Sermons to the People 180.1–180.14

Augustine of Hippo · Sermons to the People · ca. 391-430 · Hippo Regius · 13 passages

Latin text: PL 38 (Latin text: Migne, PL 38, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: NPNF 1/6: Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (R. G. MacMullen, ed., 1888).

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Chapter 180

180.1PL 38:562

Prima lectio quæ nobis hodie recitata est apostoli Jacobi, oblata nobis est ad disserendum, et quodam modo indicta. Intentos enim vos fecit, admonens ante omnia ne juretis. Difficilis quæstio est. Hoc peccatum quem non reum teneat, si jurare peccatum est? Nam perjurium peccatum esse, et grande peccatum, nemo dubitat. Sed non ait Apostolus, de cujus lectione tractamus, Ante omnia, fratres mei, nolite perjurare; sed, nolite jurare. Præcessit etiam ipsius Domini Jesu Christi in Evangelio similis admonitio: Audistis, inquit, quia dictum est antiquis, Non perjurabis: ego autem dico vobis, nolite jurare, neque per cœlum, quia sedes Dei est; neque per terram, quia scabellum est pedum ejus; neque per caput tuum jurabis, quia non tibi est potestas facere unum capillum album aut nigrum. Sit autem sermo vester, Est, est; Non, non: si quid amplius est, a malo est. Huic dominicæ admonitioni memorata Apostoli lectio omnino sic congruit, ut nihil aliud Deus jussisse videatur: quia nullus alius hoc dixit, quam ille qui per Apostolum dixit: Ante omnia, inquit, fratres mei, nolite jurare, neque per cœlum, neque per terram, neque aliud quodcumque juramentum. Sit autem sermo vester, Est, est; Non, non. Nisi quod iste addidit, Ante omnia: ex quo multum fecit intentos, auxitque difficultatem quæstioni.

The first reading recited to us today, from the apostle James, was offered to us for discussion, and in a way imposed on us. For it made you attentive, admonishing you above all not to swear. It is a difficult question. Whom does this sin not hold guilty, if swearing is a sin? For no one doubts that perjury is a sin, and a great sin. But the Apostle, whose reading we are treating, does not say, “Above all, my brothers, do not perjure yourselves,” but, “do not swear.” The similar admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ himself in the Gospel came before: “You have heard,” he says, “that it was said to those of old, You shall not perjure yourself; but I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor shall you swear by your head, for you have no power to make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, Yes, yes; No, no: whatever is more than these is from evil.” The reading from the Apostle we have mentioned agrees with this admonition of the Lord so completely that God seems to have commanded nothing else; because no other said this than he who said through the Apostle: “Above all,” he says, “my brothers, do not swear, neither by heaven nor by earth nor by any other oath. But let your speech be, Yes, yes; No, no.” Except that he added “above all”: by which he made us very attentive, and increased the difficulty of the question.

Jas 5:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:33–37 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: James 5:12, echoing Christ's command not to swear at all, raises a hard question, since it forbids not only perjury but swearing, and does so “above all.”

Quotations: Jas 5:12; Matt 5:33–37.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): oblata nobis cst ad disserendum, et quod;rm modo indicta → oblata nobis est ad disserendum, et quodam modo indicta; Hoc peccaturo quem non reum teneat → Hoc peccatum quem non reum teneat; Præcessit eliam ipsius Domitii Jesu Christi in Evangelio sintilis admonitio → Præcessit etiam ipsius Domini Jesu Christi in Evangelio similis admonitio; quia sedes Dei cat; neque per terram, quia scabellum eat pedum ejus → quia sedes Dei est; neque per terram, quia scabellum est pedum ejus; Sit autem sermo Vester, Est, est; Non, non: si quid amplius est, a malo eat. Huic dominice admonitioni → Sit autem sermo vester, Est, est; Non, non: si quid amplius est, a malo est. Huic dominicæ admonitioni; ut nibil aliud Deus jussisse videatur: quia nullus alius hoe dixit → ut nihil aliud Deus jussisse videatur: quia nullus alius hoc dixit.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.1 (PL 38:562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).

180.2PL 38:562–563

Invenimus enim jurasse sanctos, jurasse primitus ipsum Dominum, in quo non est omnino peccatum. Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum: Tu es sacerdos in œternum, secundum ordinem Melchisedech. Æternitatem sacerdotii Filio cum juratione promisit. Habes etiam, Per memetipsum juro, dicit Dominus. Et illud juratio est, Vivo ego, dicit Dominus. Quomodo homo per Deum, sic Deus per se ipsum. Non est ergo peccatum jurare? Durum est hoc dicere: et quoniam diximus Deum jurasse, quam blasphemum est hoc dicere? Jurat Deus qui peccatum non habet: non ergo est peccatum jurare; sed magis peccatum est pejerare. Fortasse quis dicat non esse proponendum de Domino Deo jurationis exemplum. Deus enim est, et forte illi soli competit jurare, qui non potest pejerare. Homines enim falsum jurant, vel cum fallunt, vel cum falluntur. Aut enim putat homo verum esse quod falsum est, et temere jurat: aut scit vel putat falsum esse, et tamen pro vero jurat, et nihilominus cum scelere jurat. Distant autem ista perjuria, quæ duo commemoravi. Fac illum jurare, qui verum putat esse, pro quo jurat: verum putat esse, et tamen falsum est. Non ex animo iste perjurat; fallitur, hoc pro vero habet quod falsum est; non pro re falsa sciens jurationem interponit. Da alium qui scit falsum esse, et dicit verum esse; et jurat tanquam verum sit, quod scit falsum esse. Videtis quam ista detestanda sit bellua, et de rebus humanis exterminanda? Quis enim hoc fieri velit? Omnes homines talia detestantur. Fac alium, putat falsum esse, et jurat tanquam verum sit, et forte verum est. Verbi gratia, ut intelligatis, Pluit in illo loco? interrogas hominem; et putat non pluisse, et ad negotium ipsius competit, ut dicat, Pluit: sed putat non pluisse; dicitur ei, Vere pluit? Vere, et jurat: et tamen pluit ibi, sed ille nescit, et putat non pluisse; perjurus est. Interest quemadmodum verbum procedat ex animo. Ream linguam non facit, nisi mens rea. Quis est autem qui non fallatur, etsi noluit fallere? Quis est homo cui non subrepat fallacia? Et tamen juratio ab ore non discedit, frequentatur: plura sunt plerumque juramenta, quam verba. Si discutiat homo quoties juret per totum diem, quoties se vulneret, quoties gladio linguæ se feriat et transfigat, quis in illo locus invenitur sanus? Quia ergo grave peccatum est pejerare, compendium tibi dedit Scriptura, Noli jurare.

