Having watched the inauguration and seeing Mrs. Trump hold two Bibles for her husband (one given to him by his mother, the other belonging to Abraham Lincoln), but Mr. Trump not putting his hand on either of them while he was being sworn in as President, I’ve been thinking about Bibles and how we use them in public settings.

There is no requirement to use Bibles for anything in public life. George Washington used one, but Thomas Jefferson did not. Neither did Teddy Roosevelt or Calvin Coolidge. John Quincy Adams used a book of law. Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and Obama each swore the oath on two Bibles. Biden’s Bible had been in his family since 1893.

Members of Congress do not use a Bible for their official swearing in, which they do en masse. However, many of them have a second, unofficial swearing in while holding a Bible, mostly as a photo op. Same goes for members of the Supreme Court. If you are called to give testimony in a court you are not required to place your hand on a Bible, though some do give you that option.

We all remember June 1, 2020, when Trump gave a speech from the Rose Garden encouraging governors to use National Guards to rule the streets and quiet protest, or else he would send in military power to do it, then walked to St. John Episcopal Church and held up a Bible for people to take photos. He did not make a speech there. He just stood and held the Bible.

And, we also remember how during the last campaign, he sold a special edition of the Bible as a fundraising tool. By the way, he had those Bibles printed in China at about $3 each and sold them for $59.99. Reported production and shipping costs for the Bibles was $342,000. He hoped to make $7 million but ended up with just around $300,000 for a loss of about $42,000. (You can buy one on eBay autographed by Mr. Trump for $4,700. Or you can get a Bible for free at just about any church you visit.)

It has always seemed odd to me that people would think placing your hand on a Bible would make you more likely to keep your oath or tell the truth. As far as I know, there has never been anyone struck down (“smote” in the King James vernacular) for lying or breaking an oath after swearing on a Bible. And almost all of us can list in great detail the number of people who actually preach from it, declare it to be God’s Word, and swear by it who have not done the simplest things it proclaims.

I have never had the opportunity to ask any of the leaders of our country who have used Bibles in their publicity shots which part of it they believe. The part about stoning adulterers (Leviticus 20:10-12)? Or the part about all debts being forgiven every seven years (Deuteronomy 15:1-2)? How about the part about welcoming foreigners to your land (Matthew 25:31-40)? Or selling all you have and giving the money to the poor (Matthew 19:21-24)?

I have an idea. Let’s do the one thing Jesus said about it. “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Jesus, Matthew 5:37)

I swear on a stack of Bibles that this would be best.