I Do Not Know Which Way They Went
Does God approve of dubious actions to accomplish his will in certain perilous situations? Can strong faith go hand in hand with the employment of methods which are alien to the integrity of God's character and word? Are Rahab's treason and lying in any way justifiable, perhaps as a 'white lie'?
Her lie cannot be so easily dismissed. She said, " I don't know which way they went." That was palpably false. Romans 3:8 warns us not to say, " Let us do evil that good may result." Neither should we argue, especially from a descriptive or a narrative passage, that a text validates deceit under certain conditions.
The so-called dutiful lie dismisses how precious the truth is in God's sight. Even lies told for every good purposes are not free form divine disapproval. Rahab's untruth allowed the 2 spies to escape harm, this does not therefore justify such a method. God is not reduced to unholy acts to fulfill is will. At most, God allowed his purposes to be fulfilled in this most unusual manner, because his grace can operate in spite of the sinful aneuverings of men and women. Untruth cannot be vindicated simply because it is closely tied to the total result.
We cannot say that protecting innocent lives is a greater good than the demand always to tell the truth. Scripture nowhere advocates or allows for such hierarchy. To do so would pit part of God's nature against other parts of his nature. TO say that lying is a lesser evil than being involuntarily implicated in murder is again an artificial and subjective construct. We need to follow all of God's Word and that Word involves respect for both life and truth, as difficult as that is in a world that oftne pits one moral absolute against another.
On the other hand, we may not surrender innocent lives just because an army or police force (such as Hitler's Thrid Reich) demands it. Rehab should have hidden the spies well and then refused to answer the question whether she was hiding them. She could, for instance, have volunteered, " Come in and have a look around," while simultaneously praying that God would make the serchers especially obtuse.
It is possible to maintain a posiotion of nonconflicting absolutes. God will provide a way to avoid conflicts (1 Cor 10:13)
~ Walter C. Kaiser, Jr~
Her lie cannot be so easily dismissed. She said, " I don't know which way they went." That was palpably false. Romans 3:8 warns us not to say, " Let us do evil that good may result." Neither should we argue, especially from a descriptive or a narrative passage, that a text validates deceit under certain conditions.
The so-called dutiful lie dismisses how precious the truth is in God's sight. Even lies told for every good purposes are not free form divine disapproval. Rahab's untruth allowed the 2 spies to escape harm, this does not therefore justify such a method. God is not reduced to unholy acts to fulfill is will. At most, God allowed his purposes to be fulfilled in this most unusual manner, because his grace can operate in spite of the sinful aneuverings of men and women. Untruth cannot be vindicated simply because it is closely tied to the total result.
We cannot say that protecting innocent lives is a greater good than the demand always to tell the truth. Scripture nowhere advocates or allows for such hierarchy. To do so would pit part of God's nature against other parts of his nature. TO say that lying is a lesser evil than being involuntarily implicated in murder is again an artificial and subjective construct. We need to follow all of God's Word and that Word involves respect for both life and truth, as difficult as that is in a world that oftne pits one moral absolute against another.
On the other hand, we may not surrender innocent lives just because an army or police force (such as Hitler's Thrid Reich) demands it. Rehab should have hidden the spies well and then refused to answer the question whether she was hiding them. She could, for instance, have volunteered, " Come in and have a look around," while simultaneously praying that God would make the serchers especially obtuse.
It is possible to maintain a posiotion of nonconflicting absolutes. God will provide a way to avoid conflicts (1 Cor 10:13)
~ Walter C. Kaiser, Jr~
posted by theories at
1:07:00 PM
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