TOPICS: FOREVER MARRIAGES CROSS CULTURALLY,
FORMAL AND INFORMAL CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE,
COMMON LAW MARRIAGE, CHRISTIAN DIVORCE,
CHRISTIAN REMARRIAGE, CHRISTIAN
CONCUBINES, CHRISTIAN POLYGYNY (POLYGAMY),
RACISM, ETHNOCENTRICITY, AND THE SWEARING
OF OATHS
TITLE: DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE, CONCUBINES, &
JESUS; Another Look for Christians.
COPYRIGHT � JANUARY 14, 1995 All rights reserved.
Copyright � 01/14/'95; 01/12/�96 (Revised)
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By L. Tyler P.O. Box 620763, SanDiego, CA 92162-0763
[email protected]
The error of swearing , oaths, solemn
promises and swearing oaths.
It is obvious that certification can be comprised of
oaths, swearings, covenants and contracts. For example
government documents requiring certification consist of at
least an assertion about the future, if not a promise or
prediction about the future. A Calif. Highway Patrol ticket
has the statement, "Without admitting guilt, I promise to
appear at the time and place checked below.
Signature___________". The promise or assertion
about the future is made binding by the maker's signature.
In legal terms, the signature functions as an oath, making
the promise/agreement binding on the maker, so the entire
statement becomes a sworn statement (a solemn promise
made binding by an oath).
Phrases like "I promise that I will . . . .", "I agree that I will
provide . . . .", "I will also cooperate . . . .", "I agree that I will
inform . . . ." are all predictions or promises about one;s
future behavior. When certified or signed with one's
signature, the signature functions as an oath, making them
binding and the maker punishable for failure to fulfill his
predictions/ promises.
The signature, or witnessed statement, is that which (1)
attests to the credibility of the predictions and promises, (2)
makes the promises or predictions binding on the applicant/
recipient/maker, and (3) enables the courts to punish the
applicant/recipient/ maker if he fails to fulfill his words.
According to almost all legal and college level dictionaries,
those three characteristics of such a signature makes that
signature an oath that completes and confirms the swearing
(promises or predictions) that precede it. Almost all legal
and college level dictionaries define swearing as promising
or predicting with an oath. The government's Loyalty Oath is
a perfect example, i.e. promises or predictions made with a
witnessed raised right hand and/or a witnessed signature
(i.e. name).
Arndt & Gingrich Greek Lexicon render the word "swear"
(Mt. 5:34) as "swear, take an oath w. acc. of the pers. or the
thing by which one swears . . warning against any and all
oaths as early as Choerilus Epicus[V BC]">.26 ; and the word
"oath" (Mt. 5:33) as "swear to someone with an oath . . .
perform oaths to the Lord . . . guarantee by means of an oath
. .">27. Thayer's Greek Lexicon renders "swear" (Mt. 5:34)
as " to swear; to affirm, promise, threaten, with an oath: . . .
in swearing to call a person or thing as witness, to invoke,
swear by . . .">28; and renders the word "oath" (Mt. 5:33)
as "an oath . . . that which has been pledged or promised
with an oath; plur. vows . . .">29. That this is the definition
of swearing and oaths in the HolyBible is obvious from the
following scriptures:
Gen. 21:23, 24 (19th Cent. BC);
Gen. 31:44, 52, 53 (18th Cent, BC);
Josh. 2:12, 13, 14, 20; Josh 9:11-20 (14th Cent. BC);
Judg. 21:1 (11th Cent. BC);
1 Kg 1:29,30 (10th Cent. BC);
Ezek. 17:12-19 (6th Cent. BC);
Luke 1:73,74,75 (1st Cent. BC);
Matt. 5:34-37 & 14:7,8,9 (1st Cent. AD); Acts 7:17 (1st Cent
AD); Acts 2:29-31 with 2 Sam. 7:11-16; Heb. 3:10,11 with
Num. 14; Heb. 6:13-17 with Gen. 22:16,17; Heb. 7:20,21 with
Psa. 110:4; and see also Isa. 62:7; Jer. 44:6,26; Matt. 23:18;
Heb. 3:18.
[Footnote: >.26 Arndt & Gingrich Greek English Lexicon; p.
568ff. >.27 Arndt & Giungrich; p. 585. >.28 Thayer Greek
Lexicon; p. 444. >.29 Thayer; p.453.]
