Hi all - I’m reading Boundaries for Teens at the moment. I love the concepts - as a clinical psych, I think they’re invaluable books - but I hate how the authors grab verses out of context to illustrate their (barely surface related) points.

Anyway, one verse they quoted was Matthew 5:37 - and it got me thinking - what exactly does it mean to swear an oath by something? Why do it? And what was Jesus objecting to when he told his listeners to not swear an oath by something? I can’t explain it to myself - which means I’m not getting it. Could someone help, please?

K.

Not sure, I’ll give it some thought…

Perhaps something I wrote on a similar topic on another thread might throw a little light for you, Krystina:

I believe that James 5:12, understood in context, is addressing people who are lacking in faith and believe that by swearing oaths of one level or another they can strike up a bargain with God to get them out of trouble. Trusting prayer is the way to seek God’s help when you’re in trouble, not fabricated oath-swearing. Jesus also addressed that sort of attitude in the Pharisees during the sermon on the mount.

Thus, I don’t see James as prohibiting Christians from ‘swearing on the Bible’ in a formal setting such as courts of law or when commencing Parliamentary office. The implication of James is to remind them not to presume that the swearing that they’ve done is enough - they have to back that up by being truthful and trustworthy.

If a Christian decides not to swear on the Bible, that’s fine with me. I don’t think they HAVE to do that. But if they do it, I’ve got no problem either - it’s not really a very important issue at all in my mind.

BTW, when you click on a Bible reference on these forums you get the Biblegateway verse come up. If you go to the little symbol at the top right of the line of symbols above the verse/passage it will take you to a commentary on that verse. It’s a nice quick and easy way of getting at least one opinion on what the verse means.

The commentary for Matthew 5:37 is quite good, I think.

Thanks Warren - it’s a bit clearer now!
K.

Thanks for the tip about the commentary, Warren. I was unaware of it!

[quote author="Warren"]BTW, when you click on a Bible reference on these forums you get the Biblegateway verse come up. If you go to the little symbol at the top right of the line of symbols above the verse/passage it will take you to a commentary on that verse. It’s a nice quick and easy way of getting at least one opinion on what the verse means.

The commentary for Matthew 5:37 is quite good, I think.