03 October 2016

The Scout Oath and the Holy Bible

Lord Robert Baden Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, once said,
"Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity".
Let's see if that holds true here. Here is the Scout Oath:
On my honor
I will do my best 
To do my duty 
To God and my country 
And to obey the Scout Law
To help other people at all times; 
To keep myself physically strong, 
Mentally awake, 
And morally straight.
Now let's look at the Holy Bible. As always, New Testament verses come from The Orthodox New Testament Volume One: The Holy Gospels or Evangelistarion and Volume Two: Acts, Epistles, and Revelation or Praxapostolos. Psalms come from The Orthodox Psalter: The Psalterion According to the Seventy With the Nine Odes, And Patristic Commentary. Other Old Testament verses and proverbs come from The Douay-Rheims Version of The Holy Bible.

Point One: On My Honor

"He that walketh sincerely, walketh confidently: but he that perverteth his ways, shall be manifest." Proverbs 10:9

Point Two: I Will Do My Best

"And in everything, whatsoever ye may do, be working heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men." Colossians 3:23

Point Three: To Do My Duty

"Endeavor to present thyself approved to God, a workman that hath no cause for shame, cutting in a straight line the word of the truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

Point Four: To God and My Country

"Let every soul be subject to authorities which govern. For there is no authority  except from God; and the existing authorities have been appointed by God. So that the one who sets himself against the authority hath withstood the ordinance of God; and they who have withstood shall receive judgement to themselves. For the rulers are not a terror to good works, but to bad ones. And dost thou wish not to be afraid of the authority? Be doing that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same." Romans 13:1-3

Point Five: And to Obey the Scout Law

This is covered in depth on how The Law of God aligns perfectly with the Scout Law at http://orthodoxscouter.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-scout-law-and-gods-laws.html

Point Six: To help other people at all times

"Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely you received, freely give." Matthew 10:8

Point Six: To keep myself physically strong

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy well-pleasing to God, your rational worship." Romans 12:1

Point Seven: Mentally Awake

"And cease being fashioned according to this age, but be transfigured by the renewing of your mind, in order for you to put to the test what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2

Point Eight: "And Morally Straight"

"Or do ye not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Cease being led astray; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor raveners shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

It seems to me, that just like the Scout Law, while not a Christian creed like the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed, the Scout Oath lines up with the teachings of Orthodox Christianity and Holy Scripture.

My son is a Scout selling popcorn to fund his Cub Scouts camping trips with his pack, in case that anyone would like to kindly assist him in this. You can order this week at this link:  https://www.trails-end.com/store/scout/ZXPHQBKI Please be sure to use key code 3311354687 if it asks for one. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

3 comments:

  1. Would you mind if I used this for the Faith Book I am putting together for my Charter Pack and Troops? I am working on this as a part of my Wood Badge Ticket.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You absolutely can. I just ask that you give attribution of where it came from, please.

      Delete

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