John 7:8 shows that Jesus deceptively went to the feast when he had told his disciples that he would not go. In the foregoing discussion we have seen clear examples of deception on the part of major and well known biblical figures with many of their deceptive actions having been blessed by the biblical God. We have also seen a clear example of the biblical God ordering an entity to commit deception in order to deceive Ahab. Christian detractors should think twice before they try to attack Islam on dissimulation or taqiyyah as it is a practice that is deeply rooted in their own books, history and tradition.
Though we do not condone every single detail of the following video the so called “ex-Muslim” presenter does make an excellent case in refuting the nonsense that Muslims go around doing ‘taqiyyah’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=SjZSJg1HQpc
Addendum:
To be fair we should note that not all Christian thinkers believe that lying is permissible in certain circumstances. One such individual is Saint Augustine who was vociferously against deceit of any kind according to most commentators on his thoughts on the subject. That absolutist position however received little support from other Christians of his age. The textual critic Bart Ehrman in his recent publication Forgery and Counterfeit writes:
“When Augustine wrote his two famous treatises on lying — the two most famous discussions from all of Christian antiquity — he staked out clear and precise positions both on what constituted a lie (a fissure between thought and utterance that is evident to the speaker in an act of speaking undertaken precisely with the intent of creating the fissure) and when telling a lie was admissible (never, under any circumstances whatsoever). But it is important to recall, with Paul Griffiths, the most compelling commentator on Augustine’s position, that especially with respect to the latter point, “Few Christians agreed with him when he wrote.”
On the contrary there was a widespread notion among thinkers from Socrates to Chrysostom — that is, throughout the entire period of our concern, and considerably prior — that lying was in some circumstances acceptable and not, necessarily, morally condemned.
…
Christian authors could and did appeal to numerous instances from Scripture itself in order to justify their own practices of lying and deception (as Augustine notes, disapprovingly): the midwives of Exodus 1:15-22, who protected the Hebrew babies from the unjust wrath of Pharaoh; Abraham and Isaac, who saved their own skins, and the posterity of Israel, by lying about their wives (e.g., Genesis 22); Rahab, who lied about the spies in Joshua 2; Michal, whose deception in 1 Samuel 19:11 saved David, the father of the future messiah; Jonathan, who lied to protect him a chapter later; and Jesus himself, who declared he was not going to Jerusalem in John 7, knowing full well that he was; and after his resurrection when he deceived his two followers on the road to Emmaus by assuming a false appearance in Luke 24. Even God is said to have employed deception in Scripture, most famously in Jeremiah’s lament, “O Lord, you have deceived me and I have been deceived” (Jer. 20:7).
We do not know, of course, what explanations or excuses forgers made to themselves when they engaged in their acts of conscious deception. But it has plausibly been argued by such scholars as Norbert Brox and Armin Baum that these authors — some of them? most of them? — subscribed to the secular and biblical idea of the “noble lie” — that it was better in some circumstances to practice deception so that a greater good might result. As Brox stresses:
Notions that those kinds of deceptions, lies, and tricks carried out for the sake of truth and for the effective communications of truth, were expressly permitted were widespread, even if other contemporaries held different views… Thus we cannot continue to say that all forgers (including Christian ones) must have forged with a troubled conscience. [34] (emphasis added)
What we learn from Ehrman is that many if not most Christian thinkers and teachers dissented from Augustine’s absolutist approach and felt that in certain occasions to weave a lie is permissible. These included among others Origen, Didymus, Chrysostom, Jon Cassian and Theodoret. [35]
The fact that the master theologian Origen permitted deceit is also mentioned in the A General Index to the Paublications of the Parker Society and it also mentions that another major church father Jerome followed the same view along with Tyndale and the prominent Catholic intellectual body the Jesuits:
“Lying… allowed by Turks and Jesuits, Rog. 120; Origen permitted lying in some cases, and Jerome seems to follow him, 2 Bul. 115; Tyndale thinks there are cases in which dissembling is allowable, 2 Tyn. 57;…” [36]
The Catholitc Encyclopedia also notes:
“Origen quotes Plato and approves of his doctrine on this point (Stromata, VI). He says that a man who is under the necessity of lying should diligently consider the matter so as not to exceed. He should gulp the lie as a sick man does his medicine. He should be guided by the example of Judith, Esther, and Jacob. If he exceed, he will be judged the enemy of Him who said, “I am the Truth.” St. John Chrysostom held that it is lawful to deceive others for their benefit, and Cassian taught that we may sometimes lie as we take medicine, driven to it by sheer necessity.” [37]
Declared as Doctor of the Church Saint John Chrysostom who was Archbishop of Constantinople as mentioned above taught that lying in certain cases is allowed. In fact, he not only believed in its permissibility, rather as we shall see he also considered it a noble practice in an appropriate context. Let us refer to his own words:
“But my admirable and excellent Sir, this is the very reason why I took the precaution of saying that it was a good thing to employ this kind of deceit, not only in war, and in dealing with enemies, but also in peace, and in dealing with our dearest friends.
