard and emulate only the good deeds
of the holy ones. If we find negligence or transgression of the Law anywhere,
we must show great zeal in fleeing it. Our account is rendered not to our
fellow servants, but to the Master, and we will submit to Him our whole lives
for examination. Let us prepare, therefore, for that court of justice. Even if
a man be ten thousand times over wonderful and great, if he transgresses the
law of God, he will pay the penalty which is fixed for his transgression, for
God is no respecter of persons.
Tenth Baptismal Instruction (PK 2). Instruction
10:18-19
Source: Saint John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions, trans. Paul
William Harkins p. 156. (Paulist Press, 1963).
Swearing
is a dreadful and harmful thing it is a destructive drug, a bane and a danger,
a hidden wound, a sore unseen, an obscure ulcer spreading its poison in the
soul; it is an arrow of Satan, a flaming javelin, a two-edged sword, a
sharp-honed scimitar, an unpardonable sin, an indefensible transgression, a
deep gulf, a precipitous crag, a strong trap, a taut-stretched net, a fetter
that cannot be broken, a noose from which no one escapes.
Are these
enough, and do you believe that swearing is a dreadful thing and the most
harmful of all sins? Believe me, I beg you, believe me! But if someone does not
believe me, I now offer proof. This sin has what no other sin possesses. If we
do not violate the other commandments, we escape punishment; on the other hand,
in the matter of oaths, we are punished just the same both when we guard
against transgressing and when we transgress.
Tenth Baptismal Instruction (PK 2). Instruction
10:24-29
Source: Saint John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions, trans. Paul
William Harkins p. 158-159. (Paulist Press, 1963).
24. So
the princess danced and, after the dance, committed another more serious sin.
For she persuaded that senseless man to promise with an oath to give her
whatever she might ask. Do you see that swearing also makes men senseless?
Wherefore, if she but ask, he swore to give it. What, then, if she were to have
asked for your head, Herod? What if she were to have asked for your whole
kingdom? Yet he took thought of none of these things. The devil had set his
trap, making it strong, and from the moment the oath was complete, he both cast
his snares and stretched his net on every side. Then he added that request, in
order that there might be no escape from the situation. Give me, the princess
said, the head of John the Baptist on a dish. The request was disgraceful, the
gift senseless and harmful; the oath was the cause of both.
25. What
ought he have done? You remember what I said. Whether we keep the commandment
or violate it, we are punished all the same. Should he have given her the
prophet’s head? The punishment was intolerable. Should he have not given it? He
will be charged with swearing falsely. Did you see how there is a precipice on
either side?
26. Give
me here on a dish the head of John the Baptist, she said. The request was
abominable, but she persuaded him, and he gave the order to curb John's holy
tongue. But even up to now it speaks out, for each day, or rather in every
church, you hear John crying aloud through the Gospels and saying: It is not
lawful for thee to have the wife of thy brother Philip. He cut off the head
but he did not cut off the voice; he curbed the tongue but he did not curb the
accusation.
27. Do
you see what swearing does? It cuts off the heads of prophets. You saw the
bait; dread, then, the ruin it brings. You saw the net; do not fall into it.
You must in the future be careful that the wound does not become deeper; you
must in the future hold back your hand with its bloodstained sword; you must be
silent and keep your tongue away from the wounds of perjury. You will never
commit the sin of swearing if you will remember that, whether you keep or
violate your oath, you are punished just the same.
28.
Where, now, are those who say: Suppose I swear justly? How is this just when
the law is transgressed? How is this just when God forbids it, but you do it?
But the fact is that you will bear with us later, when we bind up your wounds,
for even the bandage is not without pain.
29. The
punishment both for swearing falsely and for swearing truly was severe even
before I instructed you; now that I have instructed you, it is still more
severe. Christ said: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have
no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. In your case I can say
this too, because in the future you will have no excuse for your
transgressions. If baptism find oaths falsely or truly sworn, if it find
fornication or adultery, if it find the fullness of evil, it carefully washes
than away and makes the soul perfectly clean.
