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Lying for the sake of life

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  • Lying for the sake of life

    Hi there.
    I have a question that was brought up in my ethics course.
    The general principle of those taking this course is that there is a prioritization of the laws of God.
    Such as, preservation of life takes priority over the prohibition of theft if one needs to commit theft in order to preserve their own life or those to whom one might owe a responsibility.

    I wonder what some of your thoughts might be regarding this method, especially when presented with the following statement:
    "Corrie ten Boom was wrong to lie to the Nazis about the Jews she was hiding."

    Clearly, falsehood was committed, and yet lives were preserved because of ten Boom's actions.

    Would love to get general conversation going about prioritization and suspension of the laws as well!

  • #2
    Rahab lied about hiding Israel's spies. She was later honored for her faith. So while lying is wrong, I think that you are correct, if it serves a greater good* like protecting lives, then it is not a sin. Or at least a sin worth committing to prevent an even greater tragedy or sin.


    *This in no way condones practices such as the mormon's "lying for the Lord" to hide their wacky beliefs from seekers.
    Last edited by Sparko; 10-25-2017, 12:51 PM.

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    • #3
      the acts of love are the most ethical -- especially in light of the attempts of evil people to do harm. You win when you help people without doing harm to anyone else -- that is, harm such as killing or maiming the opponents.

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      • #4
        I think it's a generally accepted practice that it's usually acceptable to lie to the enemy.
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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        • #5
          Thou Shalt Not Murder.

          How is revealing Jews to the Nazis anything but murder?
          "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

          "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

          My Personal Blog

          My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

          Quill Sword

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          • #6
            Now we don't have to give people information they want in order to hurt others or commit a crime! But we don't have to lie, either. Will a lie deliver our family or friends? This is not certain. But wouldn't it still be better to lie in a situation where someone's life was endangered, to at least try to save them or ourselves, in this way?

            Such a situation came up, actually, in Corrie ten Boom's family, when they were hiding Jewish people, and Nazi soldiers asked Corrie's sister Nollie, point blank, "Is this a Jew?" about Annaliese, a Jewish person she was sheltering. She said "yes," and Annaliese was taken away by the Nazis, and Nollie was taken away, too, to prison.

            Source: The Hiding Place

            Mietje relayed [a] message from Nollie, one especially for me: "No ill will happen to Annaliese. God will not let them take her to Germany. He will not let her suffer because I obeyed him."

            Six days after Nollie's arrest, the telephone rang. "The Jewish theater in Amsterdam was broken into last night. Forty Jews were rescued. One of them--a young woman--was most insistent that Nollie know: 'Annaliese is free.' Do you understand this message?"

            I nodded, too overcome with relief and joy to speak. How had Nollie known? How had she been so sure?

            © Copyright Original Source



            There was another similar incident, which is described in this book, with Corrie's sister Nollie. God can certainly deliver us, if we refuse to lie, isn't that a Christian's hope, in all cases?

            If lying for the best of reasons is permitted, then this undoes all statements purporting to be true:

            "For even things which pertain to the praises of God might be represented as piously intended falsehoods, written in order that love for Him might be enkindled in men who were slow of heart; and thus nowhere in the sacred books shall the authority of pure truth stand sure." (Augustine, "Letters")

            Blessings,
            Lee
            "What I pray of you is, to keep your eye upon Him, for that is everything. Do you say, 'How am I to keep my eye on Him?' I reply, keep your eye off everything else, and you will soon see Him. All depends on the eye of faith being kept on Him. How simple it is!" (J.B. Stoney)

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            • #7
              Originally posted by lee_merrill View Post
              Now we don't have to give people information they want in order to hurt others or commit a crime! But we don't have to lie, either.
              I think in most cases this is practical.
              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                I think in most cases this is practical.
                True. One can always say that you ain't telling either way. Though that might not end well...
                If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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                • #9
                  Thank you, Lee. I was going to mention Corrie ten Boom. This was a dilemma she and others had to confront. This is an issue we all will face sooner or later. We will answer to God for every word and action, and this very thing, that ten Boom shared, really is thought provoking.
                  Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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                  • #10
                    Personally I would have no reservation at all against flat out lying in those circumstances. And I believe God would bless that sort of lie.
                    Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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                    • #11
                      My thinking is that God can work without us lying. Rahab lied, but did she really have to? God would likely have saved the spies even if she had told the complete truth.

                      God may use us, even if we lie.

                      But remember who the Father of Lies is.

                      I don't think we have to give up every single drop of information voluntarily, but if we are asked an explicit question about something, I believe it behooves us to honour God by answering truthfully, and He will handle the consequences.


                      Securely anchored to the Rock amid every storm of trial, testing or tribulation.

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                      • #12
                        Somehow I think Galatians 5:22-23 is applicable: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." I just haven't worked out how.
                        "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6

                        "Theology can be an intellectual entertainment." Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

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                        • #13
                          During the Sandy Hook shooting, the shooter walked into a kindergarten class where the teacher had hidden the entire class, and she sat by herself at the desk. She explicitly told the shooter she was alone in the room. The shooter shot her then moved on. There is no way that you can convince me that the ethical thing for her to do would have been to volunteer that there were 20 kids in the room to someone looking to kill them (and refusing to answer the question would have for all intents and purposes given it away).
                          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                            During the Sandy Hook shooting, the shooter walked into a kindergarten class where the teacher had hidden the entire class, and she sat by herself at the desk. She explicitly told the shooter she was alone in the room. The shooter shot her then moved on. There is no way that you can convince me that the ethical thing for her to do would have been to volunteer that there were 20 kids in the room to someone looking to kill them (and refusing to answer the question would have for all intents and purposes given it away).
                            Just out of curiosity, how do we know this happened? Kids reported it?
                            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                              Just out of curiosity, how do we know this happened? Kids reported it?
                              Yes. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...tails/1772791/
                              "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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