12 Reasons Why God Hates Lies and Liars

“White lie” – a sin or not?

At first glance, the question “to lie or not to lie” has a clear answer, but once you add context, consider the situation from a different angle, and finding a solution becomes not so easy.

We have collected the opinions of ministers about whether there is such a thing as a “white lie”, whether it is permissible for believers to do this and whether it is a sin.

Sergei Ryakhovsky , the commanding bishop of ROSHVE (Russia), cites as an example the situation that happened to his relatives during World War II.

Konstantin Andreev , ex-bishop of ELCAI (Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Russia), lawyer: “If someone asks a friend: “How does my wife treat me?”, and he honestly answered: “She said that she hates you.” !”, then this “honesty” can destroy the family. If someone “honestly” publicly tells the truth about a neighbor that could harm him, then his actions will be destructive. If a person honestly says something bad about his friend behind his back, then even if everything said is true, it will still be a crime against him. Thus, it is important to use wisdom when telling the truth would be a crime against one’s neighbor.”

Sergey Martinyuchev , pastor of the Word of Life Church (Moscow, Russia): “You can always find a way to talk to people and tell them the truth. I think it's ethically right to tell the truth."

Yuri Puschaev , columnist for Foma magazine. Candidate of Philosophy, senior researcher at the Department of Philosophy of the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAS): “However, Christianity at the same time is not some kind of strict formalistic teaching, it is not based on logical definitions and abstract principles. As “living water” that gives life, it may seem somewhat contradictory, but this is only from some limited formal point of view. In fact, this is the completeness that contains everything, which is higher than the formal-logical prohibition on contradiction. And a lie in Christianity is understood not simply as the inconsistency of any statement with the objective state of affairs. You can lie, as the Holy Fathers said, with your words, your thoughts, and your life.”

Anatoly Rain , pastor of the Voice of Truth church (Yugorsk, Russia): “Lies are never white. A lie is always black, for whatever purposes or situations.”

Igor Shemigon , pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Martin (Kiev, Ukraine): “Believers must be obedient to the will of God, which regarding lies is very clearly expressed in the commandment “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Ex. 20:16) . And those who, hiding behind the name of God, spread, defend and embellish false teaching and godless life, violate the commandment “thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.”

Dmitry Shletgauer , pastor of the Church of the XXI Century (St. Petersburg, Moscow), gave an example of a “holy lie” from the history of Ancient Egypt.

Evgeniy Likhota , rector of the Holy Nativity Church, Brest: “We live in a world that lies in evil. The laws of sinful tangles often operate in it, where lies beget lies. Christianity offers an option to break the chain of lies - repentance. Another question is to tell a child that he will die soon? Is hiding the truth or not telling the truth a lie? This is a matter of everyone’s conscience.”

Ilya Betnev , pastor of the New Life Church (Nizhniye Sergi, Russia), noted that there are special cases when lying is acceptable, but in most cases people lie to protect themselves, their point of view, or to put themselves in a more favorable light.

Igor Shemigon , pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Martin, Kiev: “Lying is a sin, it does not save at all. Rather, it brings disastrous consequences, depriving us of peace with God and our neighbors. Christ calls himself Truth, and it is the opposite of falsehood. The Apostle Paul calls on believers: “Do not tell lies to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:9). This could have been the end of it. However, there are exceptional cases in Scripture that go beyond the standard concept of lies and truth. Concealing the truth, for example, to repel enemies of the fatherland or other villains is not a sin of lying, but, on the contrary, true love for our neighbor obliges us to do this.

Biblical Examples:

1.Rahab did not tell the truth to the enemies of Israel (Joshua 2:4-5);

2. Elisha “deceived” the army of the Syrians who came to plunder his people (2 Kings 6:18-22).

Another striking case from the book of Exodus 1:15-21. Here, Jewish midwives did not kill, contrary to the order of the king of Egypt, newborn boys. And even more, when he called them again in order to find out why they disobeyed the order, they “lied.” For this reason God did good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong (verse 20).”

Oscar Griffioun , church pastor (Holland): “First of all, prayer is needed, and you need to ask God what to do in such cases.”

Rabbi Yakov Shub: “Unfortunately, most often people ask about when it is permissible to tell a lie, and few people ask about when it is prohibited. But the one who tells a lie violates the prohibition of the Torah. The prohibition is violated even if during a conversation a person distorts only minor details, which turns his speech into a “mixture” of true and false, or even if what he says only appears to be untrue. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to study in detail the rather complex laws about what is considered untrue and in what cases in order to avoid possible violations.

Sometimes, in order to avoid conflicts and unpleasant situations, it is allowed to change some things. The Torah places great emphasis on the laws of human relationships, and the ultimate goal is to lead people to unity and love. Discord and hatred have always been the cause of many ills in the world (including assimilation and persecution), and to avoid this, in various awkward situations, the Torah also allows the use of “non-standard” methods, that is, the use of inaccurate information to prevent a brewing conflict.”

Evgeny Dubrovsky , former pastor of the Word of Life Church (Saratov, Russia): “A lie is a lie. The Bible says that we should not deceive.”