For we find that the saints swore, and first of all that the Lord himself swore, in whom there is no sin at all. “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” With an oath he promised the eternity of the priesthood to the Son. You also have: “By myself I swear, says the Lord.” And this is an oath: “As I live, says the Lord.” As man swears by God, so God by himself. Is it not a sin, then, to swear? It is hard to say this; and since we have said that God swore, how blasphemous is it to say it? God swears, who has no sin: so it is not a sin to swear; but rather it is a sin to perjure oneself. Perhaps someone may say that God's example of swearing should not be set before us. For he is God, and perhaps it belongs to him alone to swear, who cannot perjure himself. For men swear falsely either when they deceive or when they are deceived. For either a man thinks that true which is false, and swears rashly; or he knows or thinks it false, and yet swears it as true, and nonetheless swears with crime. Now these two perjuries I have mentioned differ. Suppose a man swears who thinks true the thing he swears to: he thinks it true, and yet it is false. This man does not perjure himself from the heart; he is deceived; he holds for true what is false; he does not knowingly interpose an oath for a false thing. Give me another who knows it is false and says it is true, and swears as if it were true what he knows is false. You see how detestable a beast this is, to be banished from human affairs? For who would want this to happen? All men detest such things. Suppose another: he thinks it false, and swears as though it were true, and perhaps it is true. For example, that you may understand: “Did it rain in that place?” you ask a man; and he thinks it did not rain, and it suits his business to say, “It rained”; but he thinks it did not rain. It is said to him, “Did it truly rain?” “Truly,” and he swears; and yet it did rain there, but he does not know, and thinks it did not rain: he is a perjurer. What matters is how the word proceeds from the mind. Nothing makes the tongue guilty but a guilty mind. But who is there who is not deceived, even if he did not want to deceive? What man is there to whom deception does not creep in? And yet swearing does not leave the mouth; it is frequent: often there are more oaths than words. If a man examined how often he swears through the whole day, how often he wounds himself, how often he strikes and pierces himself with the sword of the tongue, what healthy spot would be found in him? So because it is a grave sin to perjure oneself, Scripture has given you a shortcut: Do not swear.

Ps 110:4 (109:4 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 22:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 14:28 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Swearing is not itself sin, since God swore and the saints swore; perjury lies in the mind, as when one swears to what one thinks false, even if it proves true; because men are easily deceived and swear constantly, Scripture's shortcut is: do not swear.

Quotations: Ps 110:4 (109:4 Vulg.); Gen 22:16; Num 14:28. The edition's references are partly misprinted.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slip; stray footnote mark; OCR slips): Juratio licet a Deo usurpata, homini tamen fugienda. Perjurium quot modis contingit. Invenimus coint jurasse sanctos → Invenimus enim jurasse sanctos; Juravit Daminus, et non pœnitebit eutn → Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum; N in est ergo peccatum jurare? Durum est hoc dicere 1: → Non est ergo peccatum jurare? Durum est hoc dicere:; Jural Deus qui peccatum non habet → Jurat Deus qui peccatum non habet; Fortassc quis dicat non esse proponendum de Domino Dco jurationis exemplum. → Fortasse quis dicat non esse proponendum de Domino Deo jurationis exemplum.; et tcmere jurat → et temere jurat; et nihilominus cum scelcre jurat. Distant autcm ista perjuria, quæduo commemoravi. → et nihilominus cum scelere jurat. Distant autem ista perjuria, quæ duo commemoravi.; hoc pro vcro habet quod falsum est; non pro re falsa scicns jurationem interponit. Da alium qui scit falsum csse → hoc pro vero habet quod falsum est; non pro re falsa sciens jurationem interponit. Da alium qui scit falsum esse; Quis cnim hoc fieri velit? → Quis enim hoc fieri velit?; Fac alium, putat falsum essc, et jurat tan quam verum sit, et forte vcrum est. → Fac alium, putat falsum esse, et jurat tanquam verum sit, et forte verum est.; dicilurei, Vere pluit? → dicitur ei, Vere pluit?; Quis cst autem qui non fallatur → Quis est autem qui non fallatur; quoties gladio linguæ se feriat et transligat → quoties gladio linguæ se feriat et transfigat.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.2 (PL 38:562–563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.3PL 38:563

Quid tibi dicturus sum, homo? Verum jura? Ecce verum jura, non peccas: si verum juras, non peccas. Sed homo inter tentationes positus, carne involutus, calcans terram sub terra, dum corpus quod corrumpitur aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem; inter ista multa tua cogitata incerta, volatica, conjecturas humanas, fallacias humanas, quando non subrepit tibi quod falsum est, posito in regione falsitatis? Vis ergo longe esse a perjurio? Jurare noli. Qui enim jurat, aliquando verum jurare potest; qui autem non jurat, mendacium jurare nunquam potest. Juret ergo Deus, qui jurat securus, quem nihil fallit, quem nihil latet, qui omnino fallere ignorat, quia nec falli potest. Cum enim jurat, se adhibet testem. Quomodo tu cum juras, Deum adhibes testem; sic ipse cum jurat, se testem adhibet. Tu quando illum adhibes testem, forte supra mendacium tuum, accipis in vanum nomen Domini Dei tui. Ne ergo mendacium jures, noli jurare. Ipsa est angustia. Perjurium præcipitium. Qui jurat, juxta est: qui non jurat, longe est. Peccat et graviter qui falsum jurat: non peccat qui verum jurat: sed nec ille peccat, qui omnino non jurat. Sed qui non jurat, et non peccat, longe est a peccato: qui autem verum jurat, non peccat, sed prope est ad peccatum. Fac te ambulare in aliquo loco, ubi a parte dextera spatiosa sit terra, nec usquam angustias patiaris; a sinistra præceps locus est. Ubi eligis ambulare? Super finem terræ in labio præcipitii, an inde longe? Puto quia inde longe. Sic et qui jurat, in fine ambulat; et ambulat pedibus infirmis, quia humanis. Si offenderis, deorsum is; si lapsus fueris, deorsum is. Et quid te excipit? Perjurii poena. Ergo volebas verum jurare: audi consilium Dei, Noli jurare.

What shall I say to you, man? “Swear the truth”? See, swear the truth, you do not sin: if you swear the truth, you do not sin. But man, set amid temptations, wrapped in flesh, treading the earth beneath the earth, while “the body that is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks many things”—amid these many thoughts of yours, uncertain, flitting, human conjectures, human deceptions—when does falsehood not creep up on you, set as you are in the region of falsehood? Do you want, then, to be far from perjury? Do not swear. For he who swears can sometimes swear the truth; but he who does not swear can never swear a lie. So let God swear, who swears securely, whom nothing deceives, from whom nothing is hidden, who does not know how to deceive at all, because he cannot be deceived. For when he swears, he calls himself as witness. As you, when you swear, call God as witness, so he, when he swears, calls himself as witness. You, when you call him as witness, perhaps over your lie, take the name of the Lord your God in vain. So that you may not swear a lie, do not swear. This is the narrow place. Perjury is the precipice. He who swears is near it; he who does not swear is far from it. He who swears falsely sins, and gravely; he who swears the truth does not sin; but neither does he sin who does not swear at all. But he who does not swear, and does not sin, is far from sin; while he who swears the truth does not sin, but is near to sin. Suppose you are walking in some place where on the right there is spacious ground and you suffer no narrowness anywhere; on the left there is a precipice. Where do you choose to walk? At the edge of the ground, on the lip of the precipice, or far from it? I think far from it. So too he who swears walks at the edge; and he walks on weak feet, because human ones. If you stumble, down you go; if you slip, down you go. And what receives you? The punishment of perjury. So you wanted to swear the truth: hear God's counsel: do not swear.

Exod 20:7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Swearing truthfully is not sin, but it walks on the edge of the precipice of perjury, since human minds are easily deceived; only God swears securely, so the safe course is not to swear.

