Bartholomew of Spina, 1517 (Redaction of lacuna of missing Aquinas Lectura, adapted from the work of Peter of Scala, Postilla of Saint Matthew)
Source: St. Thomas Aquinas. 2012. Commentary
on the Gospel of St. Matthew. Chapter 5, verse 33-37, Appendix I (EBook). Translated
by Paul Matthew Kimball. Dolorosa Press, New York, U.S.A.
____________________________________________________________
Again you have heard that it was said to them of old. Above, He set in order the irascible and the concupiscible appetites with respect to their passions; here He sets in order the rational power with respect to the truth. Now there is a twofold truth, created and uncreated. He sets in order, therefore, the rational power with respect to the uncreated truth, through due reverence and honoring; secondly, he sets in order the rational power to the created truth, through sincere expression, where it is said, But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no. In the first, two things are said. For firstly, He sets forth the justice of the law, which consists in two things, namely, in the avoidance of perjury, and in the performance of the sworn oath, where it is said, But thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord. Secondly, he sets forth the justice of the Gospel, which consists in two things, in the prohibition of an oath’s frequent recurrence, when He says, But I say to you not to swear at all: and in the explanation of the prohibition, when He says, Neither by heaven, etc. He says, therefore, Again you have heard that it was said to them of old, thou shalt not forswear thyself, that is, thou shalt not commit perjury; hence, it is written: “Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of thy God” (Lev. 19, 12).
Chrysostom, however, inquires why, passing over theft in silence, does He go on to false witnessing?
Reply: Because someone steals, whenever he lies, and it is not vice versa: for someone who does not wish to lie, or to swear, never chooses to steal: and by this omission, He averts to this fact. Or it ought to be said that theft was being punished in the law; but lying was not. And thus, lest it be thought to be licit, He forbids it here.
But thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord. Jerome says: “That is, if it befalls one to swear, you will swear by the Creator, not by a creature.” Hence, He says, to the Lord, not to an idol or creature: because, as Chrysostom says, one who does not swear his oaths by God, but by the elements of this world, sins doubly. Firstly, he sins because he does not give his due to God; and secondly, he sins because he deifies that through which he swears, and in this way he commits idolatry.
The Gloss of Jerome reads: “Just as He commanded victims to be offered to God, lest they immolate them to idols, in this way it was conceded to little ones to swear by God.” Therefore, if it was to little ones, this is not allowed to the perfect. It is on the contrary. The Apostle swore: “For God is my witness,” etc., (Rom. 1, 9). And the angel swore in Apocalypse 10, 6.
Reply: He calls ‘little ones’ those who speak the truth, or the humble ones fearing God. Or ‘To the little ones,’12 that is, for the sake of little ones, this is to say, for the sake of these temporal things.
On the contrary, “The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent” (Ps. 109, 4); “An oath for confirmation is the end of all their controversy” (Heb. 6, 16).
Reply: He forbids us to swear altogether, that is, with frequent recurrence. Or at all, in the compound sense, that is to say, in every case. Now there ought to be three things in an oath: due matter, namely, truth; due form, namely, justice; and a right purpose: hence, according to Augustine, Gregory and Origen, He did not entirely forbid us to swear, but, by occasion of perjury, He taught us what is more perfect. According to Alexander, this was solely commanded to the Apostles in the primitive Church, lest they be considered imperfect. Or when He says, Not to swear at all, the inclination to swear is prohibited, not the effect, as it is written in James 5, 12: “Above all things, my brethren, swear not.” Hence, Jerome says: “Christ forbids to swear at all, lest someone desire swearing as if it were a good thing, and through the frequency of swearing, fall into perjury.” Likewise, Augustine, in his book On Lying says: “Not to swear at all, that is, so far as it lies in your power, do not love, nor with any delight desire, an oath.” Again, Augustine says on the same passage: “Swearing is not good, nevertheless it is not bad, when it is necessary.”13
On the contrary, Augustine, in his sermon on danger, says: “A false oath is pernicious, a true one is dangerous, and none are without fear.”
