One of the arguments in the inerrancy debate is the assertion that God cannot lie. I want to suggest that although this claim is initially intuitive, (I mean who wants a liar for a God?), there is what seems to me a forceful argument against the claim.
1. God always does what is morally right, and never does what is morally wrong. (The doctrine of divine moral perfection).
2. Possibly, lying is morally obligatory, and truthfulness is morally reprehensible.
(I will call this position anti-Kantianism about lying.)
3. Therefore, possibly God lies.
Now of course you can avoid this conclusion by accepting the Kantian position that if you were hiding Nicole Brown Simpson, and OJ were to come to your door with a knife and ask you where she was, you couldn't tell her that she went to LAX and that if you hurry up in that White Ford Bronco, you might be able to catch her before she leaves for New York. But most of us suppose are on the side of Benjamin Constant on this issue, and accept 2.
But how can you accept 1 and 2 but deny 3? I don't think I've committed some horrid modal fallacy, have I?
P. S. This would neatly solve exapologist's false prophecy problem. God wanted the gospel spread quickly, so he planted a noble lie that he was coming back soon. It worked!
13 comments:
VR: "But how can you accept 1 and 2 but deny 3? I don't think I've committed some horrid modal fallacy, have I?"
Perhaps your problem is in not correctly understanding the term and concept 'lie' -- as is common with most everyone you're probably understanding 'lie' in the simplistic mode that's appropriate for children, but not for men.
The problem with the addendum is that God could tell the truth knowing He would be misunderstood by some or many. Or put another way: God wouldn't need to actually lie to attain those good effects. Which, I suppose, would be the best of both worlds. ;)
Oh Ilion trying to squirm out.
Jesus could have been placed in such situations, hiding Jews from Roman rapists. What would Jesus do?
"A miracle," if He wanted to.
And it's a tremendous mistake to ever think of God as having the same exact responsibilities as any other human in any given situation.
'One of the arguments in the inerrancy debate is the assertion that God cannot lie'
God cannot lie, if he doesn't exist.
Isn't the correct theological position that God can kill innocent people, but he cannot lie?
William Lane Craig explains why God God can kill innocent people
'He is certainly not subject to the same moral obligations and prohibitions that we are. For example, I have no right to take an innocent life. For me to do so would be murder. But God has no such prohibition. He can give and take life as He chooses. '
So if Craig is right, and God can kill innocent people, why can he not allow Bible writers to get the age of somebody wrong?
Steven, can you point me to just one innocent person God has killed?
Of course I can't.
Neither can you.
Can you tell me one non-innocent person Yahweh has killed?
No god has ever done anything.
I was simply pointing out that William Lane Craig says his god is entitled to kill any innocent person he pleases to kill, at any time that is convenient for this god.
Steven, can you point me to just one innocent person God has killed?
King David's baby?
What about the verse in Hebrews: "It is impossible for [God] to lie"?
You would have to say that verse is a lie, no?
Oh, BDK, stop being such a continuous fool!
Lying involves other than merely speaking untruth. In fact, one can lie while speaking truth. That last takes some effort (and frequently requires the willing participation of the victim), but it can be done.
The Hebrews passage is an interesting one in that it indicates "two immutable things" in which it is "not possible for God to lie," and these are created by a covenantal commitment on God's part. God in effect says "God strike me dead if I'm lying," which is going to be pretty effective if he himself is God."
There is Titus 1:2 where it says (at least in the NIV) that God does not lie. But of course biblical arguments in this context are bound to be question-begging, and none of it succeeds in resolving the paradox that I formulated in the initial post.
However, the Hebrews passage does not support a general inability for God to lie.
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