This is why I'm perpetually confused by the official swearing of oaths by practicing Christians. There aren't a lot of new rules in the New Testament, but this is one of them.
No Christian can obey all the statutes of the Bible, or else they'll have to withdraw from modern life. The book is contradictory anyways...another part says obey the laws and regulations of the land. So, if the law says you must swear in, what then?
Was raised Christian (no longer one) and even attended a Christian college where we took an oath to be diligent, hard-working students...somebody better not check my transcript because I did the exact opposite.
He is simply saying that your outward promises must be a simple reflection of your internal resolve. "simple yes or no". And dressing it up either as being based on divine attribures or your given nature is a form of deception, self-deception or otherwise.
"anything more than this comes from evil"
Which is basically true. You know your internal position. It is either yes or no on 'promise x'. Why dress it up?
> No Christian can obey all the statutes of the Bible
Love God with all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor even as yourself. All the law and prophets hang on this.
That's the meta "statue". It's basically the foundation of a subset of human religions, certainly the Abrahamic ones.
Most struggle with loving ourselves, our fellow bipeds, or our God, or some combo but the clue is the implication that they are all one and the same. ["even"]
It is really core to the entire matter. Love in the fullness of its meaning.
Christian here. You are not misinterpreting. You are correct. In all religions unfortunately people develop traditions and beliefs that are even contrary to the text, and leaders are not good at correcting it.
Swearing by the Bible is a contradiction. But swearing by the Old Testament alone is not a contradiction.
Am I misinterpreting the passage?