falsly That we may the better observe and keep this prohibition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. Hom. 14. and be freed from the danger of so great a sin in regard that men accustomed to swearing do commonly account perjury but a light and frivolous thing Christ therefore here in the words of the Text gives us an wholsome admonition to abstain altogether from swearing nisi in causâ necessitatis except in cases of necessity Hier. Zanch. viz. Vbi gloria Domini vindicanda aut Fratris aedificatio promovenda when and where the glory of God is to be vindicated by an open defence of the Truth opposed or mine own and my Neighbours welfare and good may thereby be promoted So then say the Anabaptists who derive their opinion from the Manichees say they what they please Christ does not altogether forbid Swearing but restrains it to certain circumstances of Time and Case For in some cases a man may swear The II. Gen. part In what cases and when a man may swear Deut. 1.16 Psal 82.6 as First when an Oath is for the deciding of a controversie ministred by the subordinate Magistrates under the Supreme to whom God in this respect hath bequeathed his Soveraign Power and committed that Authority that when any one of them demands it in a matter of great importance or consequence we may lawfully swear or take a solemn Oath Secondly when an Oath serveth to maintain procure or win unto God any part of his glory or to preserve the same from disgrace or ignominie against the contumelious rage and malice of his enemies Thus if a man should converse with Papists and Infidels and he alleadging for the confirmation of truth the Authority of Gods word if any one of them should stiffely deny what he produces to be a part of the Scriptures he in this case may safely and justly use an Oath to defend it An example hereof we have in St. Paul who being moved with a Godly and Religious zeal for the Truth made use of an Oath to confirm his Doctrine that the Churches to whom he writ might be established in the truth and God Almighty thereby glorifyed The Oath which he used is expressed and that clearly Gal. 1.20 Before God I lie not Vid. Rom. 1.9 2 Cor. 11.31 which is a Confirmation of his former assertion in the * 17.18 ver foregoing part of the Chapter viz. That he had preached the Gospel in Arabia and Damascus that he went from those parts to Hierusalem that he did not learn the Gospel there of Peter and James or of any other Apostle Now because some of the false Apostles might perhaps retort and say to attache him of falsity and so diminish his Authority that these avouchments of his were false and fabulous he therefore justifies his Narration or Assertions by a kind of Oath saying Before God I lie not It may be demanded how these words can be a form or kind of Swearing or in what sense they fall under the nature of an Oath I answer that in an Oath there be four things implyed though not alwaies expressed The first is an Asseveration of the Truth The second a faithful Confession or open Profession whereby the party that is to Swear acknowledgeth from his heart with a firm belief the power and presence the omnisciency and wisdom of God that he is the only searcher of the heart a discerner of the inward Spirit and that he is both a Witnesse and a Judge of all our thoughts words and works The third is a solemn Invocation of God that he would be a witnesse with and to us that we speak the truth with our Tongues from our hearts The fourth and last is a sad Imprecation that God would be a judge to take revenge and to inflict a sore judgement on us if we lie Now then a formal Oath is a certain frame or composition of words in which not alwaies all but some of the principal parts of it are expressed the other being concealed and yet to be supposed and understood Jer. 4.2 The Lord liveth c. There is the forme or essence of an oath onely in Confession of the life or being of God which includes his essentiall Attributes viz. his Omnisciency and Omnipresence c. His Attributes are his very essence quicquid est in Deo est ipse Deus it is a rule and maxime in the schools The form of swearing 2. Cor. 1.23 I call God for a record upon my soul expresseth the third particular namely Invocation That passage in Ruth chap. 1.17 The Lord doe thus and thus to me is an Imprecation And the forme in that forecited place Gal. 1.20 is directly a plaine Confession that God is present as a witnesse and Judge of our sayings and will if we speak not the truth severely punish us Thirdly a man may use an Oath when it serveth to maintain or promote his own or his Neighbours safety in body goods or good name So to save his life a man may swear to a Thief to give him a piece of money at a set appointed time which Oath he is bound to keep and if afterwards in respect to the common good he discover him to the Magistrate he is no way guilty of falsity in that he performs what is every mans private duty i. e. to preserve the welfare of the King and State and to promote the bonum communitatis the common good which cannot consist with a common Thiefs impunity Therefore I adde that in case a man for fear of losing his life with his money being urged and pressed to it sweares to a Thief that he will not betray him that man is bound to be silent nor to reveal him in that which concerns himself as having been robbed by him But if he find and is assured that his silence may be prejudiciall to the publick good for that he perceives the licenciousness of the offender proceeds and is like so to do to the like damage and mischief of others he is bound in duty though not to accuse the Delinquent for the fact done unto himself yet to give warning or notice to some in Authority to have a vigilant eye upon so lewd a person for the preventing of any further Villanie So the late most pious and learned Bishop of Norwich determines this case Bishop Hall in his Cases of Conscience resolv Dec. 1. c. 8. and annexes this saying to his determination to deter all men from perjury or breaking their Oaths When once we have interessed God in any businesse it is dangerous not to be punctuall in the performance Now that it is lawful in this case to swear to an High-way Rogue to save our life none will doubt who shall consider the many inconveniencies and evils which would ensue if the true man in this streight take not an Oath The first is the losse of his own life Secondly the loss of the others soul being