…
Do you see the advantage of deceit? And if any one were to reckon up all the tricks of of physicians the list would run on to an indefinite length. And not only those who heal the body but those who attend to the diseases of the soul may be found continually making use of this remedy. Thus the blessed Paul attracted those multitudes of Jews: with this purpose he circumcised Timothy, although he warned the Galatians in his letter that Christ would not profit those who were circumcised. For this cause he submitted to the law, although he reckoned the righteousness which came from the law but loss after receiving the faith in Christ. For great is the value of deceit, provided it be not introduced with a mischievous intention.
…
And often it is necessary to deceive, and to do the greatest benefits by means of this device, whereas he who has gone up by a straight course has done great mischief to the person whom he has not deceived.” [38] (emphasis added)
Chrysostom felt unabashed to champion the cause of deception as we see in the above quotation. What is also very interesting is that he uses Paul as one of his examples to illustrate the goodness of deception in certain cases. Chrysostom is in accord with Muslims who indicate instances in Paul’s letters and elsewhere of his cunning and deceptive methods (Philippians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 12:16 and Romans 3:7).
Bishop of Caesarea Eusebius who is dubbed “Father of Church History” is another major patristic figure who also permitted lying. Edward Gibbon the noted historian comments and reports from Eusebius:
“I shall only observe, that the bishop of Caesarea seems to have claimed a privilege of a still more dangerous and extensive nature. In one of the most learned and elaborate works that antiquity has left us, the thirty-second chapter of the twelfth book of his Evangelical Preparation bears for its title this scandal proposition, “How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, and for the benefit of those who want to be deceived.”Ὅτι δεήσει ποτὲ τῷ ψεύδει ἀντὶ φαρμάκου χρῆσθαι ἐπ´ ὠφελείᾳ τῶν δεομένων του τοιουτου τροπου” (Page 365, edit. Graec. Rob. Stephani. Paris, 1544.)” [39] (emphasis added)
Some Christian apologists have tried to exonerate Eusebius from the idea that he promoted deception in a number ways. New Testament historian Michael Licona and the New Testament scholar Gary Habermas in their The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (pp. 274-277) have both tried to assuage the plain meaning of the text by arguing that the context of the chapter does not promote deception, but something other than that. They also suggest a different translation for the word “falsehood” in the verse to “useful fiction” appealing to one translator. In our view after reading their explanation carefully it is hardly convincing and seems quite disingenuous. Michael Licona’s desperation to clear up Eusebius’ name is evidently clear elsewhere as we shall see. It is not the context of “”How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, and for the benefit of those who want to be deceived.” that determines a different interpretation than the obviously plain meaning of the title , but rather Mike Licona’s preconceived bias which is self-evident in the following:
“So I hope we can lay to rest this crazy thought that Christians, including me, think it is okay to lie to others to accomplish good. Christians do not believe this, as is clear throughout our scripture.” [40]
The above is Licona’s conclusion in a Q & A session after answering a question on the claim that Eusebius permitted lying. It is his uncompromising belief that it is inconceivable for Christians to lie that motivates him to believe that Eusebius did not mean deceive when he wrote the word deceive. It is a delusion of the highest order to believe that Christians do not lie or believe in lying as we have clearly proven that they certainly do in the foregoing discussion. It is not only conceivable but probable that Eusebius believed deceiving meant deceiving when he used the word in the title in question especially in light of the fact that his own hero (refer to the Catholic Encyclopedia which describes Origen as Eusebius’ hero) Origen taught just that. Moreover, at the time hardly anyone sided with the absolutist viewpoint that lying is always wrong no matter what as was later prescribed by Augustine. It was a commonly held position that lying in duress or to promote Christian ideology was allowed and not blameworthy as Ehrman notes in his work above. In addition, American theologian, minister and academic Timothy Dwight who was also the president of Yale University writes:
