Chapter XXII: Of Lawful Oaths and Vows. De Juramentis, votisque licitis.

Of Lawful Oaths and Vows. De Juramentis, votisque licitis.
I. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, [1751] wherein, upon just occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth. [1752] I. Juramentum licitum est pars cultus religiosi, [1753] qua (occasione justa oblata) qui jurat, Deum, de eo quod asserit aut promittit, solenni modo testatur; eundemque appellat se secundum illius quod jurat veritatem aut falsitatem judicaturum. [1754] II. The name of God only is that II. Per solum Dei nomen jurare

by which, men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; [1755] therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred. [1756] Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the Word of God, under the New Testament, as well as under the Old, [1757] so a lawful oath, being imposed by lawful authority, in such matters ought to be taken. [1758] debent homines, quod quidem cum omni timore sancto ac reverentia est inibi usurpandum. [1759] Proindeque per nomen illud gloriosum ac tremendum jurare leviter, aut temere, vel etiam omnino jurare per rem aliam quamviscunque, sceleratum est et quam maxime perhorrescendum.
[1760] Veruntamen sicut in rebus majoris ponderis et momenti secundum verbum Dei licitum est jusjurandum non minus quidem sub Novo quam sub Vetere Testamento: [1761] ita sane jusjurandum licitum, authoritate legitima si exigatur, non est in rebus ejusmodi declinandum. [1762] III. Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the truth. [1763] Neither may any man bind himself by oath to any thing but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform. [1764] Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority. [1765] III. Quicunque juramentum præstat eum pondus actionis tam solennis rite secum perpendere oportet, atque juratum de nullo asseverare quod verum esse non habeat sibi persuasissimum. [1766] Neque licet cuivis ad agendum quicquam obstringere semet jurejurando, nisi quod revera bonum justumque est, quod ille ejusmodi esse credit, quodque ipse præstare potest statuitque. [1767] Veruntamen de re bona justaque jusjurandum, legitima authoritate si exigatur, peccat ille qui detrectat. [1768] IV. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of IV. Juramentum præstandum est sensu verborum vulgari quidem ac

the words, without equivocation or mental reservation. [1769] It can not oblige to sin; but in any thing not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt: [1770] nor is it to be violated, although made to heretics or infidels. [1771] manifesto, sine æquivocatione aut reservatione mentali quaviscunque. [1772] Ad peccandum quenquam obligare nequit, verum in re qualibet cui abest peccatum, qui semel illud præstitit, adimplere tenetur, vel etiam cum damno suo; [1773] neque sane licet, quamvis hæreticis datum aut infidelibus, violare. [1774]
V. A vow is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought to be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like faithfulness. [1775] V. Votum, naturæ consimilis est cum juramento promissorio, parique debet tum religione nuncupari tum fide persolvi.
[1776] VI. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone: [1777] and that it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith and conscience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, or for the [1778] obtaining of what we want; whereby we more strictly bind ourselves to necessary duties, or to other things, so far and so long as they may fitly conduce thereunto. [1779] VI. Non est ulli creaturæ, sed Deo soli nuncupandum, [1780] et quo gratum illi esse possit acceptumque, est quidem lubenter, e fide, officiique nostri conscientia suscipiendum, vel gratitudinis nostræ ob accepta beneficia testandæ causa, vel boni alicujus, quo indigemus, consequendi; per hoc autem nosmet ad officia necessaria arctius obligamus; vel etiam ad res alias quatenus quidem et quamdiu istis subserviunt. [1781] VII. No man may vow to do any thing forbidden in the Word of God, or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is not in his own power, and for the performance whereof he hath no promise VII. Nemini quicquam vovere licet se acturum, quod aut verbo Dei prohibetur; aut officium aliquod inibi præceptum impediret, quodve non est in voventis potestate, et cui præstando vires illi Deus non est pollicitus. [1782]

or ability from God. [1783] In which respect, [1784] popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitions and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself. [1785] Unde Pontificiorum illa de perpetuo coelibatu, de paupertate, deque obedientia regulari vota Monastica, tantum abest ut perfectionis gradus sint sublimiores, ut superstitionis plane sint ac peccati laquei, quibus nulli unquam Christiano semetipsum licet implicare. [1786]