to the Creature Undoubtedly he then remembred the words of our Saviour Luk. 20.25 Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods i. e. Give the Lord the honour due unto his Name Ps 29.2 The honour due unto his Name is to swear by it when we have a necessary and just occasion Therefore to swear by any creature as it is a piece of blasphemy because thereby we derogate and detract from God whilst we ascribe to the Creature his incommunicable attributes his Omnipresence his Omnisciency and All-mightinesse so it is wholy forbidden by the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all in the Text although the Schoolmen relying upon the Authority of some modern writers and to patronage their superstitious practice of invocating Saints and Angels have darkned this place with a false gloss Swear not at all i. e. saith Estius upon the Mr. of the Sentences nisi justâ causâ et necessariâ apparente unlesse you have a just and necessary cause This glosse might have been admitted if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all had been left out Swear not at all and how is that Heare what followes from Christs own mouth the Mr. of truth the best Commentator upon his own words Neither by Heaven nor by Earth i. e. not at all by any Creature and so St. Hierome with others expound the Text. Vbi justa subest causa in nomine Dei juranduâ—… neque enim Coelum Deus est neque Terra c. Neque teipsum fecisti per nullam igitur creaturam jurandum So Ferus upon the sixth of Mat. i.e. When and where there is a just cause offered we must swear only by the dreadfull Name of God For neither to the Heavens nor to the Earth can or must we ascribe that glorious Name without the guilt of blasphemous Idolatry Thou didst not make or create thy selfe much lesse can they be said to be thy Creatour therefore you must not swear by any Creature And when there is no just cause of an Oath we must likewise forbeare to swear by the sacred name of God For a close of this point I shall clear a doubt and answer a question The first is concerning that custome of the Primitive Christians in Tertullians daies who used to swear Per Salutem Imperatoris as we find it recorded in him i. e. by the health of the Emperour In Apolog. c. 32. the Question which arises hence is this whether they sinned in so doing To this I answer that by this terme Salutem health they understood either God himself the Author of health and the fountaine of Salvation so might effectivè be called the health of the Emperour being the principall or sole cause of it or we are to conceive that this kind of expression was rather an Obtestation then an Oath properly so called and that by way of comparison or taken comparatively as if one should say I protest before God that I speak and love the Truth no less with my heart then I wish my Soveraign Lord the Emperour to live in health Such kinds of speech by the life of the King by the fortune and health of the Emperour used in the Primitive times were rather Obtestations then Oaths as is attested by St. Basil on the 19. Psalm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Basil c. There be some kinds of speech which have a shew or shadow of Oaths and are not such indeed but only confirmations of an asserted Truth There is another doubt concerning that usuall form of speech which is too too familiar in mens mouths and that is By my Faith The Question is whether it may be lawfully used The learned and most pious Bishop Andrews delivers his Judgement or opinon thus concerning it out of St. Augustine Beware saies he of that which is not a perfect or compleat Oath Serm. 30. de verbis Apost but a manuduction way or inlet to it as to say By my Faith For when a man asserts a Truth in this form By my Faith it is a solemn execration which is an Appendix or an additional part of an Oath and he that saies so speaks thus in effect If what I say be not true I wish that God would deprive me of the saving gift of Faith and God may take the same away at that hour or moment and benight thy Soul with the darkness of distrust or doubt Be therefore very sparing in the use of it As therefore we are to abstain from this Form because it hath in it an appearance of evil being scandalous in regard of the particle Per or By which is annexed to it and prefix'd ever to an Oath Amesius C. de Juramento whereby we invocate or call immediately on God to be a Judge and Witness of what we speak as for this reason it is scandalous in that it may give an offence to the religious so likewise it is very dangerous to use it upon every slight or light occasion in matters of no moment for it is a kind of vain and rash tempting of Almighty God who may suddainly frown upon us in his wrath and in justice punish us with a loss of our Faith without which we cannot be saved Luke 8.12 Act. 16.31 Our Faith sayes a devout man is the most pretious Jewel that we have Now there is none but a Bankrupt that will lay the best Jewel which is in his house to pawn for every small trifle so when we pawn our Faith for every word we speak it argueth that we are Bankrupts in Truth and that we are of a broken or small credit otherwise we would not produce this pretious Jewel of our Faith upon every needless occasion and endanger the loss of it without which as I said before there is no Salvation From all that hath been premis'd concerning the extent of Christs prohibition Swear not at all we may deduce this undenyable and certain conclusion That as by Swearing by the creature God is dishonour'd so by using his Name in a lawful Oath he is much glorifyed Because when we call on Him to witness the Truth of what we affirm we do openly confess that he is an Eare and Eye-witness of our Thoughts Words and Deeds that he knowes our hearts that he is a lover of Truth and a severe Revenger of a lie that he both can and will punish us for it then which profession and this we profess when we Swear what can conduce more to Gods honour and advance his glory In the 45. of Isaiah God speaks thus of himselfe Isa 45.22 I am God and there is none else i. e. none besides me to be honour'd with Divine Worship so he explaines his own words verse 23. Vnto me every knee shall bow and to me every tongue shall Swear To me i. e. By me By me exclusively and not at all by any Inferiour Creature Christs words then or his Prohibition in