“There have not been wanting persons in every age, who have holden the doctrine, that Lying is in some cases lawful. Among these, have been many professed Moralists, and at least some Divines. Particularly, the very respectable Writer, whose opinions I have several times questioned, Archdeacon Paley has taught this doctrine in form in his system of Moral Philosophy. At the head of these men we find the celebrated name of Origen. This Father, with an indistinctness of discernment, which characterizes not a small number of early writers in the Christian Church, as well as most others at the same period, appears to have believed, that a falsehood might be lawfully told, in order to promote the cause of Christianity.” [41] (emphasis added)
Licona is clearly misguided in his false belief that Christians do not believe that lying is permissible in order to advance Christian causes or to protect life under duress. Let us move a few centuries forward. Thomas Aquinas is another important figure in Christian thought. Though Acquinas is often identified as an absolutist when it comes to the question of lying, he does not in fact label every kind of lying as mortal sin as he writes, “But a lie is not always a mortal sin.” [42]
Commenting on Aquinas’ position Herant Katchadourian writes:
“St. Thomas Aquinas had a more qualified view and subsumed lies under three categories: lies that serve a good purpose; lies told in jest; and lies that are malicious and do harm. Only the last constituted a mortal sin; the first two could be pardoned.” [43]
The celebrated Saint Alfonso Liguori who was an Italian theologian and Catholic bishop believed that equivocation which means “to use equivocal language especially with intent to deceive” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) is in some cases permitted. John Henry Newman writes:
“St. Alfonso Liguori, it cannot be denied, lays down that an equivocation, that is, a play upon words, in which one sense is taken by the speaker, and another sense intended by him for the hearer, is allowable, if there is a just cause, that is, in a special case, and may even be confirmed by an oath.” [44]
Saint Ignatius Loyola who is the patron saint of many Catholics is quoted to have said:
“We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides.” [45]
The father of the reformation Martin Luther himself condoned lying:
“What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church… a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them.” [46]
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery under the entry Stories of Deception which gives a non-exhaustive list of stories about deception in the Bible after including the Egyptian midwives of Exodus 1 as one of the examples states the following:
“In the Bible then, deception can be either good or bad. It can be God’s means of deliverance and retribution on evil kings or nations. ” [47] (emphasis added)
Rodney Basset, David Basinger and Paul Livermore in the Psychology & Christianity Integration write:
“There are three types of cases, then, in which a form of deceit is approved within Scripture and Christian theology: (1) Deception may be necessary to protect life or the integrity of life. (2) God may deceive a person who had determined to go contrary to the divine will in order to further his plan of salvation. (3) Deception may be used to test or reveal the truth about character and behavior.” [48]
In The Friend. A Religious and Literary Journal edited by Robert Smith we read the following:
“If wars are to be waged at all, they must be carried on by such means as their nature demands. Falsehood to any extent, when required for the purpose of deceiving an enemy, must be tolerated. In fact, the necessity of of uttering falsehood in order to carry on the stratagems of war, is assigned, by Milton, to show, not that wars are anti-christian, but that uttering falsehood, with the unquestionable intention to deceive, is sometimes justifiable.” [49]
The well known conservative Christian apologist Norman Geisler whom we have already cited in the main text elsewhere writes:
“…the Bible indicates that there are occasions when intentional falsifying (lying) is justifiable. Rahab intentionally deceived to save the lives of Israel’s spies and was immortalized in the spiritual hall of fame (Heb. 11). Nowhere does the Bible condemn Rahab for this deception; second her falsehood was an integral part of the act of mercy she showed in saving the spies’ lives; third, , the Bible says, “Rahab … shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent” (Josh 6:17). But the real concealment was accomplished by deceiving the authorities at her door. God blessed her because of the deception, not in spite of it. Hence, her “lie” was an integral part of her faith, for which God commanded her (Heb. 11:31; James 2:25).
