If you get uneasy around theology, then just relax because that’s not the point of this post. I was at a discussion of systematic theology and we were looking at various topics having to do with the Holy Spirit. The following verse came up,
Acts 5:3 (KJV) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?The issue was, “Could you lie to the Holy Spirit?” The obvious answer is yes, since it clearly states that these people lied to the Holy Spirit. At this point some wag, it could’ve been me, observed, “You can try.”
Obviously, you can try to lie to the Holy Spirit, but you don’t succeed because He knows the truth. That brings up a question in my mind of, “Is it a lie if both sides know that what you’re saying is not true?” In trying to explain to our grandchildren what humor is and how it is different from lies, we came up with the idea that in humor both sides know what you were saying is not really true. A lie is when you were genuinely trying to deceive someone. So that brings up the question, “Can you really lie to a being that knows you’re lying and can’t help knowing you’re lying?” Couldn’t these two people have just said, “Joke.”
The actual commandment in the Bible is not “don’t lie”. It is “don’t bear false witness.” That actually covers a lot more ground than just verbal deception.
homo unius libri
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