Passages, like Mt. 26:74, lead people to think that
'swearing' means profanity or cussing or "taking the Lord's
Name in vain", i.e. that Peter was using profanity to deny
that he knew Jesus. Instead of that Mat. 26:74 means "in
swearing to call a person or thing as witness, to invoke"
where Peter called on God to curse him/his if what he was
saying (that he didn't know Jesus) was untrue. The cursing
was invoking God's curses on him if what he was affirming
under oath was untrue, that he did not know Jesus. Jesus is
not talking about cursing, profanity, cussing or taking the
Lord's Name in vain in Matt. 5 or James 5.
Some of the oaths people swear by are God (Gen. 24:3),
one's self (Ex. 32:13), God's holiness (Amos 4:2), the raised or
unraised right hand or arm (Isa. 62:8; Rev. 10:5,6), one's
name (Jer. 44:26; Lev. 19:12; Deut. 6:13), something greater
than you (Heb. 6:16), and some swear a curse on one's self if
what one says isn't true or if one fails to do what one swears
you will do, like Peter when he swore - invoking curses on
himself -- while denying Jesus (2 Sam. 3:35; 13:35; 1 Kg 2:23;
Matt. 26:74). I see my signature attesting to/vouching for
and guaranteeing (certifying) promises and predictions as an
oath, just like swearing by my name or swearing by myself.
Today the "curse" you swear on yourself if you are lying or
fail to do what you promised is jail (perjury, fraud) or civil
suit. The fourth century AD Church fathers Jerome, St.
Ambrose and Basil all agreed with this definition of
swearing (promises or predictions confirmed with one's
signature, name or hand)>.30 , that it is not profanity,
cussing or using the Lord's Name coarsely.
[#>30The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church, 1954, Erdman's Publish Co.' pp. 63, 386, 248.]
The Holy Bible in Matthew 5:33-37, James 4 and James 5:12,
declares that we don't know our future, not even tomorrow
or even the next hour. Therefore it is a presumptuous
assertion to say that we will do this or that in our future. He
tells us to recognize and admit our finite knowledge and our
mortality by saying, "If the Lord wills and we live, we also
shall do this or that." To make presumptuous assertions
about your future is prideful boasting and contrary to His
will. See James 4:13,14,15 and Prov. 27:1.
This is not an attempt to be dishonest or evasive since this
same God of Truth commands us to be honest, to give that
which is due to others, and to conscientiously submit to the
civil authorities (Romans 13 and 1 Pt. 2). While He wants us
to be honest and give that which is due, he takes into
consideration our human frailty, finite knowledge and
mortal nature and so holds us liable only for our intent, will
and expectations about the future.
From James 4:13-17 & 5:12 we see that there is nothing that
we can give that will honestly and absolutely attest to the
credibility and fulfillment of our promises or predictions
about our own future. We have absolute and perfect control
or authority over not one thing. To give the idea to the
recipient of such promises, oaths or predictions about our
future --- that we can be expected to perfectly and
completely fulfill such statements is to give the recipient a
false expectation of (and false confidence in) our fulfillment
of such swearings/oaths. Such dishonesty is contrary to the
Truth of the word since or life is like a vapor or a blade of
grass and disasters, disabilities, incapacities, death or etc.
could keep us from fulfilling our sworn oaths.
People who give their signatures, handshakes, property and
etc. as oaths in promissory notes of indebtedness, or
contracts or other such documented promises or predictions
not only fall into the condemnation of man when they fail to
fulfill their sworn promises or predictions, but they face the
double condemnation of God for swearing (promising/
predicting with an oath), and then for the failure to
truthfully keep their promise (the covenant breaking of Rom.
1:31,32). The God of Truth does not want His followers to
suffer for doing wrong, or to keep on doing that which is
wrong.
Truth, Who was revealed as Christ, declares that all I can
give to promises or predictions about my future is simply "If
the Lord wills", or a simple "Yes", i.e. an affirmation of my
will, a declaration of my intent, an expression of my
expectation, an evidence of my good and honest intentions
and an expression of my optimistic hope for the future
fulfillment of my intentions or expectations. No oaths. Such
an affirmation attests to and is confirmation of nothing but
that described in this paragraph's first sentence. It is proof
of my sincere desire and intention to fulfill the
declaration/affirmation/intention. The recipient of such an
affirmation knows that he has been given no profound
absolute and mighty guarantee. Such an affirmation is a
reflection of our finite, mortal and frail human nature.
Laurence Geller, a Calif. Administrative Law
Referee/Judge ruled against San Diego County and Calif.
and for my petition, on 8/5/'75, stating: "It is the claimant's
conviction that before he may affix his signature to any
document, his signing must b e qualified by a religious
preface such as �In case Christ wills and I live.� Claimant
testified that his desire to so qualify his signature is in no
way an attempt or subterfuge to not meet his reporting
responsibilities. Claimant simply desires the qualification so
that the placing of his signature would be in conformity
with his religious convictions which appear to require an
affirmation of the finite nature of the claimant's existence. .
