Catechism
of Trent III.2 The Second Commandment
Published
in 1566 CE.
Source: Catechism of the Council of Trent,
III.2, p. 382-395. Trans: J.A. McHugh & C.J. Callan. Joseph F. Wagner,
Inc.: New York, 1923 [10th Printing, 1947]
THE SECOND
COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in
vain"
Why This Commandment Is Distinct From The First
The
second Commandment of the divine law is necessarily comprised in the first,
which commands us to worship God in piety and holiness. For he who requires
that honour be paid him, also requires that he be spoken of with reverence, and
must forbid the contrary, as is clearly shown by these words of the Lord in
Malachy: The son honoureth the father and
the servant his master if then I be a father, where is my honour?
However,
on account of the importance of the obligation, God wished to make the law,
which commands His own divine and most holy name to be honoured, a distinct
Commandment, expressed in the clearest and simplest terms.
Importance Of Instruction On This Commandment
The
above observation should strongly convince the pastor that on this point it is
not enough to speak in general terms; that the importance of the subject is
such as to require it to be dwelt upon at considerable length, and to be
explained to the faithful in all its bearings with distinctness, clearness and
accuracy.
This
diligence cannot be deemed superfluous, since there are not wanting those who
are so blinded by the darkness of error as not to dread to blaspheme His name,
whom the Angels glorify. Men are not deterred by the Commandment laid down from
shamelessly and daringly outraging His divine Majesty every day, or rather
every hour and moment of the day. Who is ignorant that every assertion is
accompanied with an oath and teems with curses and imprecations? To such
lengths has this impiety been carried, that there is scarcely anyone who buys,
or sells, or transacts business of any sort, without having recourse to
swearing, and who, even in matters the most unimportant and trivial, does not
profane the most holy name of God thousands of times.
It
therefore becomes more imperative on the pastor not to neglect, carefully and
frequently, to admonish the faithful how grievous and detestable is this crime.
Positive Part of this Commandment
But
in the exposition of this Commandment it should first be shown that besides a
negative, it also contains a positive precept, commanding the performance of a
duty. To each of these a separate explanation should be given; and for the sake
of easier exposition what the Commandment requires should be first set forth,
and then what it forbids. It commands us to honour the name of God, and to
swear by it with reverence It prohibits us to condemn the divine name, to take
it in vain, or swear by it falsely, unnecessarily or rashly.
In
the part which commands us to honour the name of God, the command, as the
pastor should show the faithful, is not directed to the letters or syllables of
which that name is composed, or in any respect to the mere name; but to the
meaning of a word used to express the Omnipotent and Eternal Majesty of the
Godhead, Trinity in Unity. Hence we easily infer the superstition of those
among the Jews who, while they hesitated not to write, dared not to pronounce
the name of God, as if the divine power consisted in the four letters, and not
in the signification.
Although
this Commandment uses the singular number, Thou shalt not take the name of God,
this is not to be understood to refer to any one name, but to every name by
which God is generally designated. For He is called by many names, such as the
Lord, the Almighty, the Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the Strong, and by
others of similar nature, which we meet in Scripture and which are all entitled
to the same and equal veneration.
Various Ways Of Honouring God's Name
It
should next be taught how due honour is to be given to the name of God
Christians, whose tongues should constantly celebrate the divine praises, are
not to be ignorant of a matter so important, indeed, most necessary to
salvation The name of God may be honoured in a variety of ways; but all may be
reduced to those that follow.
Public Profession Of Faith
In
the first place, God's name is honoured when we publicly and confidently
confess Him to be our Lord and our God; and when we acknowledge and also
proclaim Christ to be the author of our salvation.
Respect For The Word Of God
(It
is also honoured) when we pay a religious attention to the word of God, which
announces to us His will; make it the subject of our constant meditation; and
strive by reading or hearing it, according to our respective capacities and
conditions of life, to become acquainted with it.
