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Ten Commandments
8th Commandment ⇐ ⇒ 10th Commandment
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“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Ex. 20:16
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Subsection
Acting Doesn’t Break the 9th Commandment
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Order of Contents
Articles 15+
Historical 12
Sarcasm 1
Who is to be Believed 1
All Untruths Not Lies 1
Though they Misinterpret it?
Latin 2
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Articles
1300’s
Wyclif, John – On the Truth of Holy Scripture tr. Ian C. Levy in TEAMS Commentary Series (1377-1378; Medieval Institute Publications, 2001)
pt. 2
ch. 13, ‘The Necessity of Speaking the Truth’, pp. 180-87
ch. 14, ‘The Proper Ocassions for Speaking the Truth’, pp. 187-97
pt. 3
ch. 16, ‘The Nature of Lies, Deceptions & Falsehoods’, pp. 219-35
ch. 17, ‘Sacred Sutleties versus Blatant Lies’, pp. 235-50
ch. 18, ‘Different Ways of Speaking the Truth’, pp. 250-57
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1500’s
Bullinger, Henry – 4th Sermon, ‘Of the fifth and sixth precepts of the 2nd Table…’ in The Decades ed. Thomas Harding (Cambridge: Parker Society, 1850), vol. 2, 3rd Decade, pp. 111-24
Calvin, John – 9th Commandment in Institutes of the Christian Religion tr. Henry Beveridge (1559; Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845), vol. 1, bk. 2, pp. 478-81
Vermigli, Peter Martyr – The Common Places… (d. 1562; London: Henrie Denham et al., 1583), pt. 2
13. ‘The Ninth Precept: of Not Bearing False Witness’ 528
‘Of Contempt’ 528
‘Of Suspicions’ 533
‘Of Mocking & Taunting’ 534
‘Of Deceit or Guile’ 534
‘Whether guile be lawful for the rooting out of idolatry and heresies’ 539
‘Of Dissimulation’ 541
‘Of Truth & of a Lie’ 542
‘Whether it be lawful to lie for preserving the life of our neighbor’ 546
‘Whether we may lie for modesty’s sake’ 547
‘Whether Faith against a promise breaker must be kept’ 548
‘Of a Fable & Apology’ 550
Musculus, Wolfgang – Common Places of the Christian Religion (1560; London, 1563)
9th Commandment 96.b
The meaning of this precept 96.b
What is witness and what the use of it is 96.b
We have more use of faith than of knowledge 97.a
1. How many kinds of witness there be 97.a
Testimonies in open court and out of court 97.a
2. That we be not forbidden to bear witness 97.b
3. We be not forbidden to bear witness against our neighbor 97.b
How a man may witness against his neighbor not breaking charity 98.a
How we must love our neighbor 98.a
4. How many ways false witness is borne 98.a
Ignorance, wittingly, pleasant lies 98.a
False witness in judgment 98.b
5. Of what kind of witness this law of God does speak 98.b
That he means the testimony is open court 99.a
The testimony or verdict in open court is most dangerous 99.a
6. What need it was to command that no false witness should be born against a man’s neighbor 99.a
The precept seems to be superfluous 99.a
The general cause of the whole Decalogue 99.b
The special cause, because every man is a liar, Jn. 8 & 14 99.b
We do the worse, knowing better 99.b
Against thy neighbor 99.b
7. Of the evil of false witness 99.b
The evil of lying generally 99.b
It excludes us from the hill of god, Ps. 15 100.a
It does defile our tongue 100.a
It takes away faith 100.a
It is increased by circumstances, Acts 5 100.a
Two kinds of flattery 100.b
Saul, 1 Sam. 18 100.b
The Pharisees, Mt. 22; the Serpent 100.b
Cain; Joab, 2 Sam. 3 & 10; Prov. 27 100.b
Ps. 53 101.a
The evil of backbiting 101.a
