Juan de Valdés, Commentary on Matthew, 5:33-37

Juan de Valdés, Commentary on Matthew, 5:33-37

Written c. 1540.

Source: Valdes, Juan de, John T. Betts, and Edward Boehmer. 1882. Commentary upon the gospel of St Matthew, now for the first time transl. from the Spanish, and never before pubd in English, by John T. Betts. Lives of the twin brothers, Juan and Alfonso de Valdes, by Edward Boehmer, with intr. by the editor. London: Trubner. p. 82-84.

Christ, carrying on His design of showing the difference between the obligation of the law by human generation (birth) and that of the Gospel by Christian regeneration, says, "moreover you have heard" &c., meaning: because the law, following the obligation of generation, does not prohibit the taking of an oath, but only perjury. The scribes and Pharisees hold themselves to be righteous provided they do not perjure themselves, holding those to be righteous, who do not perjure themselves. Now, forasmuch as the Gospel, following the obligation of regeneration, does not allow the regenerate to swear at all, I admonish you not to swear, any how, nor by any thing; reducing your- selves to a simple "yea" for affirmation, and to a simple "nay" for negation; for I would have you know that all exceeding this comes forth and proceeds from an unmortified spirit, that neither feels nor knows the obligation of regeneration. This is what I understand to be the meaning of these words.

Proceeding to particularise them, it is to be understood that the law, in saying, "thou shalt not forswear thyself” meant, that when a man should promise anything by oath, inasmuch as, by swearing, it seemed that he promised to God, he should fulfil it ; for by the non-fulfilment he became perjured. This renders that, "but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths," intelligible."Thou shalt not forswear thyself" is identical with the injunction of the second commandment of the law, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

Christ, in saying, "thou shalt not swear" excludes perjury and prohibits oaths, and means, that since the heaven is God's and not ours, and that the earth is God's and not ours, and that Jerusalem is God's and not ours, and that with our heads we cannot do what we will — it is not right to swear by any one of them. In saying, "but let your speech be" He means, let it be your affirmation and your negation. In saying "all beyond this," He means whatever is added to this, "yea," and to this, "nay."

Many write much, pretending to expound these words of Christ, limiting them, and adducing cases in which it is permitted to the Christian to swear. I rest satisfied with saying this; because I read that St. Paul, wishing to be believed, occasionally swore, as appears, Rom. i. 9, 2 Cor. xi. 11, Gal. i. 20, and feeling it to be certain that the Spirit of Christ spake by St. Paul, which Spirit never deviated from the obligation of Christian regeneration, I think thus: that in every oath which man makes voluntarily, not being constrained to do so, he deviates from Christian regeneration; so that the Christian is then permitted to swear, when he is constrained by man, and inspired by God, as St. Paul was inspired. The man who shall not be resolved, as against the world, to maintain the obligation of Christian regeneration, will never bring himself to this purity, for the world's honour will constrain him to swear, when he desires to be believed in that which he shall affirm.