Is There A Justifiable Lie?
Were the midwives justified in lying to the Egyptians to protect the Hebrew babies from slaughter? Was Robin Hood justified in lying to the oppressive French to help feed his starving British countrymen? Was it right for Rahab to lie to protect God’s spies from the people of Jericho? Is it okay for a spy to lie to guard his country from foreign invaders? Is there a justifiable lie? We must look at the ethical principal, said author and teacher R.C. Sproul. “We’re always called to tell the truth when justice commands it,” Sproul said. What is right is defined by what is just. Give justice to whom justice is due. If a killer asks a mother, “Are you hiding your children in the basement?” she should say no because the killer doesn’t deserve justice. In the case of the midwives, they feared God and God dealt well with them; God is pleased and blessed them with families. But this is not an unbridled license to falsehood. As David said, “You delight in truth in the inward being.” Psalm 51:6 Read another example of a mother who lied to protect the life of her baby. I Kings 3:16-28. From R.C. Sproul’s Tape of the Month February 2006. Learn more from R.C. Sproul.