Citations relating to the Third Commandment

CITATIONS FROM THE BIBLE:

"And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God:
I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19)

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they
separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not
my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the Lord." (Leviticus 22)

"But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the
heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord
God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye
have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went." (Ezekiel 36)

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase
unto more ungodliness." (II Timothy 2)

"If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall
not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."
(Numbers 30)

"Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all;
neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by
Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because
thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay,
nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." (Matthew 5)

"But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither
by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation."
(James 5)

"For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy,
and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the
drink of the thirsty to fail." (Isaiah 32)

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a
pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and
when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto
you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but
whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for
whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall
swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso
therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall
swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear
by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have
omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow
a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of
the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee,
cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the
prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of
our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Where-
fore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye
escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23)

"Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the
wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?" (Job 20)

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no
reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not

sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that
they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in
secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall
reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they
think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them:
for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." (Matthew 6)

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all
judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without
offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus
Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1)

"Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of
good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot
be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to
say of you." (Titus 2)

"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (I Cor. 5)

CITATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF MARY BAKER EDDY:

"If Mind was first chronologically, is first potentially, and must be first eternally, then give to
Mind the glory, honor, dominion, and power everlastingly due its holy name." (Science and
Health [S&H], pg. 143)

"False and self-assertive theories have given sinners the notion that they can create what God
cannot -- namely, sinful mortals in God's image, thus usurping the name without the nature
of the image or reflection of divine Mind." (S&H 204)

"If we are not secretly yearning and openly striving for the accomplishment of all we ask, our
prayers are "vain repetitions" such as the heathen use. If our petitions are sincere, we labor
for what we ask, and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly. . . . If we cherish
the desire honestly and silently and humbly, God will bless it, and we shall incur less risk of
overwhelming our real wishes with a torrent of words." (S&H 13)

"If unwilling to follow his [Jesus] example, why pray with the lips that you may be partakers
of his nature." (S&H 9)

"And Christian Science does honor God as no other theory honors Him, and it does this in the
way of His appointing, by doing many wonderful works through the divine name and nature.
One must fulfil one's mission without timidity or dissimulation, for to be well done, the work
must be done unselfishly." (S&H 483)

"The Scriptures say, 'They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14), thus taking the name of God in
vain." (My. 233)

"In divine Science all belongs to God, for God is All; hence the propriety of giving unto His
holy name due deference, -- the capitalization which distinguishes it from all other names,
thus obeying the leading of our Lord's Prayer. . . . The coming of Christ's kingdom on earth
begins in the minds of men by honoring God and sacredly holding His name apart from the
names of that which He creates." (My. 225)

"Having no true sense of the healing theology of Mind, you can neither understand nor
demonstrate its Science, and will practice your belief of it in the name of Truth. This is the
mortal "mind cure" that produces the effect of mesmerism. It is using the power of human
will, instead of the divine power understood, as in Christian Science; and without this Science
there had better be no "mind-cure," - in which the last state of patients is worse than the first."
(Mis. 59)

"Metaphysical healing, or Christian Science, is a demand of the times. Every man and every
woman would desire and demand it, if he and she knew its infinite value and firm basis. The
unerring and fixed Principle of all healing is God; and this Principle should be sought from the
love of good, from the most spiritual and unselfish motives. Then will it be understood to be
of God, and not of man; and this will prevent mankind from striking out promiscuously,
teaching and practicing in the "name" of Science without knowing its fundamental Principle."
(Mis. 232-233)

"Hypocrisy is fatal to religion. . . A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self-justification,
though it makes the sinner a hypocrite. We never need to despair of an honest heart; but there
is little hope for those who come only spasmodically face to face with their wickedness and
then seek to hide it. Their prayers are indexes which do not correspond with their character.
They hold secret fellowship with sin, and such externals are spoken of by Jesus as 'like unto
whited sepulchres . . . full . . . of all uncleanness.'

