2. An oath is lawful when prescribed and administered by duly authorized officers of the State, or of the Church ; they are the " ministers of God," acting in his name and by his authority. There are many who do not regard it as proper that an oath should ever be taken, except when thus imposed by those in authority. The Church of England in the thirty-ninth article, says : " As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ, and James his Apos- tle ; so we judge that Christian religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the prophet's teach- ing, in justice, judgment, and truth." The same ground has been taken by many moral philosophers and theologians.
There does not, however, seem to be any sufficient reason for this restriction, either in the nature or design of an oath, or in the teachings of Scripture. The oath being an appeal to God to bear witness to the truth of our declarations, or the sincerity of our promises, there is no reason why this appeal should not be made whenever any important end is to be accomplished by it. There should be a necessity for it ; that is, no man should swear lightly or profanely, but only when all the conditions which justify this appeal to God are present. According to the old law those conditions are, "judicium in jurante, justitia in objecto, veracitas in mente." That is, the juror must be competent. He must have a just judgment of the nature and obligation of an oathj so as to understand what he is about to do. Therefore an idiot, a child, or an unbeliever cannot properly be put upon his oath. By "justitia in objecto," is meant that the object con- cerning which the oath is taken, should be a proper object. If it be a promissory oath, the thing we engage to do must be pos- sible and lawful ; if an assertatory oath, the object must have due importance ; it must be within the knowledge of the juror ; and there must be an adequate reason why this appeal to Gocl
and Meuschen, N. T. ex Talm. illustr. See, also, Winer's Realwtirterbuch, and Tholuck'a Auslegung der Bergpredigt Christi, 3d edit. Hamburg, 1846.