VOW

(Lat. voveo, / vow.) A promise made to God of a thing which we believe to be agreeable to him, and which we are not on other grounds obliged to render to him. This is what the Theologians understand by it, when they say avow is " promi io de meliore bono." To promise God to do what he commands, or to avoid what he forbids, is not a vow, because we are under an obligation so to act. {Diet, de Theologie, Toulouse 1817.) The use of vows is found in most religions. The Roman Catholics adduce numerous pa ages from the Old Testament to prove that vows are acceptable to God; the Protestants on the other hand reject the theory of vows as altogether untenable. [s. 1324]