"If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful, is impure and therefore insincere, what
must be the comment upon him? If he reached the loftiness of his prayer, there would be no
occasion for comment. If we feel the aspiration, humility, gratitude, and love which our
words express, -- this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to deceive ourselves or others,
for "there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed." Professions and audible prayers are
like charity in one respect, -- they "cover the multitude of sins." Praying for humility with
whatever fervency of expression does not always mean a desire for it. If we turn away from
the poor, we are not ready to receive the reward of Him who blesses the poor. We confess to
having a very wicked heart and ask that it may be laid bare before us, but do we not already
know more of this heart than we are willing to have our neighbor see?" (S&H 8)

"The finger-posts of divine Science show the way our Master trod, and require of Christians
the proof which he gave, instead of mere profession. We may hide spiritual ignorance from
the world, but we can never succeed in the Science and demonstration of spiritual good
through ignorance or hypocrisy." (S&H 242-243)

"The Judaic religion consisted mostly of rites and ceremonies. The motives and affections
of a man were of little value, if only he appeared unto men to fast. The great Nazarene, as
meek as he was mighty, rebuked the hypocrisy, which offered long petitions for blessings
upon material methods, but cloaked the crime, latent in thought, which was ready to spring
into action and crucify God's anointed. The martyrdom of Jesus was the culminating sin of
Pharisaism. It rent the veil of the temple. It revealed the false foundations and superstructures
of superficial religion, tore from bigotry and superstition their coverings, and opened the
sepulchre with divine Science, -- immortality and Love." (S&H 596)

"If the sense of sin is too little, mortals are in danger of not seeing their own belief in sin, but
of seeing too keenly their neighbor's. Then they are beset with egotism and hypocrisy. Here
Christian Scientists must be most watchful. Their habit of mental and audible protest against
the reality of sin, tends to make sin less or more to them than to other people. They must
either be overcoming sin in themselves, or they must not lose sight of sin; else they are
self-deceived sinners of the worst sort." (Mis. 319)

"If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and yet return thanks to God for all blessings,
we are insincere and incur the sharp censure our Master pronounces on hypocrites. In such
a case, the only acceptable prayer is to put the finger on the lips and remember our blessings.
While the heart is far from divine Truth and Love, we cannot conceal the ingratitude of
barren lives." (S&H 3)

"The God-inspired walk calmly on though it be with bleeding footprints, and in the hereafter
they will reap what they now sow. The pampered hypocrite may have a flowery pathway here,
but he cannot forever break the Golden Rule and escape the penalty due." (S&H 41)

"But, taking the livery of heaven wherewith to cover iniquity, is the most fearful sin that
mortals can commit. I should have more faith in an honest drugging-doctor, one who
abides by his statements and works upon as high a basis as he understands, healing me, than
I could or would have in a smooth-tongued hypocrite or mental malpractitioner." (Mis. 19)

"Until he awakes from his delusion, he suffers least from sin who is a hardened sinner. The
hypocrite's affections must first be made to fret in their chains; and the pangs of hell must lay
hold of him ere he can change from flesh to Spirit, become acquainted with that Love which

is without dissimulation and endureth all things. Such mental conditions as ingratitude, lust,
malice, hate, constitute the miasma of earth. More obnoxious than Chinese stenchpots are
these dispositions which offend the spiritual sense." (Un. 56)

"Words may belie desire, and pour forth a hypocrite's prayer; but thoughts are our honest
conviction. I have no objection to audible prayer of the right kind; but the inaudible is more
effectual." (No. 40)

"In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the
lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny
sin and plead God's allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest
hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must "pray without ceasing."
Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master's injunction
is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity." (S&H 15)

"Our thoughts beget our actions; they make us what we are. Dishonesty is a mental malady
which kills its possessor; it is a sure precursor that its possessor is mortal. A deep sincerity is
sure of success, for God takes care of it." (My. 203)

"Sincerity is more successful than genius or talent." ('00 9)