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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part II. Ethical, 22. The Third and Fourth Commandments
What does the third Commandment order us?
The third Commandment orders us to show respect for the name of God, and not to use it as something common or profane. We are justified, of course; in using it in solemn moments of our life, in our entreaties and prayers, in our teaching, in our preaching, and on every serious occasion. Also, according to the Mosaic law, we are justified in using it, when we are obliged to swear a decisive oath, in order to establish a truth which is doubted, and we may have recourse to the divine name, “to put an end to all strife.” (Hebr. vi. 16.) But we are not justified in pronouncing it superficially, or in joke, or to maintain a lie. It therefore follows that the third Commandment does not prohibit a good oath, i.e., a solemn affirmation of the truth by an appeal to God’s name, or the assumption, on oath, of responsibilities we seriously intend to fulfil. It prohibits the false oath, i.e., willingly taking an oath about things untrue, and perjury, i.e., the promising, on oath, to fulfil something and willingly failing to fulfil it. The third Commandment also does not prevent the curse (as proved by the custom of the whole of the Old Testament and especially by some of the Psalms), that is to say, the passionate invoking of the God of righteousness to punish the unrighteous. But the attitude of the Evangelical law is, as we shall see, quite different towards the taking of oaths and the pronouncement of curses; which both are strictly prohibited to Christians by the express command:—“Swear not at all,” and “Bless, and curse not.” (Matt. v. 34; Rom. xii. 14.) A horrible sin, one showing the most absolute spiritual blindness and mental aberration, according to both the Old and the New Testament, and which was punished even by stoning among the Jewish people (3 Kings xxi. 10) is blasphemy, namely, the utterance of abominable insults against the Supreme Being, and the defiance of the unapproachable Sun in the puny language of a dwarf.
What does the fourth Commandment order us?
The fourth Commandment orders us to sanctify the seventh day of the week, resting on that day from the work by which we earn our daily bread, and giving ourselves to the worship of God. This sanctification of the Sabbath must not simply be negative, as was thought by the ruler of the Synagogue, who was moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath (Luke xiii. 14), and generally by the Jews of old; it must be also positive, filling up the Lord’s day with Church-going, diligent study of the Bible, reading of edifying books, charitable works and similar noble activities. Work, then, done on the Sabbath day out of greediness and love of money, is not the only violation of the fourth Commandment. Profanation of the Sabbath day by playing cards, drinking and other sinful occupations, is likewise a violation of it. Spending, moreover, the six working days of the week in idleness is another flagrant violation of it; for the same divine mouth that commanded:—“Keep holy the Sabbath,” commanded also:—“Six days shalt thou work.” Idleness is against the will of God, Who gave to each of us either one, or two, or more talents with the object of our developing and exploiting them. That is why, while the industrious person advances materially, bodily, spiritually, mentally and morally, “the way of the sluggard is as an hedge of thorns.” (Prov. xv. 19.) It may be noticed here, that, while the Jews regarded the Sabbath as the day of rest, because on that day God completed the creation of the material world, we, Christians, regard Sunday as the day of rest, because on that day our Lord by His Resurrection completed the rehabilitation of moral order.