Quotations: Wis 9:15; Exod 20:7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quid tihi dicturus sum homo! Verum jura? → Quid tibi dicturus sum, homo? Verum jura?; Sed homo inter tentaliones positus → Sed homo inter tentationes positus; inter isla multa tua cogitata incerta → inter ista multa tua cogitata incerta.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 9:15 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.3 (PL 38:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.4PL 38:563

Si peccatum esset juratio, nec in veteri Lege diceretur, Non perjurabis; reddes autem Domino jusjurandum tuum. Non enim peccatum præciperetur nobis. Sed ait tibi Deus tuus, Si juraveris, non damnabo: si verum juraveris, non damnabo. Sed numquid si non juraveris damnabo? Duo sunt, inquit, quæ non damno unquam; veram jurationem, et nullam jurationem: damno autem falsam jurationem. Falsa juratio exitiosa est, vera juratio periculosa est, nulla juratio secura est. Scio esse difficilem quæstionem, et Charitati vestræ fateor, semper illam vitavi. Nunc autem cum die dominico debito reddendi sermonis recitaretur eadem lectio, divinitus mihi inspiratum esse credidi, ut inde tractarem. Hinc me dicere Deus voluit: hinc vos audire. Obsecro ne contemnatis, obsecro ut cor stabiliatis, linguæ mobilitates mutetis. Non frustra est omnino, non vacat quod cum eam, ut dixi, quæstionem semper devitare voluerim, imposita est necessitati meæ, ut imponatur et Charitati vestræ.

If swearing were a sin, it would not be said even in the old Law, “You shall not perjure yourself; but you shall render your oath to the Lord.” For a sin would not be commanded us. But your God says to you: “If you swear, I will not condemn you; if you swear the truth, I will not condemn you. But will I condemn you if you do not swear? There are two things,” he says, “that I never condemn: true swearing and no swearing; but I condemn false swearing.” False swearing is deadly; true swearing is dangerous; no swearing is safe. I know it is a difficult question, and I confess to your Charity, I have always avoided it. But now, when on the Lord's day this same reading was recited when a sermon was due, I believed it was divinely inspired in me to treat it. God wanted me to speak on this; you to hear it. I beg you not to despise it; I beg you to make your heart steady and change the restlessness of the tongue. It is not at all in vain, it is not idle, that, although, as I said, I always wanted to avoid this question, it was imposed on my necessity, so that it may be imposed also on your Charity.

Matt 5:33 (quotation, high confidence) · Lev 19:12 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Law commands rendering oaths, so swearing truly is not condemned, but perjury is deadly and true oaths dangerous; Augustine, who always avoided this question, believes God led him to it today.

Quotations: Matt 5:33 (Lev 19:12; Num 30:2; Deut 23:21).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): Verum jurare fas est; non jurare, tutius. Si peccatum esset juratio → Si peccatum esset juratio; Scio esse difficilem qureslionem, et Charitati vestræ fatcor → Scio esse difficilem quæstionem, et Charitati vestræ fateor; Nunc autcm cum die dominico → Nunc autem cum die dominico; divinitus mihi inspiratum I esse credidi → divinitus mihi inspiratum esse credidi; Obsecro nc contemnatis → Obsecro ne contemnatis.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.4 (PL 38:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.5PL 38:563–564

Ut noveritis, verum jurare non esse peccatum, invenimus et apostolum Paulum jurasse: Quotidie morior, per vestram gloriam, fratres, quam habeo in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Per vestram gloriam, juratio est. Non quasi sic ait, Per vestram gloriam morior, quasi vestra gloria me facit mori; quomodo si diceret, Per venenum mortuus est, per gladium mortuus est, per bestiam mortuus est, per inimicum mortuus est; id est, faciente inimico, faciente gladio, faciente veneno, et similia: non sic dixit, Per vestram gloriam. Ambiguitatem græcus sermo dissolvit. Inspicitur in Epistola græca, et invenitur ibi juratio quæ non est ambigua, Νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν. Νὴ τὸν θεόν, ubi dixerit græcus, jurat. Quotidie auditis Græcos, et qui græce nostis, Νὴ τὀν θεόν: quando dicit, Νὴ τὸν θεόν, juratio est, Per Deum. Ergo nemo dubitet jurasse Apostolum, cum dixit, Per vestram gloriam, fratres, (et ne putemus eum per humanam gloriam jurasse) quam habeo in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Est alio loco juratio prorsus certa et expressa: Testem invoco super animam meam. Apostolus dicit, Testem Deum invoco super animam meam, quia parcens vobis nondum veni Corinthum (II Cor. I, 23). Et alio loco ad Galatas: Quæ autem scribo vobis, ecce coram Deo, quia non mentior.

That you may know that to swear the truth is not a sin, we find that the apostle Paul too swore: “I die daily, by your glory, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “By your glory” is an oath. He did not say “By your glory I die” as if your glory makes me die; as if he were saying, “He died by poison, he died by the sword, he died by a beast, he died by an enemy,” that is, the enemy doing it, the sword doing it, the poison doing it, and the like: he did not say “By your glory” in that way. The Greek language resolves the ambiguity. One looks in the Greek Epistle and finds there an oath that is not ambiguous: νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν. Where a Greek says νὴ τὸν θεόν, he swears. You hear Greeks every day, and those of you who know Greek: νὴ τὸν θεόν. When he says νὴ τὸν θεόν, it is an oath: “By God.” So let no one doubt that the Apostle swore when he said, “By your glory, brothers”—and lest we think he swore by human glory—“which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is in another place an oath entirely certain and express: “I call witness upon my soul.” The Apostle says, “I call God as witness upon my soul, that to spare you I have not yet come to Corinth.” And in another place, to the Galatians: “What I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.”

1 Cor 15:31 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 1:20 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul swore, as the Greek of 1 Corinthians 15:31 shows (νή, “by,” as in νὴ τὸν θεόν, “by God”), and elsewhere called God as witness, so truthful swearing is not sin.

Quotations: 1 Cor 15:31 (Greek νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν); 2 Cor 1:23; Gal 1:20. Augustine appeals to the Greek text and to everyday Greek oaths heard in Hippo.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Greek letter forms normalized; Greek letter forms normalized; stray mark; OCR slip; OCR slips): Quotidie morio, per vestram gloriam → Quotidie morior, per vestram gloriam; Per vestram gloriam, iuratio est. Non quasi sic ait, Per vestram gloriam morior. quasi vestra gloria → Per vestram gloriam, juratio est. Non quasi sic ait, Per vestram gloriam morior, quasi vestra gloria; pcr bestiam mortuus est → per bestiam mortuus est; faciente veneno, ct similia → faciente veneno, et similia; Νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν ϰαύχησιν. Νη τδν θεόν, ubi dixerit græcus, jurat. → Νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν. Νὴ τὸν θεόν, ubi dixerit græcus, jurat.; quando dicit, Νὴ τδν θεόν, juratio est, Per Deum I. → quando dicit, Νὴ τὸν θεόν, juratio est, Per Deum.; Ergo nemo dubitet jurasse Apostolum, cum dixit. Per vestram gloriam, fratres, (et ne putemus cum per humanam glonam jurasse) → Ergo nemo dubitet jurasse Apostolum, cum dixit, Per vestram gloriam, fratres, (et ne putemus eum per humanam gloriam jurasse); Testem invoco super ammam meam. → Testem invoco super animam meam.; nondum veni Corinthum (IlCor. I, 23) → nondum veni Corinthum (II Cor. I, 23).

