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Summary
- The Bible forbids misusing God’s name (Exodus 20:7), cursing people (James 3:9–10) and obscene or “corrupting” talk (Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 3:8), but it gives no list of banned words.
- In the Bible, to swear usually means to take an oath, and Jesus said, “Do not take an oath at all” (Matthew 5:34–37; James 5:12).
- Anabaptists, Mennonites and Quakers refuse oaths; Catholic, Reformed and Anglican teaching allows oaths for grave reasons, such as in court.
- The Catholic Catechism calls blasphemy “in itself a grave sin”; Thomas Aquinas taught that cursing someone can be mortal or venial.
- No example of Paul’s word skybala (Philippians 3:8) as a swear word has been found in ancient Greek literature.
- John Chrysostom and Augustine both preached against the habit of swearing oaths.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; 24:16; Deuteronomy 23:23; Matthew 5:34–37; 7:17; 12:34–36; 15:18; 23:16–22; 26:63–64, 74; Mark 3:29; Romans 1:9; 12:14; Galatians 1:20; Ephesians 4:29, 31; 5:4; Colossians 3:8; James 1:19–20; 3:9–10; 5:12), with the King James Version (Matthew 26:74; Colossians 3:8; Matthew 12:36; Philippians 3:8) and the New International Version (Philippians 3:8). https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Strong’s Greek 148 (aischrologia), 692 (argos), 4550 (sapros) and 4657 (skybalon); Strong’s Hebrew 7723 (shav’), Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/greek/4550.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2146, 2148, 2154 and 2155. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7I.HTM
- Martin Luther, Small Catechism, the Second Commandment, in the Concordia Triglotta translation (1921). https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/part-1/
- Westminster Confession of Faith, 15.4 and 22.2, and Westminster Larger Catechism, questions 113 and 150. https://opc.org/wcf.html and https://opc.org/lc.html
- Church of England, Articles of Religion, Article 39, “Of a Christian man’s Oath.” https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- The Schleitheim Confession (1527), article 7. https://pages.uoregon.edu/sshoemak/323/texts/schleitheim.htm
- Mennonite Church USA, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), article 20, “Truth.” https://www.mennoniteusa.org/who-are-mennonites/what-we-believe/confession-of-faith/truth/
- Britain Yearly Meeting, Quaker Faith & Practice, Advices and Queries 37. https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/1-02/
- Augustine of Hippo, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, book 1, chapter 17. https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106/npnf106.v.ii.xvii.html
- Augustine of Hippo, Sermons 180 and 307 (Latin text). https://www.augustinus.it/latino/discorsi/discorso_233_testo.htm and https://www.augustinus.it/latino/discorsi/discorso_438_testo.htm
- John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, homily 10. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210110.htm
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 76, a. 3. https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3076.htm
- Carmen Joy Imes, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters (IVP Academic, 2019), and her post “Shattered: Top Ten Myths about the Ten Commandments (Part 3),” Biola University Good Book Blog, 15 November 2021. https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2021/shattered-top-ten-myths-about-the-ten-commandments-part-3
- Gary Manning Jr., “Did the Apostle Paul Use Profanity?”, Biola University Good Book Blog, 1 October 2015. https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2015/did-the-apostle-paul-use-profanity
- Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 603, and the United States Constitution, Article II, section 1. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_603
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