Reply: It is dangerous with respect to the one swearing, not because it is evil, but because he can easily omit some condition of an oath, which are threefold, according to the passage of Jeremias 4, 2: “Thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice.” One swears in truth, who swears according to the truth of the matter and of one’s conscience; one swears in judgment, who swears lawfully; and one swears in justice, who swears for a sufficient reason.
Neither by heaven. Chrysostom says: “He who swears by heaven, deifies heaven,” and by heaven he means every higher natural creature. The Gloss reads: “Let us not swear by creatures.”
On the contrary, Joseph swore by the health of Pharao (Gen. 42, 15).
Reply: He swore in this manner, knowing that Pharao’s power and also his health are from God. Therefore, it was not swearing by a creature, but by God, in whose hand is the health of all men.
For it is the throne of God: “Heaven is my throne” (Is. 66, 1). Nor by the earth, through which is understood every lower natural creature, for it is his footstool; “the earth my footstool” (Is. ibid.). And, as Augustine says, God is said to sit in heaven, and to tread the earth, not because He has members located in this way; but it is because in all the universe, the greatest beauty is the heaven’s,14 and the least is the earth’s: on account of which, He is said to sit in heaven, because it reflects His great power.
Then He includes an artificial creature, saying, Nor by Jerusalem. It was customary for the Jews to swear by Jerusalem, and by the Temple, and by things of this kind. For it is the city of the great king; “Who is the great God like our God?” (Ps. 76, 14) Neither shalt thou swear by thy head. By this, every creature is understood, which is the same as ourselves. Augustine says: “When someone swears ‘by my own health,’ he makes his own health forfeitable to God. When someone swears ‘by my children,’ he pledges them to God, so that this thing may come upon their heads which went forth from his mouth.” Because thou canst not make one hair white or black, in other words, naturally; as though He were to say, ‘It is not the product of your work, but God’s.’ Hence, Augustine says: “To swear by whatsoever creature is to call its Creator to witness.” On account of all these things it is said: “Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing” (Eccli. 23,9). Chrysostom says: “There is no one who swears frequently, who does not sometimes swear falsely.” But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no. This is the second part, where He sets in order the rational created truth by sincere expression, namely, when the truth is expressed by word, according to that which is conceived in the mind; hence, it is as if He says, ‘I have in this way forbidden one to swear, when one ought to merely speak.’ But, that is to say, on the contrary, let your speech be yea, yea, that is, let your word having the actuality of reality, be yea, yea, that is, let it be uttered according to the truth of conscience, no, no, that is, concerning a thing which is not, let it be said not to be. Hence, Rabanus says: “Yea, yea: no, no, He speaks twice so that what you say with your mouth, you may prove with works; what you deny with words, you may not confirm with deeds.” And that which is over and above these, that is, that which is asserted, or denied, beyond the simple truth of the matter, as, for instance, by an oath, is of evil: He does not say, ‘is evil,’ as Augustine says; but, of evil, namely, not yours, but from the infirmity of the one compelling you to swear, or from his incredulity.
Hence, observe that it is lawful to swear for many reasons. Firstly, it is lawful for proving the truth to the incredulous; “But God is faithful: for our preaching which was to you, it was not, It is, and it is not” (II Cor. 1, 18); secondly, for reestablishing peace, just as Jacob swore to Laban (Gen. chap. 31); thirdly, for contracting friendship; “The men from Gerara said to Isaac: Let there be an oath between us”; fourthly, for showing the truth; “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand” (Deut. 19, 15); fifthly, for keeping fidelity; “The ancients also of Israel came to the king, and he made a league with them” (II Kings 5, 3); sixthly, for the acknowledgement of one’s acceptance of obedience and submission; in this way the men of Galaad swore to Jephte (Judges 11, 10); seventhly, for the preservation of the Church’s customs, as the canons do: just as the children of Israel swore that they would serve the Lord. And these seven reasons are for the sake of introducing a good.
Similarly, there are two other reasons, for the sake of removing an evil, namely, just as an oath is taken in a legal contest in order to put a false accusation to rest; “An oath for confirmation is the end of all their controversy” (Heb. 6, 16). Another reason is to clear away infamy; “When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder, thy ancients and judges shall go out… And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord” (Deut. 21, 1).
No comments:
Post a Comment