NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works - Holy Bible Institute

That the oath ought not to be taken.That the oath ought not to be taken. 2292Letter LXXXV. 2291It is my invariable custom to protest at every synod and to urge privately in conversation,that oaths about the taxes ought not to be imposed on husbandmen by the collectors. Itremains for me to bear witness, on the same matters, in writing, before God and men, thatit behoves you to cease from inflicting death upon men’s souls, and to devise some othermeans of exaction, while you let men keep their souls unwounded. I write thus to you, notas though you needed any spoken exhortation (for you have your own immediate inducementsto fear the Lord), but that all your dependents may learn from you not to provokethe Holy One, nor let a forbidden sin become a matter of indifference, through faulty familiarity.No possible good can be done them by oaths, with a view to their paying what is exactedfrom them, and they suffer an undeniable wrong to the soul. For when men becomepractised in perjury, they no longer put any pressure on themselves to pay, but they thinkthat they have discovered in the oath a means of trickery and an opportunity for delay. If,then, the Lord brings a sharp retribution on the perjured, when the debtors are destroyedby punishment there will be none to answer when summoned. If on the other hand theLord endures with long suffering, then, as I said before, those who have tried the patienceof the Lord despise His goodness. Let them not break the law in vain; let them not whet thewrath of God against them. I have said what I ought. The disobedient will see.2291 Placed in the year 372.2292 The distress of the Cappadocians under the load of taxes is described in Letter lxxiv. An objectionablecustom arose, or was extended, of putting the country people on oath as to their inability to pay.515