Archpriest George Blatinsky , rector of the Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Florence, Patriarchate of Constantinople: “No, I believe that a lie, no matter what sauce it is served under, is unacceptable. The Gospel says that the father of lies is the devil (John 8:44). If we tell a lie, thinking that we are saving someone or something, that is deception. Lies, or in other words deceit, cannot lead anyone to good in any way. Deceit is not accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must try to prevent lies in our speeches or actions.”

Vyacheslav Glukhov , assistant pastor of the Maranatha Church (Samara, Russia), calls this a matter of maturity, strength, honesty, justice.

Igor Shemigon , pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Martin, Kiev: “In order not to go astray, we should check our intentions in the light of the 10 commandments. After all, the Law indicates to believers in Christ what are the duties of human life established by God, according to which they must live. The main question is: Do our actions bring glory to God and good to others?

Vadim Yatkovsky , musician (Belarus): “We need to tell the truth. And to our children, and to strangers, and to all people on earth.”

Archpriest Alexander Sorokin , rector of the Church of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, chairman of the Publishing Department of the St. Petersburg Diocese, St. Petersburg: “It seems to me that when we are faced with the question “to lie or not to lie” and at the same time various considerations incline us in favor of “lying” about the good or overcoming some harm, we are faced with the classic situation of choosing the “lesser evil”. We know that, in principle, lying is bad, it’s a sin, and for this, one way or another, if it doesn’t bite, then it pricks your conscience. But there are situations when on the opposite side of the scale (“don’t lie”) there are prospects for even worse consequences. The main question here, as always, is to determine what is the “lesser evil” in a given situation.

Kim Hyung-kyun , church pastor (Kenya), does not believe in such things as white lies.

When preparing the material, videos recorded in the New Life Church, Yekaterinburg were used.

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Deadly sins

Deadly sins. Soloink Logic.

A few random texts from the book.

3.263.

Uncertainty is the absence or weakness of faith, and therefore the mortal sin of despondency, the cause of much suffering.

3.537.

Envy is a form of fear, vanity and stupidity. The worm of envy kills love and faith. A person cannot love someone whom he envies. The main sins of envious people are deceit, betrayal, sabotage, etc.

3.633.

Pride is when there is no humility and it is a mortal sin. And you also have no idea what humility is and this is the second mortal sin, which is called ignorance.

3.634.

The very first mortal sin is ignorance, because God is the truth.

3.682.

The path to hell is paved with good intentions. “Judge not,” but you, full of good intentions, begin to judge and go astray from the true path and end up in hell. Everything is fair. The desire to judge is a sin of pride, a mortal sin.

3.730. God Killer.

Fear is a mortal sin that gives rise to lies, greed, greed, anger and pride. Fear is murder. A coward is a killer of love and faith.

3.743.

Stupidity is ignorance, that is, ignorance of the truth, that is, a lie. Stupidity and ignorance are the mortal sin of lying.

4.122.

The first road to hell is fear. The second is a lie. The third is greed. 4th – I am greed. 5th – ignorance and stupidity. 6th – anger. 7th – despondency, lack of faith and dreams. There are other ways, but I think the first seven are enough for you.

4.238.

Doubt is a terrible sin, because lack of faith is the mortal sin of despondency.

4.291.

By telling yourself to do something and not doing it, you will commit the worst sin of all: lying to yourself.

3.485.

Try to show your awareness in conversation. From the outside it looks very good when a person knows what he wants and doesn’t doubt anything. Doubt is the mortal sin of despondency. Only the devil will take a sinner to work, and then only to torture and mock him.

3.538.

Vanity, devoid of humility, gives rise to envy, one of the deadly sins that kills love and faith, turning them into fear and anger.

3.638.

The basis of Christianity is humility. Humility means don’t judge; when you judge God, you divide him into the Good God and the Devil. Your attempt to judge creates the devil. As long as you don’t judge, there is simply God, but as soon as you start to abandon humility and start judging, good and evil immediately appear. Moreover, since pride is a mortal sin, you instantly fall into hell.

3.697.

It seems that this is uncertainty, which means lies and fear, ... a mortal sin and a ticket to hell.

3.701.

Ask and it will be given to you, but you are afraid to ask, you are gnawing at the fear that they will refuse you. This will shatter your pride. That is, there are two mortal sins inside you at once - fear and pride. No wonder you're burning in hell. By the way, truth is system and order. Once or twice it's a lie. To be trusted you need to ask long and tediously. Perseverance is the key to success.

4.741.

You can sin and indulge in vice as much as you like, provided that you work and pay for your sins. As long as you are useful, we are ready to tolerate your disgustingness. However, if you refuse to pay for your sins and vices, it will be a mortal sin for which we will make your life hell.

5.902.

Do not swear out of fear, for fear is the devil, and the devil is a lie. An oath taken in fear is an agreement to sell the soul to the devil. However, an oath made in passion is also the sale of the soul to the devil, for passion is the mortal sin of greed. Greed is the fear of getting less than you want.

6.685.

The greatest sin of love is the desire to rule, that is, pride. Pride is the most terrible and most punishable human vice.

6.699.

God is reality, and God loves people who are useful to this reality, and is even ready to endure and forgive their sins for a long time, but not those of mortals.

6.772.

Unfinished business is a lie. A person who doesn't finish a job is a liar. It is a terrible sin to quit your business without bringing it to integrity. A liar is doomed to suffer.