Backbiting has flattery for his companion 101.a
Backbiting hurts him that is absent 101.a
It hurts the neighbors good name and life; Esther 101.a
Haman; Doeg; 1 Sam. 22; David; 1 Sam. 24 101.a
What the Scripture does attribute to a backbiting tongue 101.a
The evil of false witness; 1 Kings 21; Dan. 13; Acts 6-7 101.a
Cruel inquisition and examination 101.a
8. Of the penalty and revenge of false witness 102.a
The revenge of God, Prov. 6 & 21 102.a
The revenge of the Law, Dt. 19 102.b
Dt. 22 & 19 102.b
Augustine, Question 33 102.b
Ursinus, Zachary – The Sum of Christian Religion: Delivered… in his Lectures upon the Catechism… tr. Henrie Parrie (d. 1583; Oxford, 1587)
Ninth Commandment
. The Virtues of this Ninth Commandment, together with their Vices
Beza, Theodore, Anthony Faius & Students – 38. ‘Upon the Ninth Commandment’ in Propositions & Principles of Divinity Propounded & Disputed in the University of Geneva by Certain Students of Divinity there, under Mr. Theodore Beza & Mr. Anthony Faius… (Edinburgh: Waldegrave, 1591), pp. 94-97
Virel, Matthew – 9th Commandment in A Learned & Excellent Treatise Containing All the Principal Grounds of Christian Religion (London, 1594), bk. 2, 1. Of Good Works, 1st Part, Exposition of the Moral Law
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1600’s
Perkins, William
A Golden Chain (Cambridge: Legat, 1600)
28. 9thCommandment
A Direction for the Government of the Tongue an appendix to A Golden Chain (Cambridge: Legat, 1600)
5. Of truth, and of reverence in speech
6. Of modesty and of meekness
7. Of sobriety, urbanity, fidelity and care of others’ good name
8. Of the bonds of truth
Ames, William – ch. 21, ‘Telling the Truth’ in The Marrow of Theology tr. John D. Eusden (1623; Baker, 1997), bk. 2, pp. 325-28
Ames (1576-1633) was an English, puritan, congregationalist, minister, philosopher and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the reformed and the Arminians. Voet highly commended Ames’s Marrow for learning theology.
Wolleb, Johannes – 13. ‘The Virtues and Works Connected with the Ninth Commandment’ in Abridgment of Christian Divinity (1626) in ed. John Beardslee, Reformed Dogmatics: J. Wollebius, G. Voetius & F. Turretin (Oxford Univ. Press, 1965), bk. 2, pp. 251-57
Wolleb (1589–1629) was a Swiss reformed theologian. He was a student of Amandus Polanus.
Ball, John – Q. ‘Is it not lawful for a wise man to use simulation or dissimulation in some matters?’ in The Power of Godliness both Doctrinally & Practically Handled… (London: Miller, 1657), bk. 1, ch. 2, p. 18.
Leigh, Edward – A System or Body of Divinity… (London, A.M., 1654)
bk. 4, ch. 20. ‘Of Lying…’, pp. 366-68
bk. 9, ch. 10, The Ninth Commandment, pp. 749-57
Baxter, Richard – ch. 42, ‘Of the 9th Commandment’ in The Catechizing of Families... (London, 1683), pp. 353-64
Turretin, Francis – Institutes of Elenctic Theology, tr. George M. Giger, ed. James Dennison Jr. (1679–1685; P&R, 1994), vol. 2
11th Topic
20. ‘Whether a lie under any pretext can be rendered virtuous and lawful. We deny against the Socinians.’ 129
15th Topic
11. ‘What is the object of faith in general and can what is false come under it? We deny.’ 571
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1700’s
à Brakel, Wilhelmus – ch. 54, ‘The Ninth Commandment’ in The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vol. 3 ed. Joel Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout Buy (1700; RHB, 1992/1999), pp. 227-37
a Brakel (1635-1711) was a contemporary of Voet and Witsius and a major representative of the Dutch Further Reformation.
