What would you do if you are confronted with a situation that will challenge your belief?
Ethical Dilemma, Truth Claim and Arrogance.
What would you do if you are confronted with a situation that will challenge your belief?
Ethical Dilemma, Truth Claim and Arrogance.
prodigal daughter 
lol, I agree. I have a question. What “should” constitute an act to be a lie for it to be a sin, since it is a sin after all? Do I make sense?
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not telling the truth is a lie, right? so if you ask me if I saw your wife and I said no (when in fact she is in my house), I lied, and that is a sin..? (sorry :p)
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If I show up at your house with intent to harm my wife, and you tell me she is not there when she indeed is, you are not bearing false witness against anyone, you are protecting the innocent (see Anne Frank reference below).
The commandment is, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”, it does not say that you cannot lie.
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one final question before I let you go. God can’t sin and he hates lies and liars and he in fact can’t lie. We are God’s children and we are supposed to do the same. aren’t we accountable for when we tell a lie (even if we meant well for the innocent)? Hey, I appreciate your time and input. I am in the middle of cooking, but if I come up with another question or I need clarification, I’ll just type:)
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God hates sin. And God told Moses that we are not to bear false witness against our neighbors, He did not forbid lying to protect the innocent from evil. Therefore God hates it when His children bear false witness against their neighbors, and not lies in general.
It is really very simple, if you understand that “Thou shalt not lie” is not in the Bible, it is a misinterpretation of God’s commandments. The original Hebrew is very clear on this.
And this misinterpretation likely arose purposely under Monarchies (but even King James version gets it right, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour”), authorities who wanted their subjects to tell them whatever they wanted to know.
It also is used by atheists to confuse and cry ‘hypocrite’.
But truth, the original word of God, always wins.
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gotcha.
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A lie is not necessarily a sin (see below). Lying to harm others, or protect oneself from due justice would be a sin.
And yes, you make sense.
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“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
That is not a commandment compelling the telling of truth to the detriment of your neighbor. The commandment is not “Thou shalt not lie”. This is why people get confused and see hypocrisy in Christians lying.
Anne Frank was a liar at times, but a great follower of God, and did not bear false witness against her neighbors (that I know of).
Another example of misinterpreting the Ten Commandments is, “Thou shalt not kill”. That is not what the original Hebrew says. It says “You shall murder not”, or in Hebrew “לֹא תִּרְצָח”.
Killing, and lying are permissible when it is in defense of the innocent.
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hmm..but isn’t false witness lying, are they not synonymous?
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It is the second part, “against thy neighbor”, that qualifies the commandment. When the Nazi’s came to Anne Frank’s door and asked if she was aiding Jews and she replied, “No”, she was not bearing false witness against her neighbor.
Conversely, if someone accuses you of a crime you did not commit, that is bearing false witness against “thy neighbor”.
The commandment has a qualifier, it is not simply “Thou shalt not bear false witness”, and it certainly is not “thou shalt not lie”.
The best way to understand the the Old Testament is to read it in the original Hebrew. Short of that, seek a knowledgeable rabbi.
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ahh, thanks. but we don’t wanna give the message that lying is acceptable right?
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Correct, in general lying is damaging to oneself and the community at large. But God understands we must sometimes must protect the innocent from evil through evasion, and even violence, and He would like to see us survive long enough to spread His Good News.
The Bible, just like the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, is not a suicide pact.
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