JESUS AND JAMES DO NOT TAK OATHS

In His Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, our Lord taught, “You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, ‘Do not take a false oath; rather, make good to the Lord all your pledges.’ What I tell you is: do not swear at all. Do not swear by Heaven (it is God’s throne), nor by the earth (it is His footstool), nor by Jerusalem (it is the city of the great King); do not swear by your head (you cannot make a single hair white or black). Say, ‘Yes’ when you mean ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ when you mean ‘No.’ Anything beyond that is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37). Later, St. James in his letter repeated this precept: “Above all else, my brothers, you must not swear an oath, any oath at all, either ‘by Heaven’ or ‘by earth.’ Rather let it be ‘yes’ if you mean yes and ‘no’ if you mean no” (James 5:12).