De Moor, Bernard – Continuous Commentary
ch. 3
section 20, ‘The Free Confession of True Religion’
section 20, ‘The Prudent Confession of True Religion’
ch. 4, section 45, ‘God’s Unfailing Truth & Faithfulness’
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Historical
On the Reformation
Article
Blacketer, Raymond A. – ‘No Escape by Deception: Calvin’s Exegesis of Lies & Liars in the Old Testament’ in Reformation & Renaissance Review (2010), pp. 267-89
Balserak, Jon – ‘Geneva’s Use of Lies, Deceit & Simulation in Their Efforts to Reform France, 1536–1563’ HTR 112:1 (2019), pp. 76–100
Abstract: “After outlining what Calvin and Beza did to support and strengthen Calvinist churches in France, the article sets forth and explains the system Calvin devised to hide their ministry from the French Catholic government and probably from the Nicodemites as well. This system depended on lies, deceit, and simulation.”
” Augustine defined a liar in his De Mendacio [Of Lying] as someone “who has one thing in his mind and speaks another with words or with signs of any kind.” Augustine’s definition raised an immediate question related to its application. He applied it rigorously.
But Christianity developed two distinct traditions here, with figures like Clement of Alexandria (in Stromateis) and John Chrysostom (in De Sacerdotio) endorsing the idea of the pious or officious [dutiful] lie (mendacium officiosum). These theologians insisted on the importance of intent in their expositions. Chrysostom mentioned Paul’s circumcising of Timothy (Acts 16:3; 1 Cor 9:20) as well as the common examples of army generals, parents, and physicians—all of whom deceive in their work as a matter of practical necessity, but are excused because they do so with good intent. Jerome took a similar approach. Other biblical examples include the lies told by Rahab (Josh 2) and the Hebrew midwives (Exod 1), who told officious lies that were adjudged to be pious because of their intentions.
Augustine disagreed. For him, intent was focused on the question of whether one knowingly and deliberately spoke contra mentem. Doing so always amounts to lying. One who utters an untruth that she thinks is true does not lie; however, if she knows it to be false, then she is guilty of sinfully lying. Key to his understanding was the eliding [omitting] of truth with God, as Boniface Ramsey has rightly argued. Augustine did, it should be noted, concede that joking should not be considered lying. He also allowed for deception (i.e., ambushes) to occur in war without sin. But apart from these allowances, he was extraordinarily uncompromising in his assessment of what constitutes mendacity. In the same way, Calvin and Beza linked God and truth…
Exploring mendacity further, Augustine, Aquinas, Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, and a myriad of others examined concealment. They distinguished between two forms: simulatio and dissimulatio. Though similar, the two exhibit a noteworthy difference. To dissimulate, Calvin explained in his Petit traicté, “is merely to hide what one has in one’s heart, while to simulate, to feign, goes beyond that, and is the moral equivalent of lying.” Thus, all simulation is sinful, but not all dissimulation.
While dissimulation can represent a misleading silence, it can also amount simply to the withholding of information. Calvin noted Jesus dissimulated when speaking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He also said God was dissimulating in portions of the Old Testament such as 1 Samuel 16:2 where God’s prophet Samuel appears to deceive Saul about a trip he is making to anoint David in Bethlehem. Dissimulation could, however, also be sinful and, in the case of the Nicodemites, Calvin and Beza believed it was. When the Nicodemite chose to conceal her Reformed beliefs from the local authorities and many of her friends, the Genevans insisted that she was acting directly against the gospel directive to confess her faith (Romans 10:9–10). This, then, was sinful dissimulation.