Vengeance are ready to fall down once more and bring thy heavy judgments on us But O holy and most just God spare and deliver us from the guilt and power of our sins and in-bred corruptions Let not O let not thy Justice be magnified in our confusion but let thy Mercy be glorified in our Salvation and deliverance Remove thy judgments from us continue thy mercies to us increase thy graces in us that this whole Nation may with thankful lips and by the holiness of their reformed lives glorifie Thee our God who hast so wonderfully redeemed us from the hands of unmerciful bloudy men and rescued us out of all our wasting miseries And so rule and govern the Hearts and Tongues of all profane Swearers that they may as it becometh Christians who profess thy Name and Truth both by their words and works advance thy glory and publish thy praises These blessings O most gracious God with the preservation of our most Religious King and Queen with the rest of the Royal Family vouchsafe unto us for thy mercies sake and for the merits of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus Amen A Catalogue or List of Gods Judgments upon Blasphemers and others viz. Cursers and Perjured persons ALthough Gods Judgments are somtimes like the writing upon the wall Dan. 5.25 which was a Missive of his Anger upon Belshazzar and came upon an errand of Revenge which none could read and unriddle but a Prophet although they be many times wrapt up in a Cloud of obscurity and darkness in that he punisheth for ends and reasons oft unknown unto us However we must assert and say with St. Augustine Judicia Dei occulta sint sed semper justa Gods Judgments may be hid as to the reason of them to the dim eye of our narrow understanding yet they are ever grounded upon the foundation of Equity they are alwayes just Nch. 9.33 They are his forked arrows feathered with Zele of his glory and headed with his anger and love for when they are shot out of the Bow of his Justice by the hand of provoked Mercy that guides the string they are ever directed against the face of Sin either to prevent or cure it to work in us humility to make us go out of our selves and to rest in him the Centre of our felicity Mich. 6 9. Hear the rod c. They are his voice from Heaven whereby he speaks unto us in a visible word and we then understand well the meaning of it when every such like voice leads us to repentance and works in us a reformation of our lives Many men have been brought to Heaven by the gates of Hell and many have been scared from their sins when they beheld the hand of Gods incensed Justice fall heavy upon others stained with the guilt of the same impieties which Hand striking one has ever a Finger stretched forth and pointing at another This many in all Ages have beheld as it were and discern'd by the help of Gods enlightning Grace so that they have been raised to an holy life by other mens falls and gained by their losses being healed by the sight of their wounds and built up to Heaven by their ruines So powerful are Examples above Precepts These usually lightly affect the ear and by it seldom enter into the heart of the hearer the other by a more violent force and energie work upon it through the eye Judg. 4.21 and are like Jael with her hammer and nail as she by these killed Sisera in the head which they pierced so those strike sin at the very heart begetting in men an awful dread and fear of God by â—â—…om they behold others severely punished and hence conclude that as God himself is so his Justice is immutable and will not be bribed to spare them if they continue in those sins for which he hath inflicted some heavy Judgments on others That the fear of God with an amendment of their lives may be thus ingendred in mens hearts who are profane and loose in their manners I have thought it very convenient to adde to my foregoing Precepts in my Treatise more examples of Gods severe wrath against three sorts of heinous sinners viz. Perjured persons Cursers and Blasphemers 3. Examples of Judgments upon Perjur'd persons who have broken their Oaths by not keeping their promises which they have solemnly made to others 1. To omit the stories of perjured Kings in the Holy Scriptures and their heavy punishments of which I have given the Reader a short account in my Treatise I 'le begin with that famous story of Vladislaus King of Hungary who Vid. Bonâ—in Hist Hung. contrary to the Articles of Peace agreed upon and sworn to between him and Amurathes the Turk set upon the Turkish Army that was secure and misdoubted nothing upon which there grew a long and sharp Battel till Amurathes perceiving his side to decline and almost overcome pulled out of his bosom the aforesaid Articles of agreement and lifting up his eyes to Heaven uttered these words O Iesus Christ if thou beest a God as they say thou art revenge this injury which is done both to thee and me and punish those Truce-breaking Varlets who call themselves by thy name Christians He had scarce ended his speech but the Christians courage began to rebate the battel lost Vladislaus was himself slain by the Ianizaries his whole Army discomfited and all his Souldiers put to the sword A just and rigorous judgment of God for that vile Treachery and Perjury which was by that Hungarian King committed 2. We read in that noted Book called The Theatre of Gods Judgments which I wish were oft perused by wicked men next to the sacred Scriptures we find there p. 12â— a story of a lewd Fellow that hearing Pâ—â—jury condemned in a Pulpit by a learned Preacher and how it never escaped unpunished said in a bravery I have oft forsworn my self and yet my right hand is not a whit shorter then my left Which words he had scarce uttered when such an inflammation arose in that hand that he was constrained to go to the Chirurgion to cut it off lest it should infect his whole body And so his right hand became shorter then his left in recompence of his perjury of which he lightly esteemed 3. Gregorius Turonicus Bishop of Tours makes mention in his Book de gloriâ Confessorum of a wicked Villany in France among the people called Averni that forswearing himself in an unjust cause had his tongue so presently tyed by the hand of divine Justice that he could not speak a word but onely roaring make an hideous noise and so continued a long time till by the earnest prayers of devout men and after his hearty sorrow for his hainous sin the use of that unruly Member was restored to him again 3. Examples of Gods Judgements upon Cursers 1. Luther in his Colloquies reports of a young Courtier at Mansfelt whose customary asseveration or