Topics: Ethics, Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.5 (PL 38:563–564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.6PL 38:564

Intendite, quæso, et advertite: et si non tam plausibilis sermo vobis sit, propter angustias quæstionis; utilis tamen est, si ad viscera vestra perveniat. Ecce juravit Apostolus. Non vos fallant, qui nescio quomodo volentes ipsas jurationes discernere, vel potius non intelligere, dicunt non esse jurationem, quando dicit homo, Scit Deus, Testis est Deus, Invoco Deum super animam meam verum me dicere. Invocavit, inquit, Deum, testem fecit Deum: numquid juravit? Qui hæc dicunt, nihil aliud volunt, nisi invocato Deo teste mentiri. Itane vero, quisquis es pravi cordis, et perversi cordis, si dicas, Per Deum, juras; si dicas, Testis est Deus, non juras? Quid est enim, Per Deum; nisi, Testis est Deus? Aut quid est, Testis est Deus; nisi, Per Deum?

Attend, I beg you, and take note: and even if the sermon is not so pleasing to you because of the narrowness of the question, yet it is useful if it reaches your inmost parts. See, the Apostle swore. Let them not deceive you who, wanting somehow to distinguish oaths themselves—or rather not understanding them—say that it is not an oath when a man says, “God knows,” “God is witness,” “I call God upon my soul that I speak the truth.” “He called on God,” they say, “he made God a witness: did he swear?” Those who say this want nothing else than to lie with God called as witness. Is it really so, whoever you are of crooked and perverse heart: if you say “By God,” you swear; if you say “God is witness,” you do not swear? For what is “By God,” but “God is witness”? Or what is “God is witness,” but “By God”?

Notes and citation

Summary: Calling God as witness (“God knows,” “God is witness”) is an oath just as much as “by God,” and those who deny it only want to lie with God as witness.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Intendite, quæso, ct advertite → Intendite, quæso, et advertite; vcl potius nun intelligere → vel potius non intelligere; Testis est Dens, Invoco Deum super animam meam verum me dicere. Invocavit, inquit, Dcum, testein fecit Deum → Testis est Deus, Invoco Deum super animam meam verum me dicere. Invocavit, inquit, Deum, testem fecit Deum; si dicas, Per Dcum, juras → si dicas, Per Deum, juras.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.6 (PL 38:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.7PL 38:564

Quid est autem jurare, nisi jus Deo reddere, quando per Deum juras; jus saluti tuæ reddere, quando per salutem tuam juras; jus filiis tuis reddere, quando per filios tuos juras? Quod autem jus debemus saluti nostræ, filiis nostris, Deo nostro, nisi charitatis, veritatis, et non falsitatis? Maxime autem per Deum cum fit, ipsa est vera juratio: quia et cum dicit quisque, Per meam salutem, salutem suam Deo obligat: quando dicit, Per filios, oppignerat Deo filios suos, ut hoc veniat in caput eorum, quod exit de ore ipsius: si verum, verum; si falsum, falsum. Cum ergo filios suos, vel caput suum, vel salutem suam quisque in juratione nominans, quidquid nominat obligat Deo; quanto magis quando pejerat per ipsum Deum? Timet enim falsum jurare per filium suum, et non timet falsum jurare per Deum suum? Fortassis hoc dicens in animo suo, Timeo per filium meum falsum jurare, ne moriatur: Deo autem qui non moritur, etsi falsum per eum juretur, quid mali contingit? Bene quidem dicis, nihil mali contingit Deo, quando falsum juras per Deum: sed contingit mali multum tibi, qui fallis proximum, cui testem adhibes Deum. Si aliquid teste filio tuo faceres, et amico vel proximo tuo vel cuilibet homini diceres, Non feci, et tangeres filio tuo caput, quo teste fecisti, et diceres, Per hujus salutem, quia non feci: exclamaret forte filius tuus sub paterna manu tremens, nec tamen paternam manum, sed divinam tremens, Noli pater, non tibi vilis sit salus mea; Deum super me invocasti, ego te vidi, fecisti, noli pejerare: te quidem habeo genitorem, sed plus et tuum et meum timeo Creatorem.

What then is to swear (iurare), but to render right (ius) to God when you swear by God; to render right to your health when you swear by your health; to render right to your children when you swear by your children? And what right do we owe to our health, to our children, to our God, but that of love, of truth, and not of falsehood? But it is above all when it is done by God that it is a true oath: for even when one says, “By my health,” he pledges his health to God; when he says, “By my children,” he pawns his children to God, so that what comes out of his mouth may come upon their heads: if true, true; if false, false. When, then, anyone in swearing names his children or his head or his health, whatever he names he pledges to God: how much more when he perjures himself by God himself? For does he fear to swear falsely by his son, and not fear to swear falsely by his God? Perhaps saying this in his mind: “I fear to swear falsely by my son, lest he die; but to God, who does not die, even if one swears falsely by him, what evil happens?” You say well indeed that no evil happens to God when you swear falsely by God; but much evil happens to you, who deceive your neighbor, to whom you bring God as witness. If you did something with your son as witness, and said to your friend or neighbor or any man, “I did not do it,” and touched the head of your son, before whom as witness you did it, and said, “By his health, I did not do it,” perhaps your son, trembling under his father's hand—yet trembling not at the father's hand but at God's—would cry out: “Do not, father; let my health not be cheap to you; you have called God upon me; I saw you, you did it; do not perjure yourself: I have you indeed as my begetter, but I fear more both your Creator and mine.”

Notes and citation

Summary: To swear is to render right to what one swears by, pledging it to God; perjuring oneself by God is worse than by one's child, for although God cannot be harmed, the perjurer harms himself and deceives his neighbor.

The derivation of iurare from ius is Augustine's wordplay.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quod antem jus debemus saluti nostræ → Quod autem jus debemus saluti nostræ; Maxime autem per Deum cum lit, ipsa est vera juratio → Maxime autem per Deum cum fit, ipsa est vera juratio; oppignerat Deo Olios suos → oppignerat Deo filios suos; vel caput suum, vcl salutem suain quisque in juratione nominans, quidquid nominat obligat Deo; quanto magos quando pcjerat per ipsum Dcum? Timet enim falsum jurare per filium suum, ct non timet falsum jurare per Dcum suum? Fortassis boc dicens → vel caput suum, vel salutem suam quisque in juratione nominans, quidquid nominat obligat Deo; quanto magis quando pejerat per ipsum Deum? Timet enim falsum jurare per filium suum, et non timet falsum jurare per Deum suum? Fortassis hoc dicens; nihil mali contingil Deo, quando falsum jnras per Deum → nihil mali contingit Deo, quando falsum juras per Deum; ego te vidi, fccisti, noli pejerare: te quidem habeo genitorem, sed plus et tuum et meurn timeo Creatorem. → ego te vidi, fecisti, noli pejerare: te quidem habeo genitorem, sed plus et tuum et meum timeo Creatorem..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.7 (PL 38:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.8PL 38:564–565