Praise And Thanksgiving
Again,
we honour and venerate the name of God, when, from a sense of religious duty,
we celebrate His praises, and under all circumstances, whether prosperous or
adverse, return Him unbounded thanks. Thus spoke the Prophet Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget
all he hath done for thee. Among the Psalms of David there are many, in
which, animated with singular piety towards God, he chants in sweetest strains
the divine praises. There is also the example of the admirable patience of Job,
who, when visited with the heaviest and most appalling calamities, never
ceased, with lofty and unconquered soul, to give praise to God. When,
therefore, we labour under affliction of mind or body, when oppressed by misery
and misfortune, let us instantly direct all our thoughts, and all the powers of
our souls, to the praises of God, saying with Job Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Prayer
The
name of God is not less honoured when we confidently invoke His assistance,
either to relieve us from our afflictions, or to give us constancy and strength
to endure them with fortitude. This is in accordance with the Lord's own wishes.
Call upon me, He says, in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee,
and thou shalt glorify me. We have illustrious examples of such
supplications in many passages of Scripture, and especially in the sixteenth,
fortythird, and one hundred and eighteenth Psalms.
Oaths
Finally,
we honour the name of God when we solemnly call upon Him to witness the truth
of what we assert. This mode of honouring God's name differs much from those
already enumerated. Those means are in their own nature so good, so desirable,
that our days and nights could not be more happily or more holily spent than in
such practices of piety. I will bless the
Lord at all times, says David, his
praise shall be always in my mouth. On the other hand, although oaths are
in themselves good, their frequent use is by no means praiseworthy.
The
reason of this difference is that oaths have been instituted only as remedies
to human frailty, and a necessary means of establishing the truth of what we
assert. As it is inexpedient to have recourse to medicine unless, when it
becomes necessary, and as its frequent use is harmful; so with regard to oaths,
it is not profitable to have recourse to them, unless there is a weighty and
just cause; and frequent recurrence to them, far from being advantageous, is on
the contrary highly prejudicial. Hence the excellent observation of St
Chrysostom: Oaths were introduced among
men, not at the beginning of the world, but long after; when vice had spread
far and wide over the earth; when all things were disturbed and universal
confusion reigned out; when, to complete human depravity, almost all mankind
debased the dignity of their nature by the degrading service of idols. Then at
length it was that the custom of oaths was introduced. For the perfidy and
wickedness of men was so great that it was with difficulty that anyone could be
induced to credit the assertion of another, and they began to call on God as a
witness.
Meaning Of An Oath
Since
in explaining this part of the Commandment the chief object is to teach the
faithful how to render an oath reverential and holy, it is first to be
observed, that to swear, whatever the form of words may be, is nothing else
than to call God to witness; thus to say, God is witness, and By God, mean one
and the same thing.
To
swear by creatures, such as the holy Gospels, the cross, the names or relics of
the Saints, and so on, in order to prove our statements, is also to take an
oath. Of themselves, it is true, such objects give no weight or authority to an
oath; it is God Himself who does this, whose divine majesty shines forth in
them Hence to swear by the Gospel is to swear by God Himself, whose truth is
contained and revealed in the Gospel (This holds equally true with regard to
those who swear) by the Saints, who are the temples of God, who believed the
truth of His Gospel, were faithful in its observance, and spread it far and
wide among the nations and peoples.
This
is also true of oaths uttered by way of execration, such as that of St Paul: I call God to witness upon my soul. By
this form of oath one submits himself to God's judgment, who is the avenger of
falsehood. We do not, however, deny that some of these forms may be used
without constituting an oath; but even in such cases it will be found useful to
observe what has been said with regard to an oath, and to conform exactly to
the same rule and standard.
Oaths Are Affirmatory And Promissory
Oaths
are of two kinds. The first is an affirmatory oath, and is taken when we
religiously affirm anything, past or present. Such was the affirmation of the
Apostle in his Epistle to the Galatians: Behold,
before God, I lie not. The second kind, to which comminations may be
reduced, is called promissory. It looks to the future, and is taken when we
promise and affirm for certain that such or such a thing will be done. Such was
the oath of David, who, swearing by the Lord his God, promised to Bethsabee his
wife that her son Solomon should be heir to his kingdom and successor to his
throne.