and to prevent all dangerous Consequents which might issue from it he propounds here in the Text which I have prefixed to my Treatise for our better instruction the true meaning and intent of the Law ushering it in with divine Authority the Authority of his own person who is God and man by an hypostaticall union 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I say unto you Swear not that is not False Temerè Iniquè not Falsly Rashly nor unjustly by the awfull and dreadfull Name of God not without great cause and necessity and Swear not at all by the creatures for to sweare by any of them is no lesse sin then Idolatrie And this with the consent of the best and most judicious Expositours I take to be the full scope and meaning of the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Swear not at all Not to stick in prostibulo in the porch or preface of the text I say unto you from which in reference to the Context or the preceding * V. 33. It hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self c. verse I might deduce this Inference That Antiquitie pleaded for a corrupt opinion or Custome contrarie to the Truth revealed in Gods word is but a vizard under which errour and much danger lieth hid and therefore not to be admitted but rejected This Inference by way of Doctrine might be drawn from the Preface and proved against those patrons of superstitious practises and opinions the great pleaders and proctours for Antiquity in the Church of Rome to whom I could retort and assert that the written word of God is the only true Antiquitie to be the rule of our faith and that Antiquitie without truth is like those dissembling Gibeonites Josh 9.12 who deceived Joshuah with their old shooes and torn baggs Josh 9.12 sowre drink and mouldie bread I could likewise tell them that that is to be supposed to be the language of all the ancient Fathers which one of them modestlie said of himself and in the name of all St. Ambr. Nolo nobis credatur recitetur Scriptura I will not desire any to relie onely upon my words let the Scripture be recited and let that be the Judg of controversies Were I in the pulpit for which this Treatise was first intended I might prosecute the former Thesis and enlarge my meditations in the proof of it but because this point is not agreeable to my prime Intent passing by the preface I shall insist upon the prohibition together with its extention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all Swear not and Swear not at all But what some may say The I. General part The explication of the prohibition swear not is Christs kingdome divided against it self is the Gospell against the law Have we not an injunction or command to the contrary Deut. 6.13 Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt sweare by his name Find we not the same precept Deut. 10.12 20. Him shalt thou serve to Him shalt thou cleave and sweare by his Name Doth not the Prophet Isaiah insinuate the same in his 65. ch 16. v. He that blesseth himself in the earth shall blesse himself in the God of Truth and he that sweareth in the earth shall sweare by the God of Truth Nay further have we not Christs own example and practice to confirme the lawfulnesse of an oath in some cases His Amen Amen so oft by Him used intimates as much God is the God of Truth nay Truth it self and Amen in the Hebrew and Syriack signifying Fidelitie and truth Christ in his Amen dico vobis Verily I say unto you said thus in effect as the best expositours assert Per Deum qui est Amen i. e. veritas dico vobis I call God who is most true to witnesse what I say and affirm unto you Dares then any Anabaptisticall Schismatick open his impure mouth against this evident truth that it is in some cases lawfull to use an Oath They that denie this maintaining it in no case lawfull to swear by the Name of God of which sort was that Basilides mentioned in Eusebius such mens ignorance I pittie Lib. 6. c. 5. as being enthrall'd to the slaverie of a Scrupulous conscience which makes the way to heaven narrower then indeed it is and proposes to it self a streighter passage then Christ in his word hath revealed unto us But to omit the refutation of this errour of the Anabaptists and to reconcile Moses to Christ the Law to the Gospel or those forenamed places or Texts in Deuteronomie to the words of my Text. First let me lay this down for a certain ground or thesis and it is our Saviours own assertion Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it Mat. 5.17 and Secondly let me premise this for an undeniable maxime or position that the precepts of the Gospell are not repugnant or contrary to the Commands of the Law Praecepta Evangelii non contrariantur praeceptis legit Aug. This Thesis is defended and proved at large by St. Augustine in his 19 book against Faustus the Heretick c. 16. First then our Lord and Saviour Christ in whom dwelleth the fulnesse of the Godhead i.e. who is perfect God and in whom there is a fulnesse without any defect of wisdome and all heavenly graces He fulfil'd the law two manner of waies Aqui. 1.2.101 Qu. 2. Art Opere et Ore or Doctrinâ by his works and doctrinal words First by his works or deeds in that to leave us an example of a meek heart and sound Obedience he submitted himselfe to the Ceremoniall law being circumcis'd the 8. day c. so likewise to satisfie the rigour of Gods Justice he fully perform'd the morall law by his Active Obedience doing what the law required of us to be done thereby to bring us to Heaven and by his passive suffering for our sins to redeem us from the paines or torments of Hell Thus Christ fulfilled the law Opere by doing Secondly He fulfild the law Ore seu doctrinâ by his word or Doctrine and that two manner of wayes First verum legis sensum exprimendo Aquin. by explaining the full scope the intent or meaning of the law as in those two cases of Murther and Adulterie Mat. 5.21 27 c. when he declar'd that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause and beares malice against him in his heart is a murtherer and that he who looks on a woman to lust after her is in the sight or esteem of God an Adulterer Secondly He fulfilled the law praecepta legis ordinando ut tutiùs observaretur quod lex vetuerat by ordaining lessons or prescribing rules for the better observing of the lawes prohibitions and precepts To passe by many Instances which I might produce and to adhere only to my Text Because the law forbids perjurie where it is said Lev. 6.5 Thou shalt not swear by my Name
