Oaths

It happened for only the third time in U.S. history. The oath of office was taken a second time by the incoming president. On January 20, a few minutes after 12 noon, Chief Justice John Roberts faced Barack Obama who, according to the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, had technically become president at 12 noon. The oath of office is important, however, since Article II of the Constitution indicates the President can only execute his duties upon taking the oath.

Both Obama and Roberts flubbed it. Obama cut into an unfinished phrase by Roberts and had to repeat himself. Then Roberts incorrectly put the word "faithfully" at the end of the next phrase. Obama paused and awkwardly repeated the revision as reporters, historians and the entire world watched.

The snafu was sufficiently questionable to have a "redo" the next day, January 21, in the Map Room at the White House. Roberts and Obama, without the Lincoln Bible, faced each other, and both said the prescribed oath accurately.

Although the flap may be nothing more than nit-picking, some had pondered whether the new president was acting officially without having taken the precise Constitutional oath. To silence any future questions, the oath was administered the second time.

It happened twice before. Chester Arthur took the oath in New York City upon President James Garfield’s death from an assassin’s bullet, but he repeated it when he returned to Washington. Calvin Coolidge was in Vermont when President Warren Harding died. He took the oath of office from his father, a Vermont notary. When it was found that Coolidge’s father might not have had the authority to administer the presidential oath, Coolidge repeated it when he returned to Washington.

Oaths are important, all the way back to Bible times when God swore fidelity to Abraham. The word "oath" is found about 60 times in our English Bibles. Adding the word "swear," another 36 usages come into play.

Thus, the taking of oaths has become ingrained in far-ranging societies and is imbedded in countless initiations and our inaugurals and daily in countless courtrooms. The imagery of swearing on a Bible speaks of the highest authority of witness with the words, "…the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."

According to the many Bible references, an oath is a person’s word of unconditional truth telling. There is a New Testament exception as Christ told his disciples in Matthew 5:33-37. "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." Christ introduced a new era of truth-telling, that what a disciple said, he really was, that character and speech were inseparable, and a dichotomy of the inner man and outer speech was wrong.

A man’s word should be good enough, and lying or false statements are always out of bounds for any believer in Christ. Christians ought not need to swear, for their word should be good whenever spoken.

Biblical respect for this concept is built into the U.S. Constitution since the alternate word "affirm" is allowed. The presidential oath in Article II reads, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm)…". This is evidently a concession to biblical convictions against swearing.

The Lord called Himself "the truth" in John 14:6, and the Apostle Paul enjoined in Ephesians 4:25, "Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another." Perjury is still a wretched crime for it breaks the highest rule as we hear the dreaded phrase "lying under oath."

Hebrews 6:13-18 is the biblical affirmation of all God’s truthfulness. "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." God’s double truth affirmation of both His word and His oath is transferred to New Testament believers in Christ.

These truth themes have been built into our legal system, an interweave of church and state—or at least of God and government. Our founders clearly understood this. Little wonder that they signed the U.S. Constitution under a date designated as "in the year of our Lord…" meaning Jesus Christ. Perhaps critics of this unique overlap should reconsider in view of the "affirm" option in the presidential oath.

Oaths taken on a Bible and appended with "…so help me God" are still traditional in the United States, a country that is "under God," and we should be keenly aware of Rick Warren’s invocational theme: "And may we never forget that all nations and all people will stand accountable before You."

There is indeed a God of all the universe to whom we all will give an account, and He is personally known only through Jesus Christ. "Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’" (John 14:6).

Dave Virkler