Conditions Of A Lawful Oath
Although
to constitute an oath it is sufficient to call God to witness, yet to
constitute a holy and just oath many other conditions are required, which
should be carefully explained. These, as St Jerome observes, are briefly
enumerated in the words of Jeremias: Thou
shalt swear: as the Lord liveth, in truth and in judgment and in justice, words
which briefly sum up all the conditions that constitute the perfection of an
oath, namely, truth, judgment, justice.
First Condition: Truth
Truth,
then, holds the first place in an oath. What is asserted must be true and he
who swears must believe what he swears to be true, being influenced not by rash
judgment or mere conjecture, but by solid reasons.
Truth
is a condition not less necessary in a promissory than in an affirmatory oath.
He who promises must be disposed to perform and fulfil his promise at the
appointed time. As no conscientious man will promise to do what he considers
opposed to the most holy Commandments and will of God; so, having promised and
sworn to do what is lawful, he will never fail to adhere to his engagement,
unless, perhaps by a change of circumstances it should happen that, if he
wished to keep faith and observe his promises, he must incur the displeasure
and enmity of God. That truth is necessary to an oath David also declares in
these words: He that sweareth to his
neighbour, and deceiveth not.
Second Condition: Judgment
The
second condition of an oath is judgment. An oath is not to be taken rashly and
inconsiderately, but after deliberation and reflection. When about to take an
oath, therefore, one should first consider whether he is obliged to take it,
and should weigh well the whole case, reflecting whether it seems to call for
an oath. Many other circumstances of time, place, etc., are also to be taken
into consideration; and one should not be influenced by love or hatred, or any
other passion, but by the nature and necessity of the case.
Unless
this careful consideration and reflection precede, an oath must be rash and
hasty; and of this character are the irreligious affirmations of those, who, on
the most unimportant and trifling occasions, swear without thought or reason
from the influence of bad habit alone. This we see practiced daily everywhere
among buyers and sellers. The latter, to sell at the highest price, the former
to purchase at the cheapest rate, make no scruple to strengthen with an oath
their praise or dispraise of the goods on sale.
Since,
therefore, judgment and prudence are necessary, and since children are not
able, on account of their tender years, to understand and judge accurately,
Pope St. Cornelius decreed that an oath should not be administered to children
before puberty, that is, before their fourteenth year.
Third Condition: Justice
The
last condition (of an oath) is justice, which is especially requisite in
promissory oaths. Hence, if a person swear to do what is unjust or unlawful, he
sins by taking the oath, and adds sin to sin by executing his promise. Of this
the Gospel supplies an example. King Herod, bound by a rash oath, gave to a
dancing girl the head of John the Baptist as a reward for her dancing. Such was
also the oath taken by the Jews, who, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles,
bound themselves by oath not to eat, until they had killed Paul.
Lawfulness Of Oaths
These
explanations having been given, there can be no doubt that they who observe the
above conditions and who guard their oaths with these qualities as with
bulwarks, may swear with a safe conscience.
This
is easily established by many proofs. For the law of God, which is pure and
holy, commands: Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and
thou shalt swear by his name. All they, writes David, shall be praised that
swear by him.
The
Scriptures also inform us that the most holy Apostles, the lights of the Church,
sometimes made use of oaths, as appears from the Epistles of the Apostle.
Even
the Angels sometimes swear. The angel, writes St. John in the Apocalypse, swore
by him who lives for ever.
Nay,
God Himself, the Lord of Angels, swears, and, as we read in many passages of
the Old Testament, has confirmed His. promises with an oath. This He did to
Abraham and to David. Of the oath sworn by God David says: The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: thou art a priest for ever
according to the order of Melchisedech.
In
fact, if we consider the whole matter attentively, and examine the origin and
purpose of an oath, it can be no difficult matter to explain the reasons why it
is a laudable act.
