Oaths Forbidden by Jesus Christ

Good Christians believe that all use of the oath is forbidden by the command of Jesus Christ. In this position we have been consistent with the tradition historically expressed by the Waldensians, the Anabaptists, Amish, many Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites.

The good Christian rejection of the oath is motivated by a demand for absolute truthfulness on the part of the Christian. Now there are many churches that claim to be Christian that take the opposite position.

These churches, which we call the "Constantine" churches do not think that the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount are actual rules for living in daily life. They would rather have man-made rules in place of those given to us by Jesus Christ.

For such people, it is quite acceptable to use an oath when testifying in a court of law because they claim it involves GOD in the courtroom process. By this invention, they argue that the trial and the sentencing are approved by GOD.

Good Christians reject this argument completely. We take the position that it is impossible to call upon the GOD of forgiving love as if He were a human judge.

Let's not beat around the bush here: while good Christians do not dispute that there are many fine, kind and forgiving judges who have handed down reasonable and balanced sentences, giving great honor to their personal wisdom. The System that rules us is imperfect and does not represent the work or involvement of the GOD of love anymore than a moldy piece of bread in a garbage can reflect the action of a chef at a fine restaurant.

Paul swore an oath to establish the truth of the Gospel message. However, Paul was an apostle -- a public servant of GOD and not a private citizen. In cases of necessity, when there is a spokesperson for the good Christians before a criminal court, and only when he or she is acting as a public servant of Jesus Christ, it might be acceptable for that good Christian to consider taking such an oath. This has never happened to date.

This Church refrains from oaths, for our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew: "Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of GOD; nor by earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black." (Matthew 5:34-37) Furthermore, after forbidding oaths, He teaches man how he should speak, saying, "Let your speech be yes, yes; no, no," as if He were saying: Let what you have in your heart sound in the mouth through the word alone, without an oath. In other words -- speak from the heart. For Christ says "that which is over and above these is of evil," meaning of Satan, the prince of this world, from whom we ask GOD daily in our prayers to free us from and the System Satan rules when we pray "But deliver us from evil."

Contrary to these statements in the New Testament, the Constantine churches say that people should swear and they say that GOD swore and that the Angels also swore. For all we have seen of these churches, all their lies over the centuries, it would seem that swearing by oath has hardly been proven to be a good thing by their actions. How many times have people lied under oath?

While others find safety in the rule of man and his rules, the good Christian follows that of Jesus Christ in the New Testament and is echoed by James : "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath. But let your speech be yes, yes, no, no, that you fall not under judgment. " Therefore, no member of the Church of Christ should swear an oath, for if they did, it would violate the law of Christ that says, "Swear not."