⌛ Civil & Last Things · Oaths & Marriage

Oaths-Forbidden-Altogether

Christ's words 'Swear not at all' (Matthew 5:34) forbid all oaths — the Quaker position rejected by XXII.1.

This is a contested or rejected alternative.

The Westminster baseline on Oaths & Marriage is Oaths-Lawful-Serious; Divorce-Adultery-Or-Desertion. Personas and schools listed below hold this alternative position instead — either because they argued for it at the Assembly (like the Erastians on polity) or because they represent a receiving tradition that departed from the Standards on this point.

Cruxes on this attribute

The Assembly navigated 2 cruxes that bear directly on Oaths & Marriage.

Lawful Oaths 1646 May Christians take oaths? May the magistrate require them? Grounds of Divorce: Adultery and Wilful Desertion 1646 Two scriptural grounds for the dissolution of a true marriage.

Other positions on Oaths & Marriage

Oaths-Lawful-Serious; Divorce-Adultery-Or-Desertion WCF Lawful oaths are a part of religious worship when warranted by truth, judgment and seriousness (WCF XXII.1–7); marriage between one man and one woman, indissoluble except by adultery or willful desertion (XXIV.1, 5–6). Marriage-No-Divorce Marriage is wholly indissoluble; even adultery does not warrant remarriage — a stricter Catholic position rejected by XXIV.5. Marriage-Liberal-Divorce Multiple grounds for divorce beyond adultery and desertion — the broader Erasmian-Reformed reading not adopted by Westminster.

Cite this position

Study Reformed, “Oaths-Forbidden-Altogether” (Position), Westminster Standards Atlas, version 79a5f9880ac1, https://studyreformed.com/atlas/cite/position/civil_last_things/lawful_oaths_and_marriage/oaths_forbidden/.

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Ontology version 79a5f9880ac1 — the state of the Atlas you are reading, so a citation stays checkable when the ontology is revised.