{"id":35774,"date":"2012-11-10T20:32:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-11T02:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=35774"},"modified":"2021-06-15T20:33:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T01:33:54","slug":"can-there-be-such-a-thing-as-a-good-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-there-be-such-a-thing-as-a-good-lie\/","title":{"rendered":"Can there be such a thing as a good lie?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Good day,<\/p>\n<p>This issue of lying has been bothering me for quite some time now, and I felt I couldn&#8217;t keep it to myself. Jesus said in Revelation 21:8 that all liars will go to hell. Are there good lies? For example, if I am faced with a threatening situation in which a man threatens to kill me with a gun, if I don&#8217;t tell him where my friend is hiding, to save my life and my friend&#8217;s life, I would be forced to lie to the man that my friend is hiding in another place. Would this also be considered a sin?<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Situation ethics claim that right and wrong change depending on the situation you find yourself. What might be right in one circumstance is claimed to be wrong in another. &#8220;Proof&#8221; is offered in contrived situations where the choice to do right appears to be harmful. The flaw is that limited options are offered, but the number of possible responses is greater. In your example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How do you know that telling where your friend is will save your life? The man with a gun can just as easily lie to you as you could lie to him.<\/li>\n<li>How do you know that telling him where your friend is will save her life? Since he has a gun, we can assume he means her harm. Therefore what you are offering is a possibility of saving your life at the expense of your friend&#8217;s life &#8212; some friend you are.<\/li>\n<li>What is ignored is that you can refuse to answer. Sure, he might shoot, but that was already a possibility regardless of your answer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lying is a sin. There is no such thing as a good sin. Nor is sin justified because some good is claimed to come from it. &#8220;And why not say, &#8220;<em>Let us do evil that good may come&#8221;? &#8211;as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 3:8).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Good day, This issue of lying has been bothering me for quite some time now, and I felt I couldn&#8217;t keep it to myself. Jesus said in Revelation 21:8 that all liars will go to hell. Are there good lies? For example, if I am faced with a threatening situation in which a man&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[392,694],"class_list":["post-35774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-lying","tag-situational-ethics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47099,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/depending-on-the-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":0},"title":"Depending on the Situation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 5:18-6:2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dinner time conversation was lively the other night. A few caught Dennis Prager\u2019s Ultimate Issues Hour. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now I like Mr. Prager\u2019s show for the most part. You don\u2019t usually find commentators willing to address moral issues from a biblical viewpoint. And generally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-man-marries-someone-who-lies-about-her-right-to-marry-is-he-an-adulterer-for-the-rest-of-his-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":1},"title":"If a man marries someone who lies about her right to marry, is he an adulterer for the rest of his life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeff, I would so greatly appreciate hearing from you. I have read the material on your website regarding marriage, divorce, and remarriage. But I have a special situation I feel unable to sort through regarding a very dear brother in Christ. He was deceived by his first wife.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8004,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-idea-anything-you-do-in-moderation-is-not-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":2},"title":"What do you think about the idea &#8220;anything you do in moderation is not a sin?&#8221;","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My sister and her husband patronize the gambling casino's at least 2 or 3 times a week. I mentioned to them that I feel that gambling is a sin.\u00a0 My brother-in-law's answer was, \"anything you do in moderation is not a sin.\"\u00a0 I do not believe this to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-remarry-after-divorcing-his-wife-for-her-admitted-adultery-only-to-find-out-decades-later-that-she-lied-to-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":3},"title":"Can a man remarry after divorcing his wife for her admitted adultery only to find out decades later that she lied to him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Lord's church, he is not (although he has been studying and attending services with me). I was engaged to him until I contacted his ex-wife to inquire about what ended their marriage. I wanted to make sure his claim that she committed adultery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-daughter-lies-but-eventually-tells-the-truth-under-pressure\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":4},"title":"My daughter lies but eventually tells the truth under pressure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a child lies about something but eventually tells the truth under pressure, should she be punished for not telling the truth in the first place, or will that just encourage her to persist in the lie the next time?\u00a0 It seems to me we should be teaching them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Parenting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-all-lying-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":35774,"position":5},"title":"Is all lying bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This question is about lying. Is lying in all views, such as white lies or small lies, a sin? Is there such a thing as using a lie to help someone? I can't think of a good example now, but I do hope you know what I mean. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}