In the story of the Hebrew midwives we have an even clearer case of divinely approved lying to save a life. FDor Scripture says, “God dealt well with the midwives; and … he gave them families” (Exod. 1:20-21 RSV). Nowhere in the text does God ever say they were blessed only for their mercy and in spite of their lie. Indeed, the lie was part of the mercy shown. For mercy sometimes supersedes Justice (James 2:13).” [50] (emphasis added)
In the above we learn that Geisler understands that the cases of the midwives and Rahab are clear examples of deception used for righteous purposes. He disagrees with Augustine’s understanding that the blessing given to the midwives was simply on the mercy they showed and not with the act of deception which as Geisler points out is integral to the application of mercy that they displayed. Geisler makes it clear that God blessed their lying/deceiving action as a good thing and rewarded them for it. Saving a life then is paramount and if lying facilitates the protection of life then it is justifiable and good.
Bernard Hoose cites Ronald Preston in his article Truth and lies in the book Christian Ethics: An Introduction:
“It seems clear that there are occasions when it is right to tell a lie, but most of the time people tell lies when they should not.” [51]
The above shows that lying is not in and of itself evil and sinful. Rather, there are appropriate instances when lying is justifiable and there are instances when it is not.
The so called “Shakespeare of Divines”, theologian of the Church of England Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, Jeremy Taylor writes:
“To tell a lie for charity, to save a man’s life, the life of a friend, of a husband, or a prince, of a useful and a public person, —hath not only been done in all times, but commended by great and wise and good men. Ου νέμεσις χαϊ ψευδός υπέρ ψυχής αγορείειν, “To tell a lie to save a life is no harm,” said old Pisander. Thus the Egyptian midwives are commended, because by their lie they saved the Israelitish infants: “O magnum humanitatis ingenium! O pium pro salute mendacium.” says St. Austin of them: “It was an excellent invention of kindness, and a pious lie for the safety of the innocentes:” and St. Ambrose and St. Jerome commend them so, that they supposed them to receive eternal rewards. The same was the vase of Rahab; to whom it should seem that Phinehas who was one of the spies, had given instruction and made in her fair dispositions to tell a lie for their concealment. For when she had hidden Caleb, Phinehas said to her, “Ego sum sacerdos.’ Sacerdotes vero, quippe angelorum similes. si volam, aspectabiles suntl si nolunt, non cernuntur.” She made no use of that, but she said directly they were gone away. Concerning which lie of hers St. Chrysostom cries out, “Ω καλου ψευδος, ω καλου … ου προδιδοντος τα εια αλλα Φυλαττοντος την ευσι βειαν, “O excellent lie! O worthy deceit of her that did not betray the divine persons, but did retain piety!” thus we find St. Felix telling a lie to save his life from the heathen inquisitors.
Felicem sitit impietas ——
Felicemque rogant, Felix ubi cernitur: et non
Cernitur ipse, nec ipse ver est, cum sit prope. longe est.
——— persensit et ipse faventis
Concilium Christi, ridensque rogantibus infit,
“Nescio Felicem quem quaeritis:” ilicet illi
Praetereunt ipsum; discedit at ille platea,
Illudente canes Domino frustratus hiantes.
They asked where Felix was; himself answered, that “he knew not Felix whom they looked for:” and yet no man finds fault with this escape. “Deceptio et mendacium semper alias mala res, tunc tantum sunt usui quando pro remedio sunt amicis curandis, aut ad vitandum apud hostes periculum:” they are the word of Celcus in Origen: “A lie is otherwise evil, only it is then useful when it is for remedy to cure the evils of ours friends, or to avoid the evils from our enemies.” [51]
What is interesting about the above is that we have a quotation from Augustine cited by Taylor that seems to suggest that he was not after all completely against the idea of lying. The addendum has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the practice of deception is a deeply rooted Christian tradition that can be traced back to the early days of Christianity. Major Christian thinkers and figures have all conceded and some even excitedly promoted the idea that deception, dissimulation and lying in certain cases are not only permitted, but also highly praiseworthy.