.San Diego County shall rescind its July 1, 1975 denial . .
Further, the county shall permit the claimant to sign his
application and qualify his signature with the religious
statement.�
In A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPELS>31 we read
"The citizen of the New Kingdom . . .is also too frank and
truthful to need the use of oaths; his word is his bond." In
THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW>32 we read the following:
"Matthew 5:33-37 . . . This passage concludes with the
commandment that when a man has to say yes, he should
say yes, and nothing more; and when he has to say no, he
should say no, and nothing more. The ideal is that a man
should never need an oath to buttress or guarantee the
truth of anything he may say. . . Clement of Alexandria
insisted that Christian must lead such a life and demonstrate
such a character that no one will ever dream of asking
an oath from them. . . ."
[>.31 By Ronald Knox, 1952, N.Y. Shed and Ward,
Imprimatur, Richard J. Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.
>.32 Vol. 1, Barclay, Professor of Divinity at the
Univ. of Glasgow, Westminister Press, 1958; p. 158.]
In A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING
TO SAINT MATTHEW>33 we read the following:
"Since in all of life man is dealing with God, he is always
obligated to complete integrity in word and act. Therefore
the use of oaths is misleading; swear not at all; simply say
"Yes" or "No" . . . The use of solemn-sounding oaths instead of
simple, truthful speech is a concession to a double standard
and comes from the Evil One, Satan, the "Father of Lies" . . .
and dishonesty (Jn :44)."
[>.33 Filson, Dean and Professor of N.T. lit.and Hist.;
McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Harper and
Bros. Prss, 1960; p. 89.]
In the THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT>34 we read the following:
". . . oaths and vows had to be kept. . . . Attempts have been
made to limit ["swear not at all"] of Jesus, e.g. to promises
rather than affirmations.. . . . . . Hence the ["Swear not at all"]
applies to all oaths, whether in daily life or in judicial cases. .
The Essenes rejected the oath unconditionally. . . Jesus does
not merely attach the misuse of the oath; He rejects it
altogether. . . He who already belongs to the kingdom . . .
must be truthful in all things; hence he stands under the
requirement not to sear at all. . . ["swear" Mt. 5:34] means
to swear, to affirm (confirm) by an oath. . ."
In THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW>35 we
read that "Jesus would abolish oaths altogether as
unnecessary for those who habitually tell the truth as his
disciples are expected to do. This radical rejection of oaths
is paralleled in the Damascus Document of the Dead Sea
Scrolls (XIX, 1).
[>.34 edited by G. Friedrich G. Kittel, Eerdmans Publishers,
1967, Vol. 5; pp. 176ff and page 183. >.35 Argyle,
Cambridge, 1963; p.52.]
The Holy Bible in Matthew 5:33-37, James 4 and James 5:12,
declares that we don't know our future, not even tomorrow
or even the next hour. Therefore it is a presumptuous
assertion to say that we will do this or that in our future. He
tells us to recognize and admit our finite knowledge and our
mortality by saying, "If the Lord wills and we live, we also
shall do this or that." To make presumptuous assertions
about your future is prideful boasting and contrary to His
will. See James 4:13,14,15 and
Prov. 27:1.
This is not an attempt to be dishonest or evasive since this
same God of Truth commands us to be honest, to give that
which is due to others, and to conscientiously submit to the
civil authorities (Romans 13 and 1 Pt. 2). While He wants us
to be honest and give that which is due, he takes into
consideration our human frailty, finite knowledge and
mortal nature and so holds us liable only for our intent, will
and expectations about the future.
From James 4:13-17 & 5:12 we see that there is nothing that
we can give that will honestly and absolutely attest to the
credibility and fulfillment of our promises or predictions
about our own future. We have absolute and perfect control
or authority over not one thing. To give the idea to the
recipient of such promises, oaths or predictions about our
future --- that we can be expected to perfectly and
completely fulfill such statements is to give the recipient a
false expectation of (and false confidence in) our fulfillment
of such swearings/oaths. Such dishonesty is contrary to the
Truth of the word since or life is like a vapor or a blade of
grass and disasters, disabilities, incapacities, death or etc.
could keep us from fulfilling our sworn oaths.
People who give their signatures, handshakes, property and
etc. as oaths in promissory notes of indebtedness, or
contracts or other such documented promises or predictions
not only fall into the condemnation of man when they fail to
fulfill their sworn promises or predictions, but they face the
double condemnation of God for swearing(promising/
predicting with an oath), and then for the failure to
truthfully keep their promise (the covenant breaking of Rom.