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Homilies on Matthew
Delivered
at Antioch c. 390 CE.
Homily 17.5 on Matthew
Source: NPNF1-10:120
“But
what,” it may be said, “if any one should require an oath, and apply
constraint?” Let the fear of God be more powerful than the constraint: since,
if thou art to bring forward such excuses, thou wilt keep none of the things
which are enjoined.
Yea, for
first with respect to thy wife thou wilt say, “what if she be contentious and
extravagant;” and then as to the right eye, “what if I love it, and am quite on
fire?” and of the unchaste look, “what then, if I cannot help seeing?” and of
our anger against a brother, “what if I be hasty, and not able to govern my
tongue?” and in general, all His sayings thou mayest on this wise trample under
foot. Yet surely with regard to human laws thou darest not in any case use this
allegation, nor say, “what then if this or that be the case,” but, willing or
unwilling, thou receivest what is written.
And
besides, thou wilt never have compulsion to undergo at all. For he that hath
hearkened unto those former blessings, and hath framed himself to be such as
Christ enjoined, will have no such constraint to endure from any, being held in
reverence and veneration by all.
“But let your yea, be yea; and your nay, nay: for that which exceedeth
these cometh of the evil one.”
What is
it then that “exceeds yea” and “nay”? It is the oath, not the
perjury. For this latter is quite acknowledged, and no man needs to learn that
it is of the evil one; and it is not an excess, but an opposite: whereas an
excess means something more, and added over and above: which kind of thing
swearing is
“What
then,” saith one, “was it of the evil one? and if it was of the evil one, how
was it a law?” Well, this same thing thou wilt say concerning the wife also;
how is that now accounted adultery, which was before permitted?
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Homilies on Ephesians
Delivered
c. 395-397 CE in Antioch.
Homily 2.6 on Ephesians
Source: NPNF1-13: 58
What,
again, are falsehood and perjury? What necessity can they possibly imply? None
whatever, nor any compulsion; it is a matter to which we proceed voluntarily.
We are distrusted, it will be said. True, distrusted we are, because we choose
it. For we might, if we would, be trusted more upon our character, than upon
our oath. Why, tell me, is it that we do not trust some, no, not on their oath,
whilst we deem others trustworthy even independently of oaths. Seest thou that
there is no need of oaths in any case? ‘When such an one speaks,’ we say, ‘I
believe him, even without any oath, but thee, no, not with thy oaths.’ Thus
then an oath is unnecessary; and is in fact an evidence rather of distrust than
of confidence. For where a man is over ready to take his oath, he does not
leave us to entertain any great idea of his scrupulousness. So that the man who
is most constant in his use of oaths, has on no occasion any necessity for
using one, and he who never uses one on any occasion, has in himself the full
benefit of its use. Some one says there is a necessity for an oath, to produce
confidence; but we see that they are the more readily trusted who abstain from
taking oaths.
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Homilies on Acts
Delivered
at Constantinople c. 400 CE.
Homily 8.7 on Acts
Source: NPNF1-11:53
Wherefore,
with a loud and clear voice, I proclaim to all and testify, that those who are
notorious for this transgression, who utter words which come “of the evil one,”
(for such is swearing,) shall not step over the threshold of the Church. Let
this present month be the time allowed you for reforming in this matter. Talk
not to me, “Necessity of business compels me to use oaths, else people do not
believe me.” To begin with this, retrench those oaths which come merely of
habit. I know many will laugh, but it is better to be laughed at now, than wept
for hereafter. They will laugh, who are mad. For who, I ask, in his right mind
would laugh at the keeping of the commandment? But suppose they do; why, it
will not be at us, but at Christ, that such men will laugh. You shudder at the
word! I knew you would. Now if this law were of my making, at me would be the
laughing; but if Another be the Lawgiver, the jeering passes over to Him. Yes,
and Christ was once spit upon, and smitten with the palm, smitten upon the
face. Now also He bears with this, and it is no wonder (οὐδὲν
ἀπεικὸς)! For
this, hell is prepared; for this, the worm that dieth not. Behold, again I say
and testify; let him laugh that will, let him scoff that listeth. Hereunto are
we set, to be laughed at and mocked, to suffer all things. We are “the
offscouring” or the world, as blessed Paul says. If any man refuse to conform
to this order, that man I, by my word, as with a trumpet’s blast, do prohibit
to set foot over the Church’s threshold, be he prince, be he even the crowned
head.
