prehend, will be best understood by a due confideration of thofe particulars, whereby it is difhonoured: for Sin against the avoiding of those things will be the best way it. to honour his holy name.

The first is BLASPHEMY, or speaking any evil thing of God; the highest degree of which is curfing him, Blafpheor those perfons or things that have a peculiar rela- my. tion to God; or indeed curfing of any of God's creatures, which are all the works of his hands. And this may not be committed in thought, word, or deed, without the utmost outrage and profanation; for this is what the Pfalmift reckons in the highest degree of fins, where he distinguishes offenders into three feveral ranks, Pf. i. 1. The man that walketh in the counfel of the ungodly; the man that ftandeth in the way of finners; and the man that fitteth in the feat of the fcornful; that is, of those who not only neglect, but also fcoff at religion, and make a mock at that, which of all things in the world is of the greatest importance. Thus David, fpeaking of God's enemies, brands their curfing inwardly; and curfing openly, or to the face, is the devil's fuggeftion against Job. Thus St. Paul fays, God's name may be blafphemed by our wicked actions: By breaking the law dishonoureft thou God? For the name of God is blafphemed among the Gentiles through you. And your fathers have blafphemed me, in that they committed a trespass against me, faith the prophet Ezekiel.

Secondly, we difhonour God by fwearing falfely or rafhly; because an oath is an invocation of God, or an ap- Swearpeal to him to atteft what we fay to be true, whe- ing. ther the name of God be or be not exprefsly mentioned: For in all these cases a man does virtually call God to witnefs: and, in fo doing, he does by confequence invoke him as a judge and an avenger, if what he fwears be not true. There is indeed a great ufe and even neceffity of oaths, in many cafes; When lawwhich is fo great, that human fociety can very hard- ful. ly, if at all, fubfift long without them. Government would many times be very infecure: and for the faithful discharge of offices of great trust, in which the welfare of the publick is nearly concerned, it is not poffible to find any fecurity equal to that of an oath; because the obligation of that reaches to the

L 3

m

6

moft fecret and hidden practices of men, and takes hold of them, in many cafes, where the penalty of no human law can have any awe or force upon them: and especially it is the beft means of ending matters in debate. So mankind can never be fully fatisfied, where their eftates or lives are concerned, without the evidence is affured by an oath; and it is well known, That God himself requires in a lawful oath these three conditions, truth, judgment, and righteoufnefs. Hence it is that the Church declares, That as we confefs, that vain and rafh fwearing is forbidden Chriftian men by our Lord Jefus Chrift, and James his apoftle: So we judge, that • Chriftian religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may ⚫ fwear when the magiftrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity; fo it be done according to the prophet's teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.' * In which fenfe oaths, are generally divided into affertory and promiffory oaths. Affertory And that is called an affertory oath, when a man caths. affirms or denies upon oath a matter of fact, paft or prefent; when he swears that a thing was, or is fo, or not fo. Premiery And a promiflory oath is a promise confirmed by an oaths. oath, which always refpects fomething future: which promife is called a vow, if it be made directly and immediately to God; but only an oath, when made to man. I fay then, that

When un

In every lawful oath there must be truth: we must take great care, when we are upon our oaths, that we lawful. fay nothing but what we know or believe to be true; for there cannot be a greater provocation offered to almighty God, who is the God of truth, than to bring him in for witnefs and voucher to a falfhood; befides, to do this destroys the very end of taking oaths, which is to bring truth to light. Again, in every lawful oath, there must be judgment: we must not fwear rafhly and unadvisedly, but in cool and fober thoughts, having duly confidered how facred a thing an oath is. Moreover, we must be fully fatisfied that the occafion is every way fit and deferving of fo facred a fẹal. And finally, we must fwear in righteoufnefs, we must set afide all refpects of relation or friendship, and all other grounds

Sre the 39th Article of Religion.

grounds whatsoever of favour and affection to any party concerned; as alfo the confiderations of intereft or difadvantage that may happen to ourselves; regarding only the juftice of the caufe; whether it be that we give our oaths for the defence of the innocent, or punishment of the guilty: and we must take care that we fwear not in a wrong cafe, though it were our own, and we should reap never fo great a benefit in carrying our point. Hence,

From these three neceffary conditions of fwearing in truth, in judgment, and in righteoufnefs, we may The obligaobferve, that an oath is an act of religious worship, tion of an a part of that glory which we are to give to God; oath. being an open acknowledgement of his juftice and truth and that he is every-where prefent, and knows and fees all things and will avenge himself upon the ungodly, particularly upon those who break this precept of his law. Wherefore it is not poffible for men to lay a more facred and folemn obligation upon their confciences, than by the religion of an oath, which is binding our fouls with a bond; because he that sweareth lays the ftrongeft obligations upon himself, and puts his foul in pawn for the truth of what he fwears to. So that this obligation of an oath can never be violated, but at the utmost peril of God's judgment and vengeance. And, VI. This will lead us to a true fenfe of that difhonour done to God by the fin of PERJURY, which is a God greatly folemn calling of God to witness the truth of that dishonoured which we either know to be falfe, or do not know by perjury. to be true. Such an oath implies a curfe upon ourfelves; and is a crime of fo high a nature, that no man can poffibly be guilty of it, who has any fenfe at all of religion remaining upon his mind: for he who knowingly and deliberately calls God to witness a falfhood, in order to deceive or wrong his neighbour, does openly difclaim the mercies of God, and challenges the Almighty to fhew him no favour, Therefore

Obferve, when a man afferts upon oath what he knows to be otherwise, or promises what he does not in- When pertend to perform, his oath becomes perjury. In jury is com like manner, when a man promifes upon oath to mied

L 4

de

do that which is unlawful for him to do, because this oath is contrary to a former obligation, it is perjury. Again, when a man is uncertain whether what he fwears to be true, his oath is perjury, in the act, though not of the fame degree of guilt with the former; because it is not fo fully and directly against his confcience and knowledge. Men ought not to fwear at a venture, but to be certain of the truth of what they affert upon oath. Confequently, no man ought pofitively to fwear to the truth of any thing, but what he himself hath learnt, or feen, or heard; which is the highest affurance men are capable of in this life. So alfo he is guilty of perjury in the fame degree, who promifeth upon oath what he is not morally and reafonably certain he fhall be able to do. Men are likewife guilty of perjury, who anfwer equivocally and doubtfully, or with refervation of fomething in their minds, thinking thereby to falve the truth of what they fay; for oaths fhould be attended with calmness and simplicity: the use of oaths being to affure the perfons to whom they are made, they must be taken in the fenfe of those that impose them. So there can be no greater affront to God, than to use his name to deceive our neighbour. Nor can any thing. more directly overthrow the great end and ufe of oaths, which are for confirmation, and to put an end to ftrife amongst men; becaufe equivocation and refervation leave the thing in debate in the fame uncertainty it was before. Let not men, therefore, think by this device to fave themselves harmless from the guilt of fo great a fin; for they do really increase it, by adding to their iniquity the imputed folly of mocking God, and deceiving their own fouls. Men are also guilty of perjury after the act, who having a real intention, when they fwear, to perform what they promifed, yet afterwards neglect to perform their oath; not for want of power (for, fo long as that continues, the obligation ceaseth, but want of a will, and due regard to the oath they have fworn.

Seeing therefore that deliberate perjury is acting directly The guilt againft a man's knowledge, which is one of the and danger greatest aggravations of any crime; I must add, that is is equally a fin against both tables, the high

of it.

eft

eft affront to God, and of the moft injurious confequence to our neighbour; by which the name of God is horribly abufed, his judgment contemned, and his vengeance infolently held at defiance: by which alfo not only this or that particular perfon fuffers wrong, but human fociety is injured thereby; the foundations of public peace and juftice, and the private fecurity of every man's life and fortune, are at once overthrown and the best and last way that the wisdom of men could devise for the decifion of doubtful matters, is hereby defeated. Where it should be observed, that, as there is no threatening added to any other commandment but to this and the second, it intimates to us, that, next to idolatry and the worship of a falfe God, perjury is one of the greatest affronts that can be offered to our Creator; and may, without aggravation, be accounted one of thofe fins that The punishcry so loud to heaven, and quicken the pace of ment of it. God's judgment upon the obftinate finner, who will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. And also, VII. From hence we learn the great fin of that indecent as well as wicked custom of rafh SWEARING in Of common common converfation. Of which fin the first ag- fwearing gravation is, that they who are guilty of it are in or vain perpetual danger of the crime of perjury: For he oaths. who uses himself to fwear frequently and habitually, will never attend carefully, that what he fwears be Leads to true. Nay, it is too juft an obfervation, that they perjury. who are accustomed to this vice at all, are then apt to be moft guilty of it, when they are most provoked, and most fufpicious that what they affirm is not credible. To call upon God perpetually as a witness to mean and trivial matters is a manifest want of reverence, and of a just sense of God and religion,

CURSING alfo is another part of the profanation of the name of God; for when men in common converOf curfing. fation ufe curfes and imprecations against their brethren or themselves, as the Jews did, when they answered Pilate, and faid, let his [Chrift's] blood be upon us and on our children, it is either with an intention and defire that mifchief may befall them; which is both malicious towards men,

and