so it is the Rule whereby in our passage to heaven we must be guided And although it be probable that Joseph used such an Oath that he might comply with the Egyptians in that forme which perhaps was by them used and might also do it as being unwilling to be discovered by his Brethren not to be an Egyptian yet my second answer will better clear the doubt and refute the objection I say then in the second place that it was not properly nor simply an oath but rather an Obtestation a kind of desire or wish as if he should have said So may the king prosper as what I have averred is true viz. That you shall not goe forth hence except your youngest Brother come hither c. This then is not to swear by Pharaoh it is rather as I said a desire and wish added to an asseveration of a truth Examples of the like manner of Obtestations we find in the holy Scriptures 1 Sam. 17.55 There Abner sayes to Saul As thy Soul liveth O King I cannot tell so our English translation renders it but the words must be expounded in the same sense as those of Joseph before because that the phrase in Hebrew is the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The effect then of Abners answer to Sauls quaere may be this As I wish thee O King long life and happinesse even as this is reall and true so what I affirme is not false c. The like kind of asseveration whereby they of old ratified and confirmed the truth of what they affirm'd we find 1 Sam. 1.26 2 Sam. 14.19 2 Kin. 2.2 1 Sam 25.26 So then admit of which of the two answers you please it is clear that from the example or practice of Joseph we may not conclude it lawfull to use the name of any creature in an Oath But this we willingly grant having Gods word for our warrant that the names of some creatures may be used when we swear yet with this limitation and in that sense only which I have premised viz. Not to swear by them absolutely and simply i. e. to invocate or call upon them to witnesse the veritie or Truth of our assertion but only so that we wish their good and welfare if we speake the truth if otherwise i.e. if we lie their mischiefe and destruction St. Pauls asseveration 2 Cor. 1.23 I call God for a record on my Soul is a sufficient argument to prove this doctrine Vid. Calvin in loc whereby he wish'd in effect that he might perish or that his life might be taken from him if that were false which he affirmed to be true to the Corinthians The like interpretation is to be made of the words of Ioseph though in another sense for St. Pauls was an implicit Imprecation which is to be used solemnly and with a great caution only then when the thing to maintain which we wish to our selves or others any hurt is very materiall and weighty for otherwise i.e. to imprecate or use a form of Cursing for a slight matter or for no cause is a great and hainous Sin and they who are guilty of it are rank'd in Gods word amongst the Reprobate and Ungodly men Rom. 3.14 Psal 10.7 David there describing a wicked man saies His mouth is full of cursing c. Neither shall such a man escape Gods curse and malediction Psal 109.17 As he loved cursing so let it come unto him c. But to return from this short digression and to shew the difference between St. Pauls and Iosephs using the names of the Creatures in their asseverations as St. Pauls was an Imprecation or Curse so Iosephs words implie a Precation Option or wish for the Kings prosperity and happinesse from which his Brethren might inferre this that his words were most certainly true not void of sincerity because his wish for Pharaohs health whom he much honoured was not hypocriticall not feigned but hearty Having thus shaken the foundation of the Romanists pretended reasons for their Idolatrous Swearing by the Creatures I passe now to the proposall of some better and sounder reasons to the contrary to shew the unlawfulnesse of their practice and withall their Impiety therein which is great and hainous To conclude this point then Reasons why we must not swear by the Creatures Swear not at all by the creatures First because an Oath solemnly taken is a great part of Divine Worship as appeares by Isa 19.18 where the prophet foretelling that Egypt should be redeemed from the darknesse of Idolatrous Worship and brought to the light of the knowledge of the true God whom they should invocate or worship in Sincerity and Truth among other duties which he reckons up as parts of Gods worship there he sayes that five cities in the Land of Egypt shall swear by the Lord of Hosts Not unlike to this of the Prophet Isaiah is that of Jeremy c. 5.7 Thy Sons so God by him bespeaks the rebellious Nation of the Jewes have foresaken me and sworn by them which are no Gods By this latter part of the verse he declares or expounds what he had asserted in the former how the Jews had forsaken the Lord and he saies in expresse terms that they swore not by the Name of God but by them which are no Gods And hence I inferre that since to Swear by the Sacred name of God is a piece of religious and divine worship and a thing so acceptable to God when there is great need of it as that for doing the contrary he denounced against the Jews his indignation and wrath it must then of necessity be no lesse then Idolatry to transferre that honour to the Creatures which is proper and due only to God the Creatour and this sin we commit when we use their names in any Solemn protestation or Oath For which is my second argument to prove the hainousness of this sin when we swear by any one we call him to witness the truth of what we speak as being a Discerner of the heart and searcher of the Spirit and in effect we acknowledge that he is not only omniscient but also omnipotent as having power to punish us with destruction both of body and Soul if we willfully lie and assert an untruth They therefore that swear by Saint or Angel or any other Creature ascribe to them this honour of knowing our hearts and discerning our intentions and withall seem to acknowledge and profess that they have a Lord-like and all-commanding power and command over their persons their goods and lives which honour and power belongs only to God and what is this but to deifie the Creatures For this cause alone that good Bishop of Smyrna Polycarpus as it is recorded by Eusebius chose rather to die by the fagot in hot flames Euseb l. 4. c. 15. then he would swear per fortunam Caesaris by Caesars fortune which he esteemed a robbing God of his glory and giving that which is not due