Homily 9 on Acts
Source: NPNF1-11:60-63
Not a little does the
habit of not swearing contribute to this end: I mean to the not giving way to
wrath: and by not giving way to wrath, we shall not have an enemy either. Lop
off the oaths of a man, and you have clipt the wings of his anger, you have smothered
all his passion. Swearing, it is said, is as the wind to wrath. Lower the
sails; no need of sails, when there is no wind. If then we do not clamor, and
do not swear, we have cut the sinews of passion. And if you doubt this, just
put it to experiment. Impose it as a law upon the passionate man that he shall
never swear, and you will have no necessity of preaching moderation to him. So
the whole business is finished. ForF even though you do not forswear
yourselves [yet], by swearing at all, do you not know in what absurd
consequences you involve yourselves—binding yourselves to an absolute necessity
and as with a cord, and putting yourselves to all manner of shifts, as men
studying how to rescue their soul from an evil which there is no escaping, or,
failing of that, obliged [by that self-imposed necessity] to spend your life
thenceforth in vexation, in quarrels, and to curse your wrath? But all is in
vain, and to no purpose. Threaten, be peremptory (διόρισαι), do all, whatever
it be, without swearing; [so]: it is in your power to reverse (ἀναλὕσαι) both
what you have said and what you have done if you have the mind. Thus on the
present day I must needs speak more gently to you. For since ye have heard me,
and the greater part of the reformation is achieved by you, now then let us see
for what purpose the taking of oaths was introduced, and why allowed to be. In
relating to you their first origin, and when they were conceived, and how, and
by whom we shall give you this account in requital for your obedience. For it
is fit that he who has made his practice right, should be taught the philosophy
of the matter, but he who is not yet doing the right, is not worthy to be told
the history.
They made many covenants
in Abraham’s time, and slew victims, and offered sacrifices, and as yet oaths
were not. Whence then did they come in? When evil increased, when all was
confusion, upside down, when men had turned aside to idolatry: then it was,
then, when men appeared no longer worthy to be believed, that they called God
as witness, as if thereby giving an adequate surety for what they said. Such in
fact is the Oath: it is a security where men’s principles cannot be trusted. So
that in the indictment of the swearer the first charge is this,—that he is not
to be trusted without a surety, and a great surety too: for such is the
exceeding faithlessness, that they ask not man as surety, but will needs have
God! Secondly, the same charge lies against him who receives the oath: that, in
a question of compact, he must drag in God for warranty, and refuse to be
satisfied unless he get Him. O the excessive stupidity, the insolence of such
conduct! Thou, a worm, earth and dust, and ashes, and vapor, to drag in thy
Lord as the surety, and to compel the other to drag Him in likewise! Tell me,
if your servants were disputing with each other, and exchanging assurances with
each other, and the fellow-servant should declare that for his part he would
not be satisfied till he had their common master given him for surety, would he
not have stripes given him without number, and be made to know that the master
is for other purposes, and not to be put to any such use as this? Why do I
speak of a fellow-servant? For should he choose any respectable person, would
not that person consider it an affront? But I do not wish to do this, say you.
Well: then do not compel the other to do so either: since where men only are in
question, this is done—if your party says, “I give such an one as my surety,”
you do not allow him. “What then,” say you, “am I to lose what I have given?” I
am not speaking of this; but that you allow him to insult God. For which reason
greater shall be the inevitable punishment to him who forces the oath upon
another, than to him who takes it: the same holds with regard to him who gives
an oath when no one asks him. And what makes it worse, is, that every one is
ready to swear, for one farthing, for some petty item, for his own injustice.
