A SMALL TREATISE CONCERNING SWEARING IN THE OLD TIME OF THE LAW, WITH ITS USE

For to swear by anything: earth, heaven, God, your head, your honor, etc. is something you cannot control nor invoke the power from or the help of, and which greatly displeases God, even for him to curse us. The following detailed explanation by George Fox completely explains the background and rationale of Christ's command to "swear not at all." Fortunately the courts of Europe and North America today recognize the Christian's refusal to swear, but to still be held to the same accountability of truthful testimony as someone who does swear. In Fox's 17h Century, refusal to swear was an automatic prison sentence; thousands of early Quakers went to jail and had their property, (homes, crops, livestock, even children), seized by the religious authorities. Their persecution and patient suffering eventually persuaded the authorities to cease treating them as criminals for refusal to swear; and the laws were amended, resulting in the heritage, which we enjoy today as privilege to comply with Christ's command without threat of imprisonment. In lieu of requiring people to swear, for the last 300 years, courts have allowed of substitutions a statemenst such as: "I [named person] do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare, and affirm."