PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

298 Of Rcvcrt'llcmg tbe Deity.
mention of his nanl('-" 'I-hou shalt not take tt.lC
name of the L:lrd thy God ill \'ain." Now the men.
tioll is VJil1, \vhen it is useless; aIld it is useless)
wht_'n it il) neither likely nor intended to serve any
good purpose; as \vhen it flo\vs from the lips idle
,1Cid unnleaning'! or is applied upon or:~asions incon.
s~~tent with any consideration of rdigion or devo*
tlon, to express our anger, our earnestIless, our courage,
or our mirtl}; or indeed, \,-hen it is 11sed at all~
except in acts of religioll, or in serious and sea~on·
hIe discourse upon rdigious subjects.
The prohibition of the third commar~dment is
recognized by Christ~ in his sermon upon the mount,
which sernl0Il adverts to nune but thE' nll)r~ll parts
of the Jewish la,\\r. "I say 1111tO }·ou, s\vc~r not at
all; but let YOU1- comnlutlicatil'n be yea )~ea l1ay
nay; for 'vh~ltsOe\Yer is 1110re thall the:-e, cooleth
of evil." 1'he Jew.~ prob"-lbly iIlterpreted the prollibition
a~ restraitled to (tIC nalne Jehovah, the name
which the Deity had appointed anll appropriated to
tlimsclf. Exod. vi. S. 1"lle Vv"ord, of ~ hrist extend
the prohibition beyond the 1lame of God, to every
thing associated with the idea. "Swear not, neither
by heaven, for it is GCld's throne; llor by the earth,
for it is his footstool ; neitl1cr b)7 JtrUSalcnl, for it
is the cir}Y of the (~reat KiIlg " Matt. v ~~5.
The offence of profane ;>wearing is aggravated by
the con~ ideration, that in it duty and decency are
sacrificed to the slendcrc~t of tCll1ptatinQs. ' SUf)pf)Se
the habit., either from aff'ctatinn, or by negligence
and inatl vertel1fV, to be already formed, it must al.
; ;
ways remain wilhin the po\v('r of the most ordinary
resolution to correct it, and it canllot, one w()uld
thillk, cost a great dc-a) to relillquisl1 the pleasure
and honour which it confers. A concern for duty
is in fact never :::trong, when the exertion, requisite
to vanquish a habit founded in no antecedent propenllity,
is thought too much or too painful.
A contempt ()f po~itive duties, or rather of those
duties from which the reason is not so plain a,s tht!
command, indicates a dispo:)ition upon which the