When A Lie Is Not A Sin

Is omitting the truth the same as lying? Why is lying OK when life is at stake? This provocative yet compassionate look at religion and truthfulness draws on the Hebrew Bible to address ethical decision making and distinctions surrounding common but complicated personal situations.

The difference between truth and falsehood is often clear and simple. But when life gets complicated, the Hebrew Bible can help. The Hebrew Bible is true and wants us to tell the truth, even as biblical characters behave in less than truthful ways. What's more, where some of the lies people tell in the Hebrew Bible stories are punished, others are ignored and still others are rewarded. The Hebrew Bible’s mixed-message of "Do as I say, not as they do" shows that lies―little and big, whether told to protect or advance oneself or when intended to preserve the peace―often occur under involved circumstances and demand careful consideration. By viewing an array of situations in light of the Hebrew Bible―from the routine but delicate to the once-in-a-lifetime dilemma―this book will make a difference in how you think and live. This candid look at religion and truthfulness is ideal for anyone interested in exploring the religious basis for personal decision making, conscience and morality, including Jews of all denominations personally or in Torah study groups, Christians and social justice activists.

From the author of the bestselling novel The Shack and the New York Times bestsellers Cross Roads and Eve comes a compelling, conversational exploration of twenty-eight assumptions about God—assumptions that just might be keeping us from experiencing His unconditional, all-encompassing love. In his wildly popular novels, Wm. Paul Young portrayed the Triune God in ways that challenged our thinking—sometimes upending long-held beliefs, but always centered in the eternal, all-encompassing nature of God’s love. Now, in Wm. Paul Young’s first nonfiction book, he invites us to revisit our assumptions about God—this time using the Bible, theological discussion, and personal anecdotes. Paul encourages us to think through beliefs we’ve presumed to be true and consider whether some might actually be false. Expounding on the compassion fans felt from the “Papa” portrayed in The Shack—now a major film starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer—Paul encourages you to think anew about important issues including sin, religion, hell, politics, identity, creation, human rights, and helping us discover God’s deep and abiding love.

Rabbi Dennis S. Ross is a spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany, New York, and directs Concerned Clergy for Choice for Family Planning Advocates of New York State. He is author of God in Our Relationships: Spirituality between People from the Teachings of Martin Buber and When a Lie Is Not a Sin: The Hebrew Bible's Framework for Deciding (both Jewish Lights) and All Politics Is Religious: Speaking Faith to the Media, Policy Makers and Community (SkyLight Paths). He has written for the New York Times and the Boston Globe, and he blogs for Rewire and Religion Dispatches.

Have you ever wondered... How Did God Do It? How did God perform the many miracles and supernatural events described in the Holy Bible — without violating the laws of physics and chemistry that He Himself put into place? And without conflicting with the basic tenets of Judaism and Christianity? This book proposes a theory that marries faith and rationality in a symphony of science and scripture.

Is it ever right to lie? Does the Bible allow us to deceive? These are perennial questions that have been discussed and debated by theologians for centuries with little consensus. Entering this discussion, Just Deceivers provides a fresh analysis of thisimportant topic through a comprehensive examination of the motif of deception in the books of Samuel. While many studies have explored deception in other Old Testament texts-especially the patriarchal narratives of Genesis-and a few articles have initiated examination of this motif in Samuel, Just Deceivers builds upon this groundwork and offers an exhaustive treatment of this theme in an important portion of the Hebrew Bible. Newkirk takes the reader through the books of Samuel, investigating every occurrence of deception in the narrative and exploring how the author depicts these various acts of deception, and then synthesises the results to offer an exegetically based theology of deception. In so doing, this study both challenges commonly held views concerning the Bible's stance on falsehood and illustrates the importance of attending to the sophisticated literary character of biblical narrative.

n order to discover the Priscillianist heretics, who think it right to conceal their heresy not only by denial and lies, but even by perjury, it seemed to certain Catholics that they ought to pretend themselves Priscillianists, in order that they might penetrate their lurking places.