1:31,32). The God of Truth does not want His followers to
suffer for doing wrong, or to keep on doing that which is
wrong.
Truth, Who was revealed as Christ, declares that all I can
give to promises or predictions about my future is simply "If
the Lord wills",
or a simple "Yes", i.e. an affirmation of my will, a
declaration of my intent, an expression of my expectation,
an evidence of my good and honest intentions and an
expression of my optimistic hope for the future fulfillment
of my intentions or expectations. No oaths. Such an
affirmation attests to and is confirmation of nothing but
that described in this paragraph's first sentence. It is proof
of my sincere desire and intention to fulfill the
declaration/affirmation/intention. The recipient of such an
affirmation knows that he has been given no profound
absolute and mighty guarantee. Such an affirmation is a
reflection of our finite, mortal and frail human nature.
There have been laws passed at various levels of
government, as well as written policies made by creditors as
part of their loan agreement, that acknowledge human
frailty and the uncertain future of any human. Legal
bankruptcy is offered to and available for debtors who are
unable to pay what they had bound themselves to pay.
Bankruptcy laws protect the debtor from the creditor, but
also warns future creditors of the debtors behavior.
The law and the courts can release the debtor from his debt
to the creditor and protect him from a creditor�s legal
actions, but it cannot release the child of God from the
responsibility before God to honor and fulfil his/her
word/promise/pledge/contract with the creditor. So even
if it is �pennies� a month repayment of the money/service
owed, the child of God should make every realistic effort to
honor his/her word/signature/hand-shake and pay/do that
which was agreed upon or promised-------even if released
by bankruptcy court or by human law.
It would appear that if a creditor/contractor would accept
your signature/ word/hand-shake as binding but with the
acceptance/recognition of your finite human nature, with its
possibilty of failure to be able to do what was promised/
contracted,----- then you would appear to have a James
4:13-17contract instead of the forbidden James 5:12 type of
contract.
Just a thought.Marriage by covenant. If you have decided
that Mat. 5:33-37, James 4:13-17 and
James 5;12 don't allow you to use the traditional wedding
vows and covenants because they involve swearing and/or
oaths , then you might be interested in using and adapting
the following to your own needs. Also these covenants are
suitable for legal weddings, common law weddings, and a
wedding in concubinage. None of them have the "forsaking
all others" clause that precludes polygyny.
A WEDDING AFFIRMATION**********************************
(Your name), will you have this (man, woman) to be your
(husband, wife) and will you , before God and these
witnesses, solemnly affirm and declare your marital
intentions and expectations to (him, her), in all honor and
love, in all service and duty, in all faith and tenderness, to
live with (him, her), to comfort, keep (him/her), and
cherish (him/her), according to the ordinance of God, in the
holy bond of marriage? (Answer, "I do" or "Yes").
I, (your name), take you, (the other's name), to be my
wedded (husband, wife); and I do solemnly affirm and
declare before God and these witnesses that I intend and
expect to be your loving and faithful (husband, wife) to love
and to cherish each other; in plenty and in want; in joy and
grief; in health and infirmity; as long as we
both shall live. All that I own and have is now ours.
In token of our solemn affirmations and declarations, with
this ring I wed you; in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit who lives and abides in us.
Amen (both repeat in unison)
I now pronounce you husband and wife. Do you have
something to declare to us?
(in unison) We covenant before God and all of you present,
that we are husband and wife bound together to be one
flesh in the Lord until death part us. We covenant before
God that it is our responsibility to compassionately cherish
each other according to His Word, the Holy Bible, to His
glory and honor. Pray for us.
_________________________
The Couple's Signatures and Date
______________________________
______________________________
The Witnesses' Signatures & Date
ANOTHER WEDDING
AFFIRMATION**************************
________, do you accept and acknowledge ______ as
your husband? Yes/I do_______
Do you accept your responsibility to be faithful to him, in all
virtue and honor, in all duty and service, in all faithfulness
and tenderness, to live with him and compassionately
cherish him according to the Word of God, in the holy bond
of marriage? Yes/I do______
initials
Do you leave your parents and loyally bond with him to be
one in marriage submitting to each other in reverence to
God, sharing in common all that you have and own?
Yes/I do_______
initials
Do you, ____________, commit yourself to him with all
your heart, to follow ________'s lead as unto the Lord in
all matters showing honor and respect?