Sed quia Deus, quando per eum juras, non tibi dicit, Ego te vidi, noli jurare, fecisti: sed times ne te ille occidat, tu te ipse occidis: quia ergo non dicit, Ego te vidi, putas quia non vidit? Et ubi est quod dicit: Tacui, tacui; numquid semper tacebo? Et tamen plerumque dicit, Ego te vidi: sed aliter quando vindicat in perjurum. Sed non in omnes vindicat: ideo homines ædificantur ad exemplum. Ego scio, ille mihi falsum juravit, et vivit. Ille tibi falsum juravit, et vivit? Falsum juravit, et vivit: ille falsum juravit. Tu falleris. Si tu oculos haberes unde mortem hujus videres, si et tu in eo quod est mori, et non mori, non fallereris, videres hujus mortem. Et modo intende Scripturam; et ibi invenies jacentem, quem putas viventem. Quia pedibus ambulat, quia manibus contrectat, quia oculis videt, et audit auribus, officiis cæteris membrorum satis utitur, viventem putas. Vivit, sed corpus ejus: mortua est autem anima ejus, mortuum est quod melius est ejus. Vivit habitaculum, mortuus est habitator. Quomodo, inquies, cum vivat corpus, mortua est anima; cum corpus non viveret, nisi vivificatum ab anima? Quomodo ergo mortua est anima, de qua vivit corpus? Audi ergo, et disce: corpus hominis creatura Dei est, et anima hominis creatura Dei est. De anima Deus vivificat carnem; ipsam item animam vivificat de se ipso, non de se ipsa. Vita ergo corporis anima est; vita ergo animæ Deus est. Moritur corpus, cum recedit anima: moritur ergo anima, si recedit Deus. Recedit anima, cum corpus percutitur gladio: et putas quia non recedit Deus, cum ipsa anima feritur perjurio? Vis videre quia mortuus est, de quo loqueris? Lege Scripturam: Os quod mentitur, occidit animam ( Sap. I, 11). Sed tu præsentem Deum ultorem putas, si ille qui te juratione falsa deceperit, continuo exspiret. Si expiret ante oculos tuos, exspiravit caro ipsius. Quid est, exspiravit caro ipsius? Spiritum quo vivificabatur, ejecit. Hoc est, exspiravit excluso spiritu, quo vivebat caro. Pejeravit, exclusit spiritum quo vivebat anima. Exspiravit, sed nescis; exspiravit, sed non vides. Carnem enim jacentem sine anima vides, animam miseram sine Deo videre non potes. Crede ergo, adhibe oculos fidei. Nemo perjurus impunitus; prorsus nemo, cum illo est poena sua. Si haberet in cubiculo suo tortorem carnis, punitus esset: habet in secreta cordis sui tortorem conscientiæ suæ, et impunitus vocatur? Et tamen quid dicis? Vivit, gaudet, luxuriatur qui mihi mendacium juravit: quid est, quod me mittis ad invisibilia? Quia et ipse Deus, per quem juravit, invisibilis est. Juravit per invisibilem, feritur pœna invisibili. Sed vivit, inquit, et quodam modo scatet et bullit luxuriis. Si hoc ita est, quod scatet luxuriis, quod bullit luxuriis, vermes sunt animæ mortuæ. Denique omnis homo prudens, qui tales luxuriantes perjuros attendit, sano cordis olfactu, avertit se, non vult videre, non vult audire. Unde se ista sanitas avertit, nisi quia putet anima mortua?

But because God, when you swear by him, does not say to you, “I saw you; do not swear; you did it”—and you fear your son would die, while you kill yourself—because, then, he does not say, “I saw you,” do you think he did not see? And where is what he says: “I have kept silent, I have kept silent: shall I always keep silent?” And yet often he does say, “I saw you”: but otherwise, when he punishes the perjurer. But he does not punish all of them: so men are built up by example. “I know that man swore falsely to me, and he lives.” He swore falsely to you, and he lives? He swore falsely, and lives: that man swore falsely. You are deceived. If you had eyes with which to see his death—if you too were not deceived about what it is to die and not to die—you would see his death. And now attend to Scripture, and there you will find lying dead the man you think living. Because he walks with feet, handles with hands, sees with eyes and hears with ears, and uses the other functions of his members well enough, you think him living. He lives, but his body: his soul is dead; what is better in him is dead. The dwelling lives; the dweller is dead. “How,” you will say, “when the body lives, is the soul dead, since the body would not live unless given life by the soul? How then is the soul dead, from which the body lives?” Hear, then, and learn: the body of man is God's creature, and the soul of man is God's creature. By the soul God gives life to the flesh; the soul itself, likewise, he gives life to from himself, not from itself. So the life of the body is the soul; so the life of the soul is God. The body dies when the soul withdraws; so the soul dies if God withdraws. The soul withdraws when the body is struck with a sword; and do you think God does not withdraw when the soul itself is struck by perjury? Do you want to see that he is dead, the one you are speaking of? Read Scripture: “The mouth that lies kills the soul.” But you think God an avenger only if he who deceived you by a false oath breathes his last at once. If he breathes his last before your eyes, his flesh has breathed its last. What is it, his flesh has breathed its last? It has cast out the spirit by which it was given life. This is: it breathed its last, the spirit being shut out by which the flesh lived. He perjured himself: he shut out the Spirit by which the soul lived. He breathed his last, but you do not know it; he breathed his last, but you do not see it. For you see the flesh lying without the soul; you cannot see the wretched soul without God. Believe, then; apply the eyes of faith. No perjurer is unpunished; absolutely none: his punishment is with him. If he had in his bedroom a torturer of the flesh, he would be punished: he has in the secret of his heart the torturer of his conscience, and is he called unpunished? And yet what do you say? “He lives, he rejoices, he lives in luxury, the man who swore a lie to me: why do you send me to invisible things?” Because God himself, by whom he swore, is invisible. He swore by the invisible; he is struck with an invisible punishment. “But he lives,” he says, “and in a way teems and bubbles with luxuries.” If this is so, that he teems with luxuries, that he bubbles with luxuries, they are the worms of a dead soul. Indeed every prudent man who looks at such luxuriating perjurers turns away with the healthy smell of the heart; he does not want to see, does not want to hear. Why does this health turn away, unless because the dead soul stinks?

Isa 42:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The perjurer who seems to prosper is already dead in soul, for as the soul is the body's life, God is the soul's life and departs at perjury; his luxuries are the worms of a dead soul.

