1._____ A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein the person swearing in truth, righteousness, andjudgement, solemnly calleth God to witness what he sweareth, and to judge him according to the truth or falsenessthereof.( Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 10:20; Jeremiah 4:2; 2 Chronicles 6:22, 23 )2._____ The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear; and therein it is to be used, with all holy fearand reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any otherthing, is sinful, and to be abhorred; yet as in matter of weight and moment, for confirmation of truth, and ending allstrife, an oath is warranted by the word of God; so a lawful oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters,ought to be taken.( Matthew 5:34, 37; James 5:12; Hebrews 6:16; 2 Corinthians 1:23; Nehemiah 13:25 )3._____ Whosoever taketh an oath warranted by the Word of God, ought duly to consider the weightiness of sosolemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he knoweth to be truth; for that by rash, false, and vain oaths,the Lord is provoked, and for them this land mourns.( Leviticus 19:12; Jeremiah 23:10 )4._____ An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mentalreservation.5._____ A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone, is to be made and performed with allreligious care and faithfulness; but popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regularobedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in whichno Christian may entangle himself.