How is the church built upon the apostles and prophets? It was built initially through their preaching (Acts 2:42; 5:42) and then historically through their inspired writings. Through the Gospel, they testified to Jesus Christ – His person and work – as the ultimate foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:11).
William Webster

Minced Oaths

Minced Oaths

MINCED OATHS

A visiting minister was asked to lead in prayer in Sunday school, and when he had finished, a teacher heard one of her girls whisper, “Gosh, what a prayer!” Such an exclamation seems incongruous in expressing one’s appreciation of a prayer, but a little thought will lead anyone to the conclusion that “gosh” is not an appropriate word for a Christian on any occasion. When we look into the original meaning of such interjections, we may be surprised that even Christian people are habitual users of expressions which the dictionary terms “minced oaths.”

A commonly used interjection is “Gee.” It is capitalized in Webster’s New International Dictionary, and given this definition: “A form of Jesus, used in minced oaths.” Two common words and their definitions are these: “Golly – a euphemism for God, used in minced oaths; gosh – a substitute for God, used in minced oaths.” “Darn, darned, darnation” are said to be “colloquial euphemisms for “damn, damned, damnation.” Persons who allow their lips to utter “Goshdarned” quite freely, would be shocked if they realized the real meaning of the word.

Now a professor in a sound seminary, a certain minister was not allowed to use “goodness,” “mercy,” or “gracious” as exclamations when he was a child. He was inclined to think the restrictions a family peculiarity, merely a parental overcarefulness; but now he can see that it had a sound Scriptural basis. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is required in the third commandment? The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s name, titles, attributes, ordinances, words and works.” Certainly goodness, mercy, graciousness are attributes of God.

The use of minced oaths is quite contrary to the spirit of the New Testament teaching. For example, our Lord Jesus said, “But I say unto you, Swear not at all. . . . But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one” (Matthew 5:34, 37 R.V.). The phrase “whatsoever is more than these” suggests the use of an exclamation or an expletive, which is defined as “something added merely as a filling; especially a word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy.”

James in writing his epistle repeats almost exactly the words of Christ quoted above, but adds the warning, “… that ye fall not under judgment” (James 5:12). That last word recalls our Lord’s declaration, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt he condemned” (Matthew 12:36, 37). If we try to excuse ourselves by saying that these exclamations slip through our lips unawares, we need to heed the Holy Spirit’s warning in the epistle of James, “If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain” ( 1:26).

James seems puzzled by the same anomaly that puzzles us, namely, the presence of minced oaths on the lips of Christians. Writing of the tongue as a “restless evil . . . full of deadly poison,” he said, “Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God; out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:8-10).

While no attempt has been made to give a complete list of all the words in the vocabulary of near-profanity, enough has been said to indicate that present day speech has fallen below that standard which Christ set for His disciples. A careless following of others in the use of these common minced oaths will dull our own spiritual sensitiveness, and will weaken our Christian testimony.

To gain the victory in this matter of full obedience to our Lord Jesus, we need to make the prayer of David our daily petition, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

George H. Seville

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