Quotations: Isa 42:14; Wis 1:11. Compare Sermon 161.6 for the same teaching.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips (uncertain); OCR slips; stray footnote marks; words run together): quando Der cum juras, non tibi dicit, Ego te vidi, noli jurare, fecisti: sed times nc te ite occidat, tu te ame occidis → quando per eum juras, non tibi dicit, Ego te vidi, noli jurare, fecisti: sed times ne te ille occidat, tu te ipse occidis; Et uhi est quod dicit → Et ubi est quod dicit; Sed nun in omnes vindicat: ideo homines ædificantur ad exemplum1. Ego scio, ille milii falsum juravit, ct vivit. Ille tibi falsum juravit, ct vivit? Falsnin juravit, et vivit: ille falsum juravit. Tu falleris 2. → Sed non in omnes vindicat: ideo homines ædificantur ad exemplum. Ego scio, ille mihi falsum juravit, et vivit. Ille tibi falsum juravit, et vivit? Falsum juravit, et vivit: ille falsum juravit. Tu falleris.; Si tu oculos habcres undc mortem hujus vidcres, si ct tu in eo quod est mori → Si tu oculos haberes unde mortem hujus videres, si et tu in eo quod est mori; Et modo intende Scripturam;' et ihM invenies jacentem, quem putas viventem. Qnia pedibus ambulat → Et modo intende Scripturam; et ibi invenies jacentem, quem putas viventem. Quia pedibus ambulat; nisi vivificatuna ab amma? Quomodo crgo mortua est anima → nisi vivificatum ab anima? Quomodo ergo mortua est anima; Recedit anima, cum corpus percutitur gladio: etputas quia non recedit Deus → Recedit anima, cum corpus percutitur gladio: et putas quia non recedit Deus; continuo eispiret → continuo exspiret; Quid cst, exspiravit caro ipsius? → Quid est, exspiravit caro ipsius?; PejeraVit, exclusit spiritum → Pejeravit, exclusit spiritum; animam miseram sinc Deo videre non potes. Crede ergo, adhibe oculos fidei. Ncmo perjurus impunitus → animam miseram sine Deo videre non potes. Crede ergo, adhibe oculos fidei. Nemo perjurus impunitus; Vivit, gaudet, luxuriatur qui milii mendacium juravit → Vivit, gaudet, luxuriatur qui mihi mendacium juravit; feritur pœna invisihili. Sed vivit, inquit, et quodam modo scatct et bullit luxuriis. Si hoc ita eSI → feritur pœna invisibili. Sed vivit, inquit, et quodam modo scatet et bullit luxuriis. Si hoc ita est.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:11 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.8 (PL 38:564–565; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.9PL 38:565

Breviter ergo audite, fratres mei, concludam sermonem, figens in cordibus vestris curam salubrem: Ante omnia nolite jurare. Quare, Ante omnia? Si magnum est facinus pejerare, nulla autem culpa est verum jurare, quare, Ante omnia nolite jurare? Debuit enim dicere, Ante omnia nolite pejerare. Ante omnia, inquit, nolite jurare. Jurare enim pejus est, quam furari? Jurare pejus est, quam adulterare? Non dico falsum jurare; jurare dico; jurare pejus est, quam hominem occidere? Absit. Hominem occidere, adulterare, furari, peccatum est: jurare non est peccatum; sed falsum jurare, peccatum est. Quare ergo, Ante omnia? Isto verbo quod ait, Ante omnia, cautos nos fecit adversus linguam nostram. Ante omnia, ait, ut attendatis præ cæteris, ut vigiletis ne subrepat vobis consuetudo jurandi. Tanquam in specula ita te posuit contra te: Ante omnia, levavit te super, Per Deum, per Christum occido illum: et hæc quoties per diem, quoties per horam? Non aperis os, nisi ad talem jurationem. Nolles ut diceret tibi, Ante omnia, ut te adversus consuetudinem intentissimum redderet, ut omnia tua inspiceres, omnes motus linguæ tuæ diligentissime custodires, esses custos malæ consuetudinis tuæ, ad eam constringendam? Audi, Ante omnia. Dormiebas, pungo, Ante omnia, spinas admoveo. Quid est, Ante omnia? Ante omnia vigila, ante omnia intentus esto.

Hear briefly, then, my brothers; let me conclude the sermon, fixing a wholesome care in your hearts: “Above all, do not swear.” Why “above all”? If it is a great crime to perjure oneself, but there is no fault in swearing the truth, why “Above all, do not swear”? For he ought to have said, “Above all, do not perjure yourselves.” “Above all,” he says, “do not swear.” Is swearing worse than stealing? Is swearing worse than committing adultery? I do not say swearing falsely; I say swearing: is swearing worse than killing a man? Far from it. To kill a man, to commit adultery, to steal is a sin: to swear is not a sin; but to swear falsely is a sin. Why then “above all”? By this word that he says, “above all,” he has made us wary against our tongue. “Above all,” he says, so that you may attend to it before other things, so that you may watch lest the habit of swearing creep up on you. He has placed you as on a watchtower against yourself: “Above all” has raised you above “By God,” “By Christ,” “I'll kill him”: and how often these through the day, how often through the hour? You open your mouth only for such an oath. Would you not want him to say “Above all” to you, so as to make you most attentive against the habit, so that you would inspect all your doings, guard most carefully all the movements of your tongue, be the guard of your bad habit, to restrain it? Hear: “Above all.” You were sleeping: I prick you with “Above all”; I apply thorns. What is “above all”? Above all be watchful; above all be attentive.

Jas 5:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: James says “above all, do not swear,” not because swearing is worse than murder or adultery, but to put us on guard against the habit of constant oaths, which most leads to perjury.

Quotation: Jas 5:12.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quare, Aute omnia? Si magnum est facinus pejerare, nulla eutem culpa est verum jurare, quære, Ante omnia nolite jurare? → Quare, Ante omnia? Si magnum est facinus pejerare, nulla autem culpa est verum jurare, quare, Ante omnia nolite jurare?; Hominem occidere, adultere, furari, peccatum est → Hominem occidere, adulterare, furari, peccatum est; ut attendatis præ eæteris → ut attendatis præ cæteris.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.9 (PL 38:565; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.10PL 38:565

Juravimus et nos passim, habuimus istam teterrimam consuetudinem et mortiferam. Dico Charitati vestræ: ex quo Deo servire cœpimus, et quantum malum sit in perjurio vidimus, timuimus vehementer, et veternosissimam consuetudinem timore frenavimus. Frenata restringitur, restricta languescit, languescens emoritur, et malæ consuetudini bona succedit. Denique non vobis dicimus, non nos jurare. Si enim hoc dicimus, mentimur. Quantum ad me pertinet, juro; sed quantum mihi videtur, magna necessitate compulsus. Cum videro non mihi credi nisi faciam, et ei qui mihi non credit non expedire quod non credit, hac perpensa ratione et consideratione librata, cum magno timore dico, Coram Deo; aut, Testis est Deus; aut, Scit Christus sic esse in animo meo: et video quia plus est, id est, quia amplius est quam Est, est; Non, non: sed quod amplius est, a malo est; et si non a malo jurantis, a malo est non credentis. Denique non ait, Si amplius facit, malus est: et, Sit in ore vestro, Est, est: Non non; si quis amplius facit, malus est: sed, Sit in ore vestro, Est, est; Non, non: quod autem amplius est, a malo est. Sed quære cujus. Sed tamen aliud habet humana pessima consuetudo. Et cum tibi creditur, juras; et cum nemo exigit, juras; et horrentibus hominibus juras; non taces jurando, vix es sanus non perjurando. Nisi forte putatis, fratres, quia si sciret apostolus Paulus credere sibi Galatas, adderet jurationem et diceret, Quœ autem scribo vobis, ecce coram Deo, quia non mentior. Videbat ibi eos qui credebant; videbat et alios qui non credebant. Ergo noli dicere, Non juro, si forte exigitur. A malo est enim quod facis; sed illius qui exigit. Nam tu quomodo te purges non habes, quomodo satisfacias negotio quod instat, non invenis. Sed aliud est, cum exigitur juratio; aliud, cum offertur: et hoc ipsum quod offertur, aliud cum offertur non credenti; aliud cum ventilatur et credenti.