mercifull and just Secondly he is Truth in his works because all his works are true Ps 111.7 8. Dan. 4.37 being conformable to his divine will and answerable to his prescience determining by an everlastiâ—â— decree either to act by himself or to â—mit by others things to be done in the â—ry order and manner as we now see they are wrought and effected Thirdly he is Truth it self i. e. most true and faithfull in his words for what he has promised shall surely come to pass Let God be true saies St. Paul i. e. God will be true Rom. 3.4 though every man be a lyar For as God is light in whom there is no darkness either of Sin or misery so he is Truth in whom there can be no Falsity either Actively or Passively for that he can neither deceive nor be deceived by any though never so closely shut up in the mantle of Hypocrisy or reserved Policy To return then to the purpose Seeing the sin of lying is so discordant to the nature of God who is the original of all Truth nay Truth it self in the abstract i.e. most true in Himself in his words and workes this sin therefore must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceeding sinfull and hainous beyond all expression it being set in so great an opposition to Gods essence as that is most cold which is farthest off from the fountain of heat the Sun and that most dark which is remotest from it Gods greater light set up in Heaven to guide us by day as the Moon by night Ps 163.8 9. If lying then be a sin so hainous so odious to God what may we think of Swearing the procatarctick or prime cause of that foul sin I say that is the parent of this For he that dares cast contempt upon the glorious name of God by taking it too familiarly in his mouth the same will not stick to out-brave God and out-face Man with a lye for his private gain or to maintain his Credit because he promises to himself belief from the hearer whose simple honesty and open credulity moves him to think no man so daringly impious as to call the Almighty to witness a sin I mean perjury which he will severely punish with destruction both of body and soul with poverty and disgrace and sickness here * Ah miser eisi quis primo perjuria celat Sera tamen tacitis poena venit pedibus Tibul. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Implacabilis est Deus contemptis juramentis and hereafter with everlasting torments in hell fire The sin of perjury is a crying sin it roars so loud in the Conscience that it evermore disquiets the souls inward peace Nay more it begets hell in it and as I may so say awakens the Divine Justice which sometimes winks and connives at other sins It forces God to lay aside his Mercy in which he most delights and to become most severe in his punishments which have evermore fallen heavy upon perjur'd persons as appeares Gen. 14.4 where to affright and scare us from the guilt of this sin God by his servant Moses hath left us the examples of five Kings who having served Chedorlaomer King of Elam twelve years contrary to their promise confirm'd by an Oath rebelled against him for which Rebellion vengeance so pursued them that he with three Kings more made them to flie their petty Kingdoms The like examples we have 2 Kings 17.4 of Hosea King of Israel and of Zedekiah King of Judah 2 Kings 25.17 The former of these having promised obedience and service to Salmanezer the King of Assyria for his perjury lost his freedom being till his death shut up in prison The latter for the same crime against Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon lost his eyes having first seen the butchering of his Sons and now being led into Captivity his legs fast bound in fetters of brasse he had onely the use of his eares left to hear the reproches of his Enemies and of his perjur'd tongue to entreat for mercy and pitty in the midst of his pain and misery To these stories which I have borrowed out of the sacred Record of Gods word I will adde two or three more as most remarkeable and true The first shall be of Earl Godwyn who lived in the time of Edward the Confessor This Earl was he who with his ambitious Sons by his cruelty so irritated and discontented the Nobility that it was a main help and furtherance in the issue to the Conquest of this Nation by the Norman He wishing at the Kings Table that the bread might choke him if he were guilty of Alfreds death whom he had slain a little before was presently choked and fell down dead to the great terror of those that sate with him at meat Lib. 6. c. 8. Eusebius likewise tells us of three lewd fellowes that charg'd Narcissus Bishop of Hierusalem with a grievous accusation and to beget a belief of it in the minds of the Judges confirm'd it with horrid Execrations and Oaths The first wished if it were not true that he might be burnt to ashes the second that he might be tormented with some cruel disease the third that he might be smitten with blindness Narcissus relying onely upon his Innocency and unable to resist their malice and master their matchless Villany removed and hid himself in desart places for many years But mark the heavy Judgements of God which in the mean time fell upon those perjur'd persons The first by the fall of a spark of fire in the night was with his house and family consumed to ashes The second tormented in his whole body with that disease which he wished The third beholding these fearful Judgements inflicted on his two associates in wickedness and fearing to be made the like example of Gods revenging Justice confessed his sin and for it mourn'd and wept till he lost both his eyes A lamentable spectacle for false witnesses and perjur'd wretches A third story not to be parallel'd I learn'd of a knowing Gentleman in Hartfordshire it is of one Everell who many years since lived and dyed in St. Albanes He being accused before the Bishops Official for an act of uncleanness with a Maid to purge himself of this suspected crime wish'd in open Court that he might never speak more if he were guilty of that fact The word was no sooner out of his mouth but vengeance stept in for he was presently struck dumb and never spake again and afterwards by the Maids own confession it was proved that he had defiled himself with her By these dreadful examples Vid. Dr. Beard in his Theatre of Gods judgements c. 27. and many others which I could alledge out of our own Records and other profane Authors we may collect that God will not as he threatens in his word hold them guiltless but afflict them with sore Judgements who shall dare even against the check of their own Consciences to confirm a lye with an Oath
