Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, On Oaths

Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, On Oaths

Early Irish canon-law text compiled between c. 650 - 750 CE.

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Book 10, On Clerics (10.19)

Source: Flechner, R. (Ed.). (2019). The Hibernensis: Book 2: Translation, Commentary, and Indexes. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. p. 510.

A cleric who swears must be excommunicated.

*c.f. Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua 74 (61): clericum per creaturas iurantem acerrime obiurgandum; si perstiterit in uitio, excommunicandum.

Book 34, On Oaths

Source: Flechner, R. (Ed.). (2019). The Hibernensis: Book 2: Translation, Commentary, and Indexes. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. p. 651-657.

34 Concerning oath-taking

34.1 Concerning swearing an oath

The servant swore to Abraham. Now Abraham was old and advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed him. And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord God of heaven and earth, that you take not a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites. among whom I dwell, etc. And a little later it is said: The servant therefore put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him upon this word.

Jacob swore to Laban before the heap of the testimony. Laban answered him: The daughters are mine and the children, and your flocks, and all things that you see are mine. Come therefore, let us enter into a league, that it may be for a testimony between me and you. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title, etc. And a little later he said: And Jacob swore by the name of his father Isaac.

Isaac swore to Abimelech and Phicol. In Genesis: To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara, Isaac said to them: Why have you come to me, a man whom you hate and have cast out from among you? And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with you. and therefore we have said: Let there be an oath between us. and let us make a covenant, etc. And a little further on: He made them a feast, and atter they had food and drink, arising in the morning, they swore one to another.

Moses swore to Jethro, the priest of Midian.

Joshua swore that he would not rest until he destroyed Achis too.

Likewise: Joshua swore to the Gabaonites. Likewise: I have given you the land, as I have sworn to your fathers.

David says: The Lord hath sworn, and he shall not repent. In the books of Kings: Saul to David: Swear to me by the Lord, that you will not destroy my seed after me.

Paul: I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. Likewise: An oath is the end of a dispute.

Jerome: I testify to Jesus and his holy angels.

The prophet The Lord lives, and my soul lives.

Ezechias: The Lord lives, who created this soul.

In the law: Render your vows to the Lord.

34.2 Concerning taking precautions about an oath

Isidore in the books concerning the nature of things: One must, therefore, be careful of swearing, and it must not be done, except in times of need. Swearing does not conflict with the teachings of the Lord, but when we swear, we chance upon the offence of perjury. As one who does not speak cannot lie, so he who is not inclined to swear, shall not be able to commit perjury. Likewise: He who fears perjury never swears.

Origen: Everyone who is bold in swearing, is close to lying. Likewise, the same: A man swearing boldly, whatever good he may have done will perish, and the punishment shall remain upon him in the future.

Solomon: A man who swears much shall be filled with iniquity, and he shall not be justified, and a scourge shall not depart from his house. And it he shall have sworn in vain, his sin shall be upon his house. And if he dissemble it, he offends double. And if he swear in vain, he shall not be justified, for his house shall be filled with his punishment.

Augustine: Woe to them who want to swear in order to gain transitory possessions, whereby they lose the eternal.

34.3 That one must not swear by what is created, but only by the creator

The Lord in the Gospel: You shall not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool.

Jerome: The sense of this passage teaches that one should not swear by any created thing, but by the creator, as it is customary for the prophets to say: The Lord, by whom I stand today, lives. For everything by which one swears, one also loves.

34.4 That a Christian ought not swear, but only say

In the Gospel: But I tell you not to swear under any circumstances. Let your speech be: yes, yes, no, no. More than this is from the evil one.

 Jerome: The word of the just is received in lieu of an oath.

A Roman synod: Three things must be removed from the church: an oath, contention, interest payments and every kind of secular business.

In the Ecclesiastical History: When a man by the name of Basilides was asked, for some reason, to take an oath in the presence of his colleagues, who challenged his vows and oaths, he said that he was not permitted to swear under any circumstances because he was a Christian.

34.5 Concerning dissolving an oath

Jerome: Three kinds of oaths must be dissolved. If you have taken an oath to murder or commit another evil, do not fulfil it, as Paul said: Undo every unjust bond.

The first: When someone swears to do evil, like murder or any evil of this type.

Isidore in the books of the nature of things: An oath by which an evil is rashly promised must not be kept; for instance, if someone who has been joined to an adulteress, should promise to stay with her forever. It is more tolerable not to fulfil an oath, than to perpetuate a state of disgraceful immorality.

Whence it is said: Undo every unjust bond.

Likewise: Perverse oaths are reversed.

The second: When someone swears unscrupulously, not reckoning it a sin.

Origen: Others swear in vain, with no expediency to themselves or to others; it seems better to dissolve than fulfil such oaths.

A synod: It must be considered praiseworthy to dissolve a reckless agreement; it is not dishonesty, but only correction of rashness.

In the book of Kings Saul vowed that Jonathan would be killed, and he was not killed, nor was he blamed for this vow, for he vowed according to his own will, not God's. For Saul says to Jonathan: May God do so and so to me, and add these things, for dying you shall die, Jonathan. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan really die, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? This is not right; as the Lord liveth, not a single hair of his head shall fall to the ground; that is, because Jonathan and his armour-bearer slew twenty thousand Philistines in one day.

The third is: If a woman, a girl in age, being in her father's house, bind herself by an oath, if her father knew the vows and immediately gainsaid them, both her vows and her oaths shall be void, and she shall not be culpable.

A Hibernian synod: The oath of a son or a daughter without their father's knowledge, the oath of a monachus without the abbot's knowledge, the oath of a slave without his master's knowledge, shall be void.

Jerome: He who wickedly binds an oath on a person of unsound mind, or a child. or the infirm, shall be held guilty for the oath, if it was taken in the absence of their guardians.

34.6 Concerning not dissolving an oath

The law: If any of the men make a vow, or bind himself by an oath, let him not make his word void, but fulfil all that he promised. Likewise, the law: if a woman bind herself by an oath, and so forth; until he said: If her father held his peace for a day, she shall be bound by the vow.

Likewise: That which has once left your lips, you shall observe as though you have promised it to the Lord your God.

Jerome: Do everything that you vowed, lest you be found guilty of perjury.

For he said in the Gospel: Perjurers shall not possess the kingdom of heaven.

Origen: Most swearing is to be discouraged, but after an oath has been taken, it must be fulfilled rather than annulled. Jephte swore a reckless oath, and did not dissolve it.

34.7 That many are deceived through oaths

Isidore in the books concerning the nature of things: Many swear falsely in order to deceive, as they use the confidence that an oath inspires to lend credence to their words, and so, through deception, while they perjure and lie, they deceive the gullible man. Sometimes those led astray are deceived by false tears; and the teary-eyed are trusted, who should not have been believed.

34.8 Concerning a false oath

Isidore in the same books: By whatsoever verbal ingenuity one swears, nevertheless God, who is a witness to our conscience, perceives [the oath] in exactly the same manner as he, to whom the oath is given, understands it. For he is twice as guilty, who both takes God's name in vain, and ensnares his fellow man.

34.9 Concerning the vice of compelling an audience to swear

Isidore in the same books: We say most things without swearing, but due to the incredulity of those who do not believe what we say, we are compelled to swear. And through such necessity, we form a habit of swearing. Many who are not moved to put trust in a statement are slow to believe. But they who compel those speaking to them to swear commit a great offence.

34.10 That the evil of someone committing perjury and someone concealing perjury is alike

In Leviticus: The one that sins and hears the voice of one swearing, and is a witness either because he himself has seen, or he is privy to it, unless he utters it, he shall bear his iniquity.

34.11 Concerning performing penance for perjury and the alms to be given for it

In Leviticus: The person who swears falsely that he would do something either evil or good, and forgot, and afterwards remembers, let him do penance for his sin, and offer a Iamb, or a she•goat, or two turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

34.12 What is the difference between an oath and God's repentance?

Isidore in the books concerning the nature of things: Swearing is that providence of God by which he commanded not to break agreements.

Likewise: God's repentance, however, is the changing of matters; but to fail to regret is to fail to revoke decisions; as in that [passage]: The Lord has sworn and he will not repent; i.e. whoever swore, will not be made to recant.

34.13 Concerning the accused concluding his case by making an oath or standing by the altar.

The synod of Sardica said: It is decided that one who is accused—that is, if he has been afraid of the rash power of the multitude—should choose for himself a nearby place to which he can easily summon witnesses, where the case might be concluded either by oath, or beside the altar.

The synod of Arles: If one has given testimony over another, he shall swear by the Holy Gospels that he shall submit to the judgement of God, who said: Revenge is mine, and I shall repay.

34.14 Why an oath rests with the majority

The synod of Consul: They who dispute what case soever, if one should have a witness or many, and the other be without witness, the oath shall rest with the majority.

Concerning him who swears, how should he be quitted

A Roman synod says of two parties that dispute with no witnesses: The one who is being vindicated testifies by the tour Gospels before the sacerdos dispenses the host, and let him be subject to ordeal by fire.