All this may be said, when there is no perjury; but if perjury follow in the
train, both he that imposes and he that takes the oath have turned everything
upside down. “But there are some things,” you will say, “which are unknown.”
Well take these into account, and do nothing negligently; but, if you do act
negligently, take the loss to yourself as your punishment. It is better to be
the loser thus, than in a very different way. For tell me—you force a man to
take an oath, with what expectation? That he will forswear himself? But this is
utter insanity; and the judgment will fall upon your own head; better you
should lose your money, than he be lost. Why act thus to your own detriment,
and to the insulting of God? This is the spirit of a wild beast, and of an
impious man. But you do this in the expectation that he will not forswear
himself? Then trust him without the oath. “Nay, there are many,” you reply,
“who in the absence of an oath would presume to defraud; but, once the oath
taken, would refrain.” You deceive yourself, man. A man having once learnt to
steal, and to wrong his neighbor, will presume full oft to trample upon his
oath; if on the contrary he shrinks from swearing, he will much more shrink
from injustice. “But he is influenced against his will.” Well then, he deserves
pardon.
But why am I speaking of
this kind of oaths, while I pass over those in the market-place? For as regards
these last, you can urge none of these pleas. For ten farthings you there have
swearing and forswearing. In fact, because the thunderbolt does not actually
fall from heaven, because all things are not overthrown, you stand holding God
in your bonds: to get a few vegetables, a pair of shoes, for a little matter of
money, calling Him to witness. What is the meaning of this? Do not let us
imagine, that because we are not punished, therefore we do not sin; this comes
of God’s mercy; not of our merit. Let your oath be an imprecation upon your own
child, upon your own self: say, “Else let the hangman lash my ribs.” But you
dare not. Is God less valuable than thy ribs? is He less precious than thy
pate? Say “Else let me be struck blind.” But no. Christ so spares us, that He
will not let us swear even by our own head; and yet we so little spare the
honor of God, that on all occasions we must drag Him in! Ye know not what God
is, and with what sort of lips he behooves to be invoked. Why, when we speak of
any man of eminent worth, we say, “First wash your mouth, and then make mention
of him:” and yet, that precious Name which is above every name, the Name which
is marvellous in all the earth, the Name which devils hear and tremble, we haul
about as we list! Oh! the force of habit! thereby has that Name become cheap.
No doubt, if you impose on any one the necessity of coming into the sacred
edifice to take his oath there, you feel that you have made the oath an awful
one. And yet how is it that it seems awful in this way, but because we have
been in the habit of using that at random, but not this? For ought not a
shudder of awe to be felt when God is but named? But now, whereas among the
Jews His Name was held to be so reverend, that it was written upon plates, and
none was allowed to wear the characters except the high-priest alone: we bandy
about His Name like any ordinary word. If simply to name God was not allowed to
all; to call Him to witness, what audacity is it! nay, what madness! For if
need were (rather than this) to fling away all that you have, ought you not
readily to part with all? Behold, I solemnly declare and testify; reform these
oaths of the forum, these superfluous oaths, and bring to me all those who wish
to take them. Behold, in the presence of this assembly, I charge those who are
set apart for the tending of the Houses of Prayer, I exhort and issue this
order to them, that no person be allowed to take such oaths at his own
discretion: or rather, that none be allowed to swear in any other way, but that
the person be brought to me, whosoever he be, since even for these matters less
will not serve but they must needs come before us, just as if one had to do
with little children. May there be no occasion! It is a shame in some things
still to need to be taught. Do you dare to touch the Holy Table, being a person
unbaptized? No, but what is still worse, you the baptized dare to lay your hand
upon the Holy Table, which not even all ordained persons are allowed to touch,
and so to take your oath. Now you would not go and lay your hand upon the head
of your child, and yet do you touch the Table, and not shudder, not feel
afraid? Bring these men to me; I will judge, and send them away rejoicing, both
the one and the other. Do what you choose; I lay it down as a law that there be
no swearing at all. What hope of salvation, while we thus make all to have been
done in vain? Is this the end of your bills, and your bonds, that you should
sacrifice your own soul? What gain do you get so great as the loss? Has he
forsworn himself? You have undone both him and yourself. But has he not? even
so still you have undone (both), by forcing him to transgress the commandment.
Let us cast out this disease from the soul: at any rate let us drive it out of
the forum, out of our shops, out of our other work-places; our profits will but
be the greater. Do not imagine that the success of your worldly plans is to be
ensured by transgressions of the Divine laws. “But he refuses to trust me,” say
you; and in fact I have sometimes heard this said by some: “Unless I swear
oaths without number, the man will not trust me.” Yes, and for this you may
thank yourself, because you are so off-hand with your oaths. For were it not
so, but on the contrary were it clear to all men that you do not swear, take my
word for it, you would be more readily believed upon your mere nod, than those
are who swallow oaths by thousands. For look now: which do you more readily
believe? me who do not swear, or those that do swear? “Yes,” say you, “but then
you are ruler and bishop.” Then suppose I prove to you that it is not only for
that reason? Answer me with truth, I beseech you; were I in the habit of
perpetually swearing, would my office stand me in that stead? Not a whit. Do
you see that it is not for this reason? And what do you gain at all? Answer me
that. Paul endured hunger; do you then also choose to hunger rather than to
transgress one of the commandments of God. Why are you so unbelieving? Here are
you, ready to do and suffer all things for the sake of not swearing: and shall
not He reward you? Shall He, Who sustains day by day both takers and breakers
of oaths, give you over to hunger, when you have obeyed Him? Let all men see,
that of those who assemble in this Church not one is a swearer. By this also
let us become manifest, and not by our creed alone; let us have this mark also
to distinguish us both from the Gentiles and from all men. Let us receive it as
a seal from heaven, that we may everywhere be seen to be the King’s own flock.
By our mouth and tongue let us be known, in the first place, just as the
barbarians are by theirs: even as those who speak Greek are distinguished from
barbarians, so let us be known. Answer me: the birds which are said to be
parrots, how are they known to be parrots? is it not by speaking like men? Let
us then be known by speaking like the Apostles; by speaking like the Angels. If
any one bid you swear tell him, “Christ has spoken, and I do not swear.” This
is enough to make a way for all virtue to come in. It is a gate to religion, a
high road leading to the philosophy of piety; a kind of training-school. These
things let us observe, that we may obtain also the future blessings, through
the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom with the Father and the
Holy Ghost together be glory, power and honor, now and ever, world without end.
Amen
_______________________________________________________
Fragmenta in epistulas catholicas.
Unknown date.
(On James : 5:12)
Source: Bray, Gerald, and Thomas C. Oden. James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, p. 59. Vol. 11. Taylor & Francis, 2000.
What if someone swears an oath and claims that he was forced to do so? The fear of God is more powerful than any force. For though you may start out by swearing all kinds of promises, you will not keep any of them. Moreover, you would not dare to swear or give an oath in matters of human law, which you accept whether you want to or not. You would certainly never claim that you were forced into doing so. Now the person who has heard the blessings of God and who has prepared himself as Christ commanded will never claim any need to do anything of the kind, for he is respected and honored by all. What is needed beyond a simple yes and no? An oath adds nothing to these, for no one has to be told that evil is the source of both excess and its deficient opposite. An oath is a form of excess.
---
Source: PG 64: 1049-1052
Greek
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Latin
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Πρὸ πάντων δὲ, ἀδελφοί μου, μὴ ὀμνύετε,
μήτε τὸν οὐρανὸν, μήτε τὴν γῆν, μήτε ἄλλον τινὰ ὅρκον.
Τί οὖν ἐὰν ἀπαιτῇ τις ὅρκον, καὶ
ἀνάγκην ἐπάγῃ; Ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβος τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστω δυνατώτερος. Ἐπεὶ εἰ μέλλει
τὰς τοιαύτας προβάλλεσθαι προφάσεις, οὐδὲν φυλάξεις τῶν ἐπιταχθέντων. Καίτοιγε
ἐπὶ τῶν νόμων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων οὐδαμοῦ τοῦτο τολμᾷς προβαλέσθαι, οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ’
ἑκὼν καὶ ἄκων καταδέχῃ τὰ γεγραμμένα. Ἄλλως δὲ οὐδὲ ἀνάγκην ὑποστήσῃ ποτέ· ὁ
γὰρ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν μαἀνάγκην ὑποστήσῃ ποτέ· ὁ γὰρ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν μακαρισμῶν ἀκούσας,
καὶ τοιοῦτον ἑαυτὸν παρασκευάσας, οἷον ἐπέταξεν ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐδεμίαν παρ’ οὐδε-
νὸς ὑποστήσεται τοιαύτην ἀνάγκην, αἰδέσιμος ὢν παρὰ πᾶσι καὶ σεμνός. Τί ἐστι
τὸ περιττὸν τοῦ ναὶ, καὶ τοῦ οὔ; Ὁ ὅρκος οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ ἐπιορκεῖν· ἐκεῖνο γὰρ οὐδεὶς
δεῖται μαθεῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστι καὶ περιττὸν, ἀλλ’ ἐναντίον· τὸ δὲ
περιττὸν καὶ τὸ πλέον ὁ ὅρκος ἐστίν.
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Ante omnia autem fratres mei,
nolite jurare, neque per caelum, neque per terram, neque aluid quodcunque
juramentum.
Quid ergo si requirat quis
juramentum, et necessitatem praetendat? Necessitate potentior sit timor Dei.
Si talia enim vindicari possent praetexta, nulla praecepta servares. Enimvero
in humanis legibus nulliter talia proferri sineres, nec ipse direre auderes.
Sed, velis nolis, compelleris servare mandata. Sin autem, nunquam desinit
necessitas. Qui autem jam felicibus obedivit praeceptis, et
talem semetipsum praeparavit sicut et mandavit Christus, nunquam, nullo in
casu, similem supponet necessitatem, simplex in omnibus et gravis. Quid est
abundantius verbis, est et non? Juramentum: non usque ad perjurandum;
perjurium vero ne quis postulet, a malo enim est, et ut abundantius, et etiam
ut oppositum; quod vero plus est et abundantius, hoc juramentum est.
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_______________________________________________________
Fragmenta in Ieremiam
Unknown Date. Attributed to Chrysostom in Catenae in Vatican MSS, but of dubious authenticity. Similar in content to Theodoret.
(On Jeremiah 4:2)
Source: PG 64:793
Greek
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Latin
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Καὶ ὀμόσῃ· Ζῇ Κύριος, μετὰ ἀληθείας.
Μηδεὶς ἐντεῦθεν λαμβανέτω πρόφασιν ὅρκου, ἀλλ' ἀκουέτω τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ὅτι Ἠκούσατε, ὅτι ἐῤῥέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις· Οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις· Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως. Πρὸ τούτου ταῦτα ἐλέγετο τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, τοῖς ἐξ εἰδώλων προαγομένοις, οὐχὶ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν, οὐχὶ τοῖς ἁπτομένοις τῶν οὐρανῶν, οὐχὶ τοῖς εἰς ἄνδρα τελοῦσιν.
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Et juravit: Vivit Dominus, cum veritate.
Nullus hinc jurandi occassionem arripiat, sed Evangelium audiat. Audistas quia dictum est antiquis: Non perjurabis: Ego autem dico vobis, non jurare omnino. Antea haec fatuis dicebantur, quique relictis idolis proficiebant. Non philosophiam profitentibus, non caelum ipsum tangentibus, non ad verilem aetatem provectis.
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