Naturall Theologie Tit. 193. saies truly that according to the measure of knowledge or estimation of God in our hearts such commonly are the vocall expressions of our Tongues The Anatomists likewise observe that the Heart and Tongue are knit and conjoyn'd by one continued Nerve whence there is such a coherence and sympathy between them that the Physitians look upon the Tongue when they intend to find out and discover the affection or malady of the Heart So it is a Truth or maxime undeniable in morality and Divinity that Lingua est index cordis the tongue is the best and surest Indicatour of the heart Take the Heart for the will and affections or for the inward conceptions of the understanding the Tongue betrayes and discovers all They therefore that dishonour God with their Tongues declare that there is a want of feare and reverence of Him in their Souls And this want proceeds from a lack of * Hos 4.6 Isa 1.3 knowledge of Gods incomprehensible greatnesse and a true apprehension of his goodnesse For did they who profane Gods holy Name by cursing and Swearing did they but know and verily believe that he is Almighty and has power to strike them with suddain death and to take from them in a moment their breath which they should spend or use only in setting forth his glory and praise were they perswaded that he is able to stop their profane mouths with perpetuall silence so that they shall never breath out a Peccavimus never beg of God a pardon for their sins did they certainly know and believe this and this Judgment has fallen upon many desperate sinners they in feare of his power and greatnesse would undoubtedly abstain from so dangerous a sin And again had they an inward feeling and taste of Gods bounty and mercifull goodness by which they are enrich'd daily with many and great benefits this would incite them to love him and this love which is an Obedientiall Grace would prompt them to a strict observance of his Commands John 14.15 If ye love me saies our blessed Saviour keep my Commandments They that doe unfainedly love him will endeavour to keep them They therefore that willfully and presumptuously transgresse Gods precepts betray a want of feare of his Majesty as if he were like the Epicures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sleepy drowsie unactive Deity not Just at all but all Mercy and thereby they beget in others the like conceit of God whose person they learn to undervalue whilst they hear his Name slighted and abus'd by profane tongues And harbouring in their wretched thoughts so light or slight an esteem of our Almighty God they prove like Jesurun they kick against God i. e. reject his word and slight his commands they forsake God that made them and lightly regard the rock of their salvation Ex reverentia praecipientis procedit reverentia pracepti saies Aquinas truly The reverence and respect we bear to the Commander begets respect and reverence to the Command Aqu. 2. 2. 105. 2. Art 2. That then thou give not an offence to thy Neighbour prove not to him an occasion of sinning by begetting in him a mean and undervaluing esteem of God Mat. 18.7 Woe be to that man by whom such an offence comes that thou maiest escape this woe and Gods heavy curse never take his glorious and great Name into thy mouth unlesse it be devoutly with reverence in thy prayers or solemnly when thou art forced to use it for Gods glory to advance it or to thine own and thy Neighbours good and benefit Having thus explain'd and given a few Reasons of the Prohibition Swear not I shall proceed to the next general part which is the Preparative to the Cure or remedy of this crying and most destructive sin of Swearing As the esteem of a good Physician consists in this that he cannot only discourse according to Art of the nature of any disease or inward malady but also out of his experience prescribe first preparative Physick to segregate or sever the humours in the body and after that a dose for a Remedy so a Divine would betray the duty of his calling should he make invectives the aime of his endeavours should he declaim only against mens Sins discover the nature of them rip up their foulness and not withall by prescribing of heavenly and Spiritual physick labour to drive them out of mens souls And in this case the Divine must follow the method of a wise Empirick who in the cure of a disease has recourse by his skilfull search to the Cause not regarding so much the Pars recipiens as the Pars mittens to use Sennertus his phrase not so much the part affected as the source from which the malady springs So to cure the flushing in the face he begins with the obstructed liver as the prime cause of that distemper and to mitigate the pain in the head the head as one saies of all pain he applies his Physick to the stomach In like manner when we find an exorbitancy in the Tongue we must conceive that this poyson flowes into it from the Spring of the Heart i.e. the Soul consisting of these parts understanding will and memory and attended with a quaternion of Passions as so many Servants or Handmaids they are Joy and Sorrow Aquin. 1.2 Qu. 23. Hope and Feare so the Stoicks divide them the Peripateticks branching them into eleven Heads which to rehearse makes not for my present purpose Hast thou then O sinfull man by a long and inveterate use contracted this poyson of Aspes under thy lips Rom. 3.13 a Custom of Swearing a sin as hard to be cured as is the poyson of an Aspe which is incurable if we may believe Pliny and Aristotle Plin. l. 29. c. 4. Aspides percussos torpore et somno necant omnium Serpentum minimè sanabiles Lib. de Hist Animal 9. c. 29. Notwithstanding this despair not of a cure but know and believe that the same God even our Lord Jesus who went about in humane flesh curing all the Diseases of the body can by his over-ruling most powerful grace kill that poyson subdue the Lording power of the strongest corruption the greatest sin that has got a quiet possession and reigns in thy soul First then which is the Preparative to the cure of this foul sin call to mind that saying of Eusebius Emissenus The V. Gen. part The Preparative for the Cure or Remedy of the sin of Swearing it consists in Repentance and Prayer for the pardon of it and other sins Difficile est ut ad bonum assurgas nisi à malo ante diverteris quamdiu nova delicta adjiciuntur vetera non curantur that is unless by an holy and just hatred of sin thou declinest from evil thou canst never do good hardly attain to a sincere and commendable constant practise of well-doing and so long as new sins are added to the heap of thy impieties God