We too swore indiscriminately; we had this most foul and deadly habit. I tell your Charity: from the time we began to serve God, and saw how great an evil there is in perjury, we were greatly afraid, and reined in that most inveterate habit by fear. Reined in, it is restrained; restrained, it weakens; weakening, it dies; and a good habit succeeds the bad. Yet we do not tell you that we do not swear. For if we said this, we would lie. As far as I am concerned, I swear; but, as it seems to me, compelled by great necessity. When I see that I am not believed unless I do it, and that it is not good for the one who does not believe me that he does not believe—this reason having been weighed and the consideration balanced—with great fear I say, “Before God,” or “God is witness,” or “Christ knows that this is so in my mind.” And I see that it is more, that is, that it is beyond “Yes, yes; No, no.” But what is more is from evil; and if not from the evil of the one swearing, it is from the evil of the one who does not believe. Indeed he does not say, “If one does more, he is evil”; and, “Let there be in your mouth Yes, yes; No, no; if anyone does more, he is evil”; but, “Let there be in your mouth Yes, yes; No, no; but what is more is from evil.” But ask whose. Yet the worst human habit has something else. Even when you are believed, you swear; even when no one demands it, you swear; even when men shudder, you swear; you are not silent in swearing; you are hardly sound in not perjuring yourself. Unless perhaps you think, brothers, that if the apostle Paul knew the Galatians believed him, he would add an oath and say, “What I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.” He saw there those who believed; he saw also others who did not believe. So do not say, “I do not swear,” if perhaps it is demanded. For what you do is from evil—but of the one who demands it. For you have no way to clear yourself; you find no way to settle the business at hand. But it is one thing when an oath is demanded, another when it is offered; and this very offering is one thing when it is offered to one who does not believe, another when it is thrown about even to one who believes.

Matt 5:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 1:20 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine confesses he once swore habitually and overcame it by fear; he now swears only when necessary for the good of an unbelieving hearer, and the “evil” beyond yes and no is then the hearer's unbelief, as with Paul's oath to the Galatians.

The digital text gives this paragraph twice, first in a garbled form and then cleanly (with its number and Migne's heading); the garbled first copy is removed by a logged correction and the clean text is translated. Quotations: Matt 5:37; Gal 1:20. Augustine's personal confession is translated exactly.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; garbled duplicate of this paragraph (with the edition's number and Migne's heading) in the digital text; the clean copy that follows is kept): Juravimus et nos passim, habuimus istam teterrimam consuetudinem et mortiferam. Dico Charitati vestræ: ex quo Deo servire coepimus, et quantum et veternosissimam consuetudinem timore frenavimus. Frenata restringitur, restricta langucscit, languescens emoritur, et malæ consuetudini bona succedit. Denique non vobis dicimus, non nos jurare. Si enim hoc dicimus, mentimur. Quantum ad me pertinnet, juro; sed quantum milii videtur, magna necessitate compulsus. Cum videro non mihi faciam, et ei qui mihi non credit non ex- Lingua faci credit nisi faciam, et ei qui mihi non credit non expedire quod non credit, hac perpensa ratione et consideratione librata, cum magno timore dico, Coram Deo; aut, Testis est Deus; aut, Scit Christus sic esse in animo meo: et video quia plus est, id est, quia amplius est quam Est, est; Non, non: sed quod amplius est, a malo est; et si non a malo jurantis, a malo est non credentis. Denique non ait, Si amplius facit, malus est: et, Sit in ore vestro, Est, est: Non, non; si quis amplius facit, malus est: sed, Sit in ore vestro, Est, est; Non, non: quod autem amplius est, a malo est. Sed quære cujus. Sed tamen aliud habet humana pessima consuetudo. Et cum tibi creditur, juras; et cum nemo exigit, juras; et horrentibus hominibus juras; non taces jurando, vix es sanus non perjurando. Nisi forte putatis, fratres, quia si sciret apostolus Paulus credere sibi Galatas, adderet 10.Jurandi consuetudini aliquando obnoxius Augustinus. Juratio qua conditione adhibenda. → ; Dico Charistati vestræ: ex quo Deo service cœpimus → Dico Charitati vestræ: ex quo Deo servire cœpimus; hac perpensa ratione et consideratione librate, cum magno timore dico → hac perpensa ratione et consideratione librata, cum magno timore dico; Quœ autem scribe vobis, ecce coram Deo, quia non mentior. Videbat ibi cos qui redebant → Quœ autem scribo vobis, ecce coram Deo, quia non mentior. Videbat ibi eos qui credebant; Ergo noli dicere, Non juro. si forte exigitur. A malo est enim quod facis; sed Illius qui exigit. → Ergo noli dicere, Non juro, si forte exigitur. A malo est enim quod facis; sed illius qui exigit..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.10 (PL 38:565; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.11PL 38:565

Tene ergo linguam et consuetudinem, quantum potes: non quomodo quidam, quando illis dicitur, Verum dicis? non credo. Non fecisti? non credo: Deus judicet, jura mihi. Et ipse qui exigit jurationem, multum interest si nescit illum falsum juraturum, an scit. Si enim nescit, et ideo dicit, Jura mihi, ut fides ei fiat; non audeo dicere non esse peccatum, tamen humana tentatio est. Si autem scit eum fecisse, novit fecisse, vidit fecisse, et cogit jurare, homicida est. Ille enim suo perjurio se perimit: sed iste manum interficientis et expressit et pressit. Cum vero aliquis sceleratus fur audit, Jura si non tulisti, jura si non fecisti, ab eo qui nescit an fecit: ille tunc, Christiano non licet jurare; quando ab illo exigitur jusjurandum, non licet jurare; Christianus sum, non mihi licet. Capta talem, averte te ab illo, dissimula a negotio de quo loquebaris; misce alias fabulas, et invenies eum millies jurantem, qui semel jurare noluit. Istam ergo consuetudinem quotidianam, crebram, sine causa, nullo extorquente, nullo de tuis verbis dubitante jurandi, avertite a vobis, amputate a linguis vestris, circumcidite ab ore vestro.

So restrain your tongue and your habit as much as you can: not as some do, when it is said to them, “Are you telling the truth? I don't believe you. You didn't do it? I don't believe you: let God judge; swear to me.” And for the one who demands an oath, it makes a great difference whether he does not know that the other will swear falsely, or knows it. For if he does not know, and therefore says, “Swear to me,” so that he may be given assurance, I do not dare to say it is not a sin; yet it is a human temptation. But if he knows that the other did it—knows he did it, saw he did it—and compels him to swear, he is a murderer. For the other kills himself by his perjury; but this one both pressed out and pressed down the hand of the killer. But when some wicked thief hears, “Swear, if you did not take it; swear, if you did not do it,” from one who does not know whether he did it, then he says: “A Christian is not allowed to swear”—when an oath is demanded of him, “it is not allowed to swear; I am a Christian, it is not allowed me.” Catch such a man: turn away from him, drop the business you were talking about, mix in other stories, and you will find swearing a thousand times the one who would not swear once. So this habit of swearing—daily, frequent, without cause, with no one extorting it, no one doubting your words—turn away from yourselves, cut off from your tongues, circumcise from your mouth.