Simulation, of which the Nicodemites were also guilty, was always sinful. “In short, what lying is in words simulation is in deeds,” as Calvin explained. It amounted to pretending or falsifying. Fundamental to Nicodemism was the idea that one must feign that she is a loyal Catholic, though she is not. She actually believes the major Protestant doctrines, such as justification by faith alone. She also often, as was the case with Roussel and Marguerite, believes the Pope to be the Anti-Christ and the Roman church the synagogue of Satan. Yet, she sits in Catholic mass, feigning to pray to the saints, to believe the Eucharist becomes the body and blood of Christ, and such like.” – pp. 81-83
“…Calvin employed many pseudonyms throughout his life… Beza, incidentally, would employ pseudonyms occasionally in the 1570s… Calvin, however, employed them for most of his life.” – p. 93
“Calvin and Beza employed various measures in order to send the preachers they trained into France in a way that would ensure their safety and minimize the likelihood of detection and capture. They sent them into France under assumed names, carrying false identities, forged papers, clandestine meetings. They took obscure mountain passages in order to avoid the authorities along the border.” – p. 96
“One finds Calvin (for instance) declaiming, in his lectures, that they [French kings] are “gross and stupid.” They “think they are exempt from the law.” They are self-indulgent, “inhuman tyrants,” and “madmen.” They “despise everything divine” and wish to be worshipped in God’s place. They “rage against the church.” “We know that wherever there is cunning in the world, it reigns especially in the palaces of princes.”… Thus, the depiction of obsequious deference and obedience on the part of Geneva towards France was, in reality, a façade.” – p. 97
“…Calvin protested [to the French king] “in truth before God” that Geneva has “never attempted to send persons into your kingdom.” Explaining matters further, the letter declared: “that never with our knowledge and permission has someone gone from here to preach except one individual who was requested from us for the city of London…
So then, the Genevan ministers say they encouraged some people to exercise their gifts everywhere. There is, however, the clear implication that was all they did. The explanation would appear to wish to persuade the king that what he has heard of as Geneva sending ministers into his kingdom is actually a simple case of free preachers and godly men wandering of their own free will into the king’s territory…
The answers to both concerns are, according to Calvin and Beza’s own Augustinian understanding of lying, plainly speech contra mentem. They did send preachers into France and they were involved in dissensions of precisely the kind about which the king was asking.” – p. 98
“After indicating that the Genevans, of course, wish and hope for the gospel to be spread everywhere, the letter states: “But we know well also what is within our compass, and we do not presume even to wish to reform extensive kingdoms.”… What is fascinating here is the apparent renouncing, on the part of the Genevans, of any connection to the evangelical movement within France or anywhere else. They would seem to wish for the king to believe that Geneva stays resolutely and quietly within its own geographical border and does not meddle in the work of reforming other parts of Europe, let alone France. In all of this, Geneva kept up a near-constant state of deception in regards to the French king and his government… Geneva was extremely effective at feigning obedience to French kings.” – p. 99
“What we can say with a stronger degree of certainty is that Geneva established a system designed to hide their ministry and that, thus, Geneva’s impact on France and the French Reformation was founded, in no small measure, on deception during the period from 1536 to 1563.” – p. 100
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On Sarcasm, etc.
References
Ames, William – Marrow of Theology, bk. 2, ch. 21, ‘On Telling the Truth,’ section 20, p. 326
Turretin, Francis –
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Who & What is to be Believed
Quote
1600’s
Richard Baxter
The Catechizing of Families... (London, 1683), ch. 42, ‘Of the 9th Commandment’, pp. 361-62
“2. We must believe none that speak against the Light of Nature and common notices of all mankind: for that were to renounce humanity: And the Law of Nature is God’s first Law. But it is not the sentiments of nature as depraved which is this Law.
3. We must believe no men against the common senses of mankind, exercised on their duly qualified objects. Faith contradicts not common sense, though it go above it. We are men before we are Christians, and sense and reason are presupposed to faith… For if sense be not to be trusted, we know not that there is a Church, or a man, or a Bible or any thing in the world, and so nothing can be believed. Whether all sound senses may be deceived or not, God has given us no surer way of certainty.
4. Nothing is to be believed against the certain interest of all mankind and tending to their destruction; That which would damn souls, or deny their immortality and future hope, or ruin the Christian world or nations, is not to be believed to be duty or lawful: For truth is for good, and faith is for felicity; and no man is bound to such destructive things.
5. Nothing is to be believed as absolutely certain which depends on the mere honesty of the speakers: For all men are liable to mistake or lie.
6. The more ignorant, malicious, unconscionable, factious, siding, any man is, the less credible he is. And the wiser and nearer to the action any man is, and the more conscionable, peaceable and impartial he is, the more credible he is. An enemy speaking well of a man, is so far more credible than a friend: Multitