This has come up in a couple of my discussions with people lately. Not only philosophy people, but Christians as well.
Fellow Christians that I know believe in justified lying, and therefore lying is not an absolute. One can lie in order to save a life. This is brought up in philosophy, especially Immanuel Kant.
One of the texts that come to mind is in Exodus 1 where the midwives lied, and then it says that God dealt well with the midwives.
16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
The scenerio that is sometimes brought up goes something like this: "Imagine you are in WWII Nazi Germany and you are hiding Jews in your house. Now there come some Nazi's at your door and ask you if there are any Jews inside your house. There are 2 options now: tell the truth, causing the Jews to be caught...or...lie, causing the Jews to be safe." In this scenerio the question is, "would you lie in order to save a life?"
Another one is..."You are in a country where Christianity is illegal. You are sneaking Bible's into the country, but one day you are caught by the police. They ask you what church, or people you are going to deliver them to." Again the options are to tell the truth and possible have someone die, or lie and save a life.
One more point, looking at church history and all the martyrs that have stood up for their faith, it shows that people were willing to tell the truth, as opposed to just lying once, a "justified lie," in order to save their life or that of others. (However, this is different from the other scenarios mentioned).
I am interested in seeing what you guys have to say. Any ideas.
Fellow Christians that I know believe in justified lying, and therefore lying is not an absolute. One can lie in order to save a life. This is brought up in philosophy, especially Immanuel Kant.
One of the texts that come to mind is in Exodus 1 where the midwives lied, and then it says that God dealt well with the midwives.
16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
The scenerio that is sometimes brought up goes something like this: "Imagine you are in WWII Nazi Germany and you are hiding Jews in your house. Now there come some Nazi's at your door and ask you if there are any Jews inside your house. There are 2 options now: tell the truth, causing the Jews to be caught...or...lie, causing the Jews to be safe." In this scenerio the question is, "would you lie in order to save a life?"
Another one is..."You are in a country where Christianity is illegal. You are sneaking Bible's into the country, but one day you are caught by the police. They ask you what church, or people you are going to deliver them to." Again the options are to tell the truth and possible have someone die, or lie and save a life.
One more point, looking at church history and all the martyrs that have stood up for their faith, it shows that people were willing to tell the truth, as opposed to just lying once, a "justified lie," in order to save their life or that of others. (However, this is different from the other scenarios mentioned).
I am interested in seeing what you guys have to say. Any ideas.
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