| FT-51078-03 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Craig Farmer | Swearing to God: The Sixteenth-Century Oath Controversies in Context | 6/1/2003 - 7/31/2003 | $5,000.00 | Craig | | Farmer | | | | Milligan College | Milligan College | TN | 37682 | USA | 2003 | History of Religion | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 0 |
The sixteenth-century Anabaptists refused to swear oaths of any kind, claiming that such swearing is forbidden by Jesus. This refusal challenged a socially sanctioned practice that bound Europeans together as citizens. The challenge prompted a significant number of reformers and theologians to write in defense of the oath. I will study and write an analysis of these sources, which will constitute one chapter of a book, placing the oath swearing debates of the sixteenth century in the context of ancient and medieval understandings. This study will contribute to the humanities by showing how sixteenth-century people attempted to make sense of their commitments to the social order in the light of a potentially subversive sacred text. |