For most of us, the act of lying is one of the most grievous and sinful of all acts. We frequently refer to the passage in the Bible that reminds us that Satan is the father of lies and that if one chooses to deceive they only serve to associate themselves with the lineage of its creator, thus aligned with its sordidness. But even more convincing to the believer is its direct prohibition in scriptures. The Ten Commandments tell us not to bear false witness. And throughout the Bible, from the Pentateuch, the major and minor prophets, the book of kings and all the way to the gospels and later church writers, we are told that “with all deceivableness in unrighteousness [is] in them that perish (II Thessalonians 2:10).� This requires us to equate deceitfulness with the very nature of evil as lying. With this in mind, I would like to present a dilemma that perhaps some of you have heard and some have not. I would like to examine this problem that exhibits the seemingly contradictorily firm position against lying in all situations as ‘sinful’ in its self when applied blindly and indiscriminately. We will further probe the scriptures, and interpretations of what the Word instructs us to do in these rare, but possible situations.

There is a story that illustrates the difficulties that come when following the edict of ‘telling the truth’ all the time. Imagine you are living somewhere in Europe during its occupation by the Nazi regime. Furthermore, out of compassion for those who are persecuted by this oppressive government, you have chosen to hide a family of Jewish people in your home secretly. However, one day a Nazi officer knocks on your door and asks if you are harboring any Jews. Now, in answering this question truthfully you condemn the innocent guests to death. But, if you deceive the officer, you consequently are presumably going against God’s will for you to speak the truth.

In view of this sort of scenario there are many approaches that could be taken, but the two primary ones that, I feel, most of them would stem from are these. The first is to take what I would like to call the ‘lesser of two evils’ position. Accordingly, one admits that in this very limited number of choices, namely lie or allow someone else to die, either decision is allowing evil to succeed. For if one was to answer the Nazi’s question with pure veracity then they would willingly be participating in the persecution of the Jews. On the other hand, in order to prevent this persecution one must lie. Those who subscribe to this view point to instances in the Bible where one is forced to transgress the law in order to paradoxically uphold it (i.e., David eating the showbread, Jesus healing on the Sabbath, and many other examples).

On the flip side, there are those who find that this is unacceptable as a doctrine. In their view, a ‘third option is always available. For instance, when the teachers of the law made the attempt to trick Jesus through asking loaded questions that He could not answer without some admission of His being a false teacher, Jesus would simply redirect the question and seek to undermine their basis for asking it. As for the ‘third option’, in light of the Nazi-Jew dilemma, one would not answer the question without first qualifying it; which in this case would involve one’s debate with the Nazis over their rational/moral legitimacy in asking such questions.

Naturally, the latter position is far less practical. After all, this would more than likely have resulted in the proprietor of the residence to either be arrested or murdered along with those he or she was hiding. And this is precisely where the debate’s ‘rubber hits the road.’ For, what is more important, saving a life or preserving what one thinks one is doing is right by telling the truth? I really can’t answer that question. I must admit that if it were me, I probably would have lied to the soldiers as opposed to mustering up some clever quid pro quo. But, perhaps that is the human in me. I wouldn’t have been inclined to die for the Truth either in the manner in which Christ did. Maybe when we ask these sorts of questions we are actually exposing those areas of who we really are that are in desperate need of the Truth; His Truth.

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