sanctifying Grace concurring with your sedulous practice of the fore-mentioned Precepts or Remedies it is cured of the contagious poyson of that sinne A Diet for the Tongue which hath been accustomed to Swearing Being then willing or altogether cured of that deadly poyson of the Tongue I mean a corrupt and vicious custom of Swearing beware of a Relapse which in this case as in bodily diseases is very dangerous for when a man hath tasted the sweetness of Gods Mercy in pardoning his sins and restoring him to health he must expect if he returns to his vomit again and falls into his former sin to feel the severity of his Justice in punishing him for his daring presumption For a prevention of this great danger in your dayly conference and conversation with men put into practice that wholsome admonition of Saint James Be slow to speak Jam. 1.19 Never open thy mouth but shut up thy tongue in silence unless by thy speech thou mayest benefit thy Neighbour prevent thine own hurt and advance Gods honour Num. 19.15 The Vessel which wanted a cover under the Old Law was counted unclean For either the dust fell into it which bred Worms and such like Creatures that defiled it or else if there were put into it any precious or sweet oyntment it presently lost its savour and was corrupted In like manner he that sets not a watch before his lips by silencing his Tongue so that it never speaks but to some good purpose that man as Saint James attesteth although he seemeth Religious Iam. 1.26 or makes a profession of Christianity because he bridleth not his Tongue he deceives himself or he hath a deceitful false heart his Religion is vain i. e. Nomen sine re a bare and empty Title without reality For how can he be thought to be religious who fears not God with an holy and devout reverence Neither can he justly be said to fear God Psal 5.10 whose Throat is an open Sepulchre sending forth out of it the noysome stench of cursing corrupt and filthy communication lyes and fearful oaths The guilt of which crying sin that you may avoid and withall not chill the fervour of devotion but preserve it in thy soul Keep thy mouth with all diligence remembring that saying of Bonaventure Si dignum quicquam relatione non habes Bonavent Spec. Relig. c. 20. tace Tutius humilius audis quam loqueris i. e. Keep silence if thou canst utter nothing worthy to be heard by the judicious and pious Christian If it be so thou mayest with more safety and a greater esteem for thy humility listen to anothers discourse then vent any thing of thine own which is light and frivolous Remember also that dreadful admonition of our Saviour Mat. 12.36 Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof at the day of judgment Now that is an idle word in the opinion of Saint Hierom which is spoken sine utilitate loquentis aut audientis which redounds neither to the good of the Speaker nor profit of the Hearer much more is that which tends to the hurt of either Therefore be not hasty to utter any thing with thy Tongue so shalt thou free thy self from the guilt of many a sin chiefly that of Swearing Nescit poenitenda loqui qui proferenda justo prius tradidit examini Casaiod l. 10. Secondly be circumspect in speaking Nescit poenitenda loqui c. saies Cassiodore That man will never repent of what he hath said who weighs his words in the balance of Discretion before they be uttered Evermore consider what thou speakest and before whom ordering thy words so with Wisdom and Prudence that thou offend not God who is an ear-witness of thy words either by contradicting the Truth or perswading others to a belief of what is false Often call to mind that saying of S. Cyril 11. Caetheches Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. God hath a Book of Remembrance he sits and writes down in it thy oaths thy perjuries thy blasphemous and idle words for which he will call thee to a severe account at the great day of Judgement Therefore as I before exhorted consider alwaies as what so before whom thou speakest even in the sight and audience of God who will one day be your Judge Dr. Parisiensis Cujus praesentia est impraevisibilis potentia infallibilis Justitia inflexibilis iracurdia implacabilis who may surprize thee unawares even in the very act of sinning by his grim Bailiff Death whose Power too is infallible for none can escape it his Justice inflexible for it may not be corrupted as his Anger against the ungodly sinners is implacable and hardly to be appeased He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life Prov. 13.3 and he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction But he that never openeth his mouth but to the glory of God either by praising or praying unto him whereby he declares his belief in the excellencie of Gods Omnipotencie Goodness Truth and Omnisciency or for his Neighbours edification and good as Saint Paul exhorts us to Eph. 4.29 that man shall lift up his head with cheerfulness in the day of Judgment before the dreadful Tribunal of God and by his words he shall be justified i. e. For that he glorified God with his Tongue in his life he shall be pronounced just and righteous in the audience of the Saints and Angels and for the merits of Christ for whose sake his good works are accepted and his imperfections pardoned he shall receive the reward of the righteous and be glorified both in body and soul The Body with all the parts of it shall be beautified with Clearness Impassibility Subtility and Agiâ—y for it being most transparently bright and glorious it shall move wheresoever the Soul then wholly guided by Gods Spirit shall command it it shall move as nimbly as a small Fish in the water without any resistance or hinderance nay with far greater agility The Soul shall be adorned and beautified with more excellent perfections then our first Parents were before their fall in Paradise For the Understanding shall be freed from all errour in it shall be light without any the least mist of darkness it shall be filled with wisdome and knowledge in an high degree without any spot of ignorance The Memory purged from all possibility of forgetfulness The Will redeemed from its natural pravity and perverseness whilest it is onely fixed by Love upon God Almighties goodness If every part of man expects to be thus glorified by God it is good reason that * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. every part should glorifie Him For this is the tribute they owe to their Creatour as every good Subject oweth Loyalty to his King This is the service they must pay for their Redemption God made all the parts of the body Christ Redeemed all I mean every part and faculty both of