Notes and citation

Summary: One who demands an oath from someone he knows will swear falsely is a murderer; some thieves refuse to swear when accused, claiming Christian scruple, yet swear constantly in idle talk; the daily habit of needless oaths must be cut off.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Si autem scit eum feeisse → Si autem scit eum fecisse; Ille enim suo perjurio se peimit → Ille enim suo perjurio se perimit; ille tune, Christiano non licet jurare → ille tunc, Christiano non licet jurare; misce alias fabulas, et luvenies cum millies jurantem, qui semel jurare nolait. → misce alias fabulas, et invenies eum millies jurantem, qui semel jurare noluit.; circumeidite ah ore vestro → circumcidite ab ore vestro.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.11 (PL 38:565; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.12PL 38:565–566

Sed consuetudo est, solet dici. Solet dici, quando non dico. Hoc est, Ante omnia. Quid est, Ante omnia? Præ cæteris cautus esto, plus ad hoc intentus esto, quam ad alia. Major consuetudo majorem intentionem flagitat, non rei levis consuetudo. Si de manu aliquid faceres, facilius manui tuæ imperares ne faceret; si pedibus aliquo eundum esset, pigritia retardante excitares te ut surgeres, et ires. Lingua facilitatem habet motus, in udo posita est, facile in lubrico labitur. Quanto illa citius et facilius movetur, tanto tu adversus illam fixus esto. Domabis, si vigilabis; vigilabis, si timebis; timebis, si christianum te esse cogitaveris. Nam tantum mali habet juratio, ut qui lapides colunt, timeant falsum jurare per lapides: tu non times Deum præsentem, Deum viventem, Deum scientem, Deum manentem, Deum in contemptorem vindicantem? Claudit ille templum super lapidem, et it ad domum suam: ipse super deum suum clausit, et tamen quando illi dicitur, Jure per Jovem, præsentis oculos timet. Et ecce dico Charitati vestræ, et qui per lapidem falsum jurat, perjurus est. Unde hoc dico? Quia multi et in hoc falluntur, et putant, quia nihil est per quod jurant, non se crimine teneri perjurii. Prorsus perjurus es, quia per id quod sanctum putas, falsum juras. Sed ego illud sanctum non puto. Sanctum putat cui juras. Non enim quando juras, tibi juras, aut lapidi juras; sed proximo juras. Homini juras ante lapidem: sed numquid non ante Deum? Non te audit lapis loquentem: sed punit te Deus fallentem.

“But it is habit,” it is usually said. It is usually said when I do not speak. This is “above all.” What is “above all”? Be cautious before other things; be more intent on this than on other things. A greater habit demands greater attention, not the habit of a light thing. If you did something with your hand, you would more easily command your hand not to do it; if you had to go somewhere on foot, with laziness holding you back, you would rouse yourself to get up and go. The tongue has ease of movement; it is set in moisture; it easily slips on a slippery place. The more quickly and easily it moves, the more firmly fixed be you against it. You will tame it if you are watchful; you will be watchful if you fear; you will fear if you consider that you are a Christian. For swearing has so much evil that those who worship stones fear to swear falsely by stones: and do you not fear God present, God living, God knowing, God abiding, God avenging on the despiser? He shuts the temple over a stone and goes to his house: he himself has shut it over his god; and yet when it is said to him, “Swear by Jupiter,” he fears its eyes as if present. And see, I tell your Charity, even he who swears falsely by a stone is a perjurer. Why do I say this? Because many are deceived in this too, and think that, because what they swear by is nothing, they are not held by the crime of perjury. Certainly you are a perjurer, because you swear falsely by what you think holy. “But I do not think it holy.” He thinks it holy to whom you swear. For when you swear, you do not swear to yourself, or to the stone; but you swear to your neighbor. You swear to a man before a stone: but are you not before God? The stone does not hear you speaking; but God punishes you deceiving.

Notes and citation

Summary: The habit of swearing requires extra vigilance because the tongue slips easily; even pagans fear to swear falsely by their stone idols, and a Christian who swears falsely by an idol is still a perjurer, since he deceives his neighbor before God.

This staged ref holds Maurist paragraphs 12 and 13; paragraph 13 begins at “And see, I tell your Charity” (the edition's “XII. — 13.” and a heading are inside the digital text).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark; the edition's paragraph number and Migne's heading left in the text): Quid est, Ante onmia? → Quid est, Ante omnia?; faciius manui tuæ imperares → facilius manui tuæ imperares; Domabis, si bigilabis → Domabis, si vigilabis; Claudit ille templum saper lapidem → Claudit ille templum super lapidem; præsentis oculos timet. XII. — 13. Falsum jurare per idola, perjurium est. Et ecce dico → præsentis oculos timet. Et ecce dico; Sed ego illud I sanctum non puto. → Sed ego illud sanctum non puto.; Non enim quando juras, libi juras → Non enim quando juras, tibi juras; sed punit te Deus fallenlem. → sed punit te Deus fallentem..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.12 (PL 38:565–566; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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180.14PL 38:566

Ante omnia ergo, fratres mei, obsecro vos, ne sine causa me Deus hæc loqui compulerit. Dico enim ante ipsum quod dixi, sæpe me istam quæstionem devitasse: timui ne monendo et præcipiendo plus reos facerem non audituros: hodie autem plus timui ne loqui recusarem, quod loqui juberer. Quasi vero parvus sit fructus sudoris hujus mei, si omnes qui mihi acclamaverunt, clament et contra se, ne falsum jurent adversum se: si tot homines qui me attentissime audierunt, attenti sint adversus consuetudinem suam, et admoneant se hodie, cum ad domos suas venerint, cum consuetudinem suam lapsu linguæ repetiverint; admoneat proximus proximum: Hoc est quod hodie audivimus, hoc est quod obstricti sumus. Non fiat hodie, certe cum recens sermo est, Expertus loquor: non fiat hodie, pigrius fit cras. Si et cras factum non fuerit, minus laborat qui custodit; adjuvatur enim consuetudine superioris diei. Triduo moritur pestis de qua laboramus: et gaudebimus de fructu vestro; quia magno bono abundabitis, si tam magno malo carebitis. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.

Above all, then, my brothers, I beg you, lest God have compelled me to say these things without cause. For I say before him what I have said, that I often avoided this question: I feared lest by admonishing and commanding I make more guilty those who would not listen; but today I feared more to refuse to speak what I was ordered to speak. As if the fruit of this sweat of mine were small, if all who acclaimed me were to cry out also against themselves, lest they swear falsely against themselves; if so many men who listened to me most attentively were attentive against their habit, and admonished themselves today, when they have come to their homes, when they have repeated their habit by a slip of the tongue; let neighbor admonish neighbor: “This is what we heard today; this is what we were bound to.” Let it not happen today, at least while the sermon is fresh. I speak from experience: let it not happen today; it happens more slowly tomorrow. If it has not happened tomorrow either, the one who keeps guard labors less; for he is helped by the habit of the day before. In three days the plague we are struggling with dies: and we shall rejoice in your fruit; because you will abound in a great good, if you are without so great an evil. Turning to the Lord, etc.

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine asks his hearers to admonish one another at home, assuring them from experience that if they avoid swearing for three days the habit will die.

The paragraph before this one is not missing: Maurist 13 is inside 180.12.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; punctuation slip): plus reos facerem non audituros:. hodie aulcm plus timui → plus reos facerem non audituros: hodie autem plus timui; attenti sint adversus consuetudinem suain → attenti sint adversus consuetudinem suam; Hoc est quod hodie audivimus. hoc est quod obstricti sumus. → Hoc est quod hodie audivimus, hoc est quod obstricti sumus.; Triduo moritur pestis de qua taboramus → Triduo moritur pestis de qua laboramus.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 180.14 (PL 38:566; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/180-1/#p-180-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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