Yes/I do______
initials
__________, do you accept and acknowledge ___________ as
your wife?_Yes/I do______
initials
Do you accept your responsibility to be faithful to her, in all
virtue and honor, in all duty and service, in all faithfulness
and tenderness, to live with her and compassionately
cherish her according to the Word of God, in the holy bond
of marriage? Yes/I do_______
initials
Do you leave your parents and loyally bond with her to be
one in marriage submitting to each other in reverence to
God, sharing in common all that you have and own?
Yes/I do ________
initials
Do you ________, commit yourself to her with all your
heart to live wisely with her;respectfully, compassionately
and sacrificially cherishing her, feeding her the Word,
taking care of her and leading her by your example?
Yes/I do_______
initials
_____________________________
The Couple's Signatures and Date
______________________________
______________________________
The Witnesses' Signatures & Date
ANOTHER WEDDING COVENANT*****************************
I, ___________________, make a covenant with you
this day. I take
you, ____________________, as my wedded husband
before God and these witnesses. I acknowledge my fervent
desire and responsibility to faithfully cherish you as my
husband, to love you and honor you in plenty and in want,
in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, all the days of
my life. All that I have and own is now ours. I make this
covenant, not boasting of or counting on my own ability to
keep it, but trusting in God for His Spirit's enabling and
motivating, and His gift of length of days to honor Him in
the keeping of this covenant.
I, ____________________, make a covenant with you
this day. I take
you, _______________________, as my wedded wife
before God and these witnesses. I acknowledge my fervent
desire and responsibility to faithfully cherish you as my
wife, to love you and honor you in plenty and in want, in joy
and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, all the days of my
life. All that I have and own is now ours. I make this
covenant not boasting of or trusting in my own ability to
keep it, but trusting in God for His Spirit's enabling and
motivating, and His gift of length of days to honor Him in
the keeping of this covenant.
______________________________
The Couple's Signatures and Date
______________________________
________________________________
The Witnesses' Signatures & Date
What makes a wedding &/or a marriage?
From many passages in the Bible (including Ezekiel
16:8, Exodus chapters 19 & 20, and Malachi 2:14,15) it
appears clear to me that marriage of a couple is based on
their covenant/solemn agreement to be husband and wife to
each other in a relationship of marital/ sexual intimacy, - -
whether or not they do it legally or officially. Adam and Eve
had no formal or official wedding and exchanged no formal
vows but they accepted each other as husband and wife and
lived accordingly. There is no wedding formula in the Bible
and there is no wedding ceremony prescribed in the Bible.
When you study how they married in the Old Testament you
see that the
basis was either their covenant to be husband and wife to
each other, or they accepted their parents� covenant for
them to be married. The strongest statement I know of is the
one in Matthew 1:18,19,20 where, based on their
covenant/betrothal (v.18), the Holy Spirit callED Joseph her
husband (v.19) and the angel called Mary his wife (v.20)
before (Luke 1:26,34) their official wedding and
cohabitation (v.24). God and His messengers call Mary
and Joseph wife and husband before their wedding and
solely on the basis of their covenants to be husband and wife
to each other. This agrees with the great weight God gives
our solemn word in such passages as DBY PSALM 15:
Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? . . . 2 He that
walketh uprightly, . . .who, if he have sworn to his own
hurt, changeth it not; . . .
YLT ECCLES 5:4 � When thou vowest a vow to God, delay
not to complete it, for there is no pleasure in fools; that
which thou vowest--complete. 5 Better that thou do not
vow, than that thou dost vow and dost not complete. 6
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, nor say before
the messenger, that `it [is] an error,' why is God wroth
because of thy voice, and hath destroyed the work of thy
hands?
All of this is to say that if you and your mate have agreed
seriously
to be faithful to each other in and for marital/sexual
intimacy as husband and wife, then I believe that makes you
husband and wife. Even if you haven�t used the magic
words �husband, wife, marriage�, if you two have agreed
to be faithful marital/sexual partners to each other, to me
that�s the same thing as Ezekiel 16:14 where God shows
that marriage is by covenant. In Malachi 2 God shows
again that a woman becomes a wife by covenant, and to
break that covenant is to deal treacherously with you mate.
Sexual intimacy>m with anyone else besides your mate is
fornication, sexual sin. If you are maritally committed to
each other and then you yourself --- but not your mate-----
genuinely received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Ruler to
be obeyed and as Savior to deliver you from the penalty of
your sins- - but your guy hasn't, then I believe you find
yourself in the situation described in 1 Corinthians
7:12,13,14,15, the saved mate of an unsaved person.
[>.m see footnotes on breast pressing, petting,caressing
and/or genital contact (Ezekiel 23:3,8,21; Prov. 5.)]
