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In a religious context, an oath is a statement about one's future intentions coupled with a prayer requesting divine punishment on yourself if you don't follow through. In the modern Christian context, the prayer and penalty are abbreviated as "so help me God". (The Oath of Office for the US President prescribed in the Constitution omits this, but this is exceptional and most Christian presidents added "so help me God" voluntarily. This was probably a drafting error because all the other oaths of office prescribed by the 1st Congress did include it). But in classical antiquity, or in dubiously Christian contexts like Masonic oaths, the penalties can get quite specific.
As usual, Brett Devereaux provides more detail.
But critically to this thread, the clerics who wrote the creeds (and, more importantly, the professions of faith and such like which form part of the Confirmation ritual, which is where you would have put an oath if you wanted one, and do in fact look more oath-like) could have made them oaths by adding "I swear" and "so help me God", and chose not to. So they are not oaths.
The creeds are pure statements of current belief, made in solemn form to encourage taking them seriously. There is (at least in mainstream Christianity) no suggestion that someone changes their mind and ceases to believe in the creed calls any special divine wrath on themselves beyond the general damnation of unbelievers.
There is no practical difference here in what you are trying to say which I think is “it’s just a believe the Church is really special” and “ I pledge an oath to the Church”. The former in many ways is much stronger because it’s believing in something versus an oath you just sign and get punished or something if you violate it.
There is a practical difference if gods are real and that the prayer for self-imposed punishment forming part of an oath is likely to be granted.
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