A Lie Never Justifiable: A Study in Ethics. H. Clay Trumbull

is called the father of the faithful,[1] and he was known as the friend of God.[2] But he indulged in the vice of concubinage,[3] in accordance with the loose morals of his day and of his surroundings; and when he was down in Egypt he lied through his distrust of God, apparently thinking that there was such a thing as a "lie of necessity," and he brought upon himself the rebuke of an Egyptian king because of his lying.[4] But it would be folly to claim that God approved of concubinage or of lying, because a man whom he was saving was guilty of either of these vices. Isaac also lied,[5] and so did Jacob;[6] but it was not because of their lies that these men had favor with God. David was a man after God's own heart[7] in his fidelity of spirit to God as the only true God, in contrast with the gods of the nations round about Israel; but David lied,[8] as David committed adultery.[9] It would hardly be claimed, however, that either his adultery or his lying in itself made David a man after God's own heart. So all along the Bible narrative, down to the time when Ananias and Sapphira, prominent among the early Christians, lied unto God concerning their very gifts into his treasury, and were struck dead as a rebuke of their lying.[10]

      [Footnote 1: Josh. 24:3; Isa. 51: 2; Matt. 3: 9; Rom. 4:12; Gal. 3:9]

      [Footnote 2: 2 Chron. 20: 7; Isa. 41: 8; Jas. 2: 23.]

      [Footnote 3: Gen. 16: 1–6.]

      [Footnote 4: Gen. 12: 10–19.]

      [Footnote 5: Gen. 26: 6–10.]

      [Footnote 6: Gen. 27: 6–29.]

      [Footnote 7: 1 Sam. 11: 1–27]

      [Footnote 8: 1 Sam. 21: 1,2.]

      [Footnote 9: 2 Sam. 11: 1–27.]

      [Footnote 10: Acts 5: 1–11.]

      The whole sweep of Bible teaching is opposed to lying; and the specific injunctions against that sin, as well as the calls to the duty of truth-speaking, are illustrative of that sweep. "Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another,"[1] says the Lord, in holding up the right standard before his children. "A lying tongue" is said to be "an abomination" before the Lord.[2] "A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness breatheth out lies,"[3] says Solomon, in marking the one all-dividing line of character; and as to the results of lying he says, "He that breatheth out lies shall not escape,"[4] and "he that breatheth out lies shall perish."[5] And he adds the conclusion of wisdom, in view of the supposed profit of lying, "A poor man is better than a liar;"[6] that is, a truth-telling poor man is better than a rich liar.

      [Footnote 1: Lev. 19:11.]

      [Footnote 2: Prov. 6:16, 17.]

      [Footnote 3: Prov. 14:5.]

      [Footnote 4: Prov. 19:5.]

      [Footnote 5: Prov. 19:9.]

      [Footnote 6: Prov. 19:22.]

      The inspired Psalms are full of such teachings: "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."[1] "They delight in lies."[2] "The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped."[3] "He that speaketh falsehood shall not be established before mine [the Psalmist's] eyes."[4] And the Psalmist prays, "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips."[5] In the New Testament it is much the same as in the Old. "Lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,"[6] is the apostolic injunction; and again, "Speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another."[7] There is no place for a lie in Bible ethics, under the earlier dispensation or the later.

      [Footnote 1: Psa. 58:3.]

      [Footnote 2: Psa. 62:4.]

      [Footnote 3: Psa. 63:11.]

      [Footnote 4: Psa. 101: 7.]

      [Footnote 5: Psa. 120: 2.]

      [Footnote 6: Col. 3: 9.]

      [Footnote 7: Eph. 4: 25.]