An
oath has its origin in faith, by which men believe God to be the author of all
truth, who can never deceive others nor be deceived, to whose eyes all things
are naked and open, who, in fine, superintends all human affairs with an
admirable providence, and governs the world. Filled with this faith we appeal
to God as a witness of the truth, as a witness whom it would be wicked and
impious to distrust.
With
regard to the end of an oath, its scope and intent is to establish the justice
and innocence of man, and to terminate disputes and contests. This is the
doctrine of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews.
An Objection Against Oaths
Nor
does this doctrine at all clash with these words of the Redeemer, recorded in
St. Matthew: You have heard that it was
said to them of old: "Thou shalt not foreswear thyself, but thou shalt
perform thy oaths to the Lord"; but I say to you not to swear at all;
neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; neither by the earth, for it is
his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king; neither
shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or
black. But let your speech be "yea, yea"; "no, no"; and
that which is over and above these is of evil.
It
cannot be asserted that these words condemn oaths universally and under all
circumstances, since we have already seen that the Apostles and our Lord
Himself made frequent use of them. The object of our Lord was rather to reprove
the perverse opinion of the Jews, who had persuaded themselves that the only
thing to be avoided in an oath was a lie. Hence in matters the most trivial and
unimportant they did not hesitate to make frequent use of oaths, and to exact
them from others. This practice the Redeemer condemns and reprobates, and
teaches that an oath is never to be taken unless necessity require it. For
oaths have been instituted on account of human frailty. They are really the
outcome of evil, being a sign either of the inconstancy of him who takes them,
or of the obstinacy of him who refuses to believe without them. However, an
oath can be justified by necessity.
When
our Lord says: Let your speech be
"yea, yea"; "no, no," He evidently forbids the habit of
swearing in familiar conversation and on trivial matters. He therefore
admonishes us particularly against being too ready and willing to swear; and this
should be carefully explained and impressed on the minds of the faithful. That
countless evils grow out of the unrestrained habit of swearing is proved by the
evidence of Scripture, and the testimony of the most holy Fathers. Thus we read
in Ecclesiasticus: Let not thy mouth be
accustomed to swearing, for in it there are many falls; and again: A man that
sweareth much shall be filled with iniquity, and a scourge shall not depart
from his house. In the works of St. Basil and St. Augustine against lying,
much more can be found on this subject.
Negative Part of this Commandment
So
far we have considered what this Commandment requires. It now remains to speak
of what it prohibits; namely, to take the name of God in vain. It is clear that
he who swears rashly and without deliberation commits a grave sin. That this is
a most serious sin is declared by the words: Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain, which seem to
assign the reason why this crime is so wicked and heinous; namely, that it
derogates from the majesty of Him whom we profess to recognise as our Lord and
our God. This Commandment, therefore, forbids to swear falsely, because he who
does not shrink from so great a crime as to appeal to God to witness falsehood,
offers a grievous Injury to God, charging Him either with ignorance, as though
the truth of any matter could be unknown to Him, or with malice and dishonesty,
as though God could bear testimony to falsehood.
Various Ways In Which God's Name Is Dishonoured: False Oaths
Among
false swearers are to be numbered not only those who affirm as true what they
know to be false, but also those who swear to what is really true, believing it
to be false. For since the essence of a lie consists in speaking contrary to
one's belief and conviction, these persons are evidently guilty of a lie, and
of perjury.
On
the same principle, he who swears to that which he thinks to be true, but which
is really false, also incurs the guilt of perjury, unless he has used proper
care and diligence to arrive at a full knowledge of the matter. Although he swears
according to his belief, he nevertheless sins against this Commandment.
Again,
he who binds himself by oath to the performance of anything, not intending to
fulfil his promise, or, having had the intention, neglect its performance,
guilty of the same sin. This equally applies to those who, having bound
themselves to God by vow, neglect its fulfilment.
Unjust Oaths
This
Commandment is also violated, if justice, which is one of the three conditions
of an oath, be wanting. Hence he who swears to commit a mortal sin, for
example, to perpetrate murder, violates this Commandment, even though he speak
seriously and from his heart, and his oath possess what we before pointed out
as the first condition of every oath, that is, truth.
To
these are to be added oaths sworn through a sort of contempt, such as an oath
not to observe the Evangelical counsels, such as celibacy and poverty. None, it
is true, are obliged to embrace these divine counsels, but by swearing not to
observe them, one contemns and despises them.
Rash Oaths
This
Commandment is also sinned against, and judgment is violated when one swears to
what is true and what he believes to be true if his motives are light
conjectures and farfetched reasons. For, notwithstanding its truth, such an
oath is not unmixed with a sort of falsehood, seeing that he who swears with
such indifference exposes himself to extreme danger of perjury.
Oaths By False Gods
To
swear by false gods is likewise to swear falsely. What more opposed to truth
than to appeal to lying and false deities as to the true God?
Irreverent Speech
Scripture
when it prohibits perjury, says: Thou
shalt not profane the name of thy God, thereby forbidding all irreverence
towards all other things to which, in accordance with this Commandment,
reverence is due. Of this nature is the Word of God, the majesty of which has
been revered not only by the pious, but also sometimes by the impious, as is
narrated in Judges of Eglon, King of the Moabites.
But
he who, to support heresy and the teaching of the wicked. distorts the Sacred
Scriptures from their genuine and true meaning, is guilty of the greatest
injury to the Word of God; and against this crime we are warned by these words
of the Prince of the Apostles: There are certain things hard to be understood.
which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures,
to their own destruction.
It
is also a foul and shameful contamination of the Scripture, that wicked men
pervert the words and sentences which it contains, and which should be honoured
with all reverence, turning them to profane purposes, such as scurrility,
fable, vanity, flattery, detraction, divination, satire and the like crimes
which the Council of Trent commands to be severely punished.
Neglect Of Prayer
In
the next place, as they honour God who, in their affliction implore His help,
so they, who do not invoke His aid, deny Him due honour; and these David
rebukes when he says: They have not
called upon the Lord, they trembled for fear where there was no fear.
Blasphemy
Still
more enormous is the guilt of those who, with impure and defiled lips, dare to
curse or blaspheme the holy name of Godthat name which is to be blessed and
praised above measure by all creatures, or even the names of the Saints who
reign with Him in glory.' So atrocious and horrible is this crime that the
Sacred Scriptures, sometimes when speaking of blasphemy use the word blessing.
Sanction of this Commandment
As,
however, the dread of punishment has often a powerful effect in checking the
tendency to sin, the pastor, in order the more effectively to move the minds of
men and the more easily to induce to an observance of this Commandment, should
diligently explain the remaining words, which are, as it were, its appendix:
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord
his God in vain.
In
the first place (the pastor) should teach that with very good reason has God
joined threats to this Commandment. From this is understood both the grievousness
of sin and the goodness of God toward us, since far from rejoicing in man's
destruction, He deters us by these salutary threats from incurring His anger,
doubtless in order that we may experience His kindness rather than His wrath.
The pastor should urge and insist on this consideration with greatest
earnestness. in order that the faithful may be made sensible of the
grievousness of the crime, may detest it still more, and may employ increased
care and caution to avoid its commission.
He
should also observe how prone men are to this sin, since it was not sufficient
to give the command, but also necessary to accompany it with threats. The
advantages to be derived from this thought are indeed incredible; for as
nothing is more injurious than a listless security, so the knowledge of our own
weakness is most profitable.
He
should next show that God has appointed no particular punishment. The threat is
general; it declares that whoever is guilty of this crime shall not escape
unpunished. The various chastisements, therefore, with which we are every day
visited, should warn us against this sin. It is easy to conjecture that men are
afflicted with heavy calamities because they violate this Commandment; and if
these things are called to their attention, it is likely that they will be more
careful for the future.
Deterred,
therefore, by a holy dread, the faithful should use every exertion to avoid
this sin. If for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an
account on the day of judgment, what shall we say of those heinous crimes which
involve great contempt of the divine name?
