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BerianAardvark -> RE: whose law (6/8/2008 2:27:23 PM)
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quote:
So true RC. Also if testimony is not given under oath then the court has little power to do anything about someone that does not tell the truth. It's called perjury.
Exactly, as RC said, it is a "legal thingy" which allows the courts to take action if the testimony proves to be false.
If you look at the context:
"Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.' "But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil. (Matthew 5:33-37)
But the oath in a court does not ask that you swear BY anything, it is merely asking that you affirm that you will tell the truth...and too many people (even some Christians) won't tell the truth even if they swear to do so.
As one commentary puts it:
The Mosaic Law contains several prohibitions against swearing falsely by the name of God (Lev 19:12; Num 30:2; Deu 23:21). To swear by God's Name meant that He was your witness that you were telling the truth. The Jews sought to avoid the impropriety of swearing falsely by God's Name by substituting heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or their head as that by which they swore.
Jesus condemned such circumvention of the law as sheer hypocrisy and forbid any form of swearing or oaths in ordinary conversation.
This passage also forbids any shading of the truth or deception. It does not, however, forbid taking an oath in a court of law. Jesus Himself testified under oath before the High Priest (Mat 26:63 ff). Paul also used an oath to call God as his witness that what he was writing was true (2Co 1:23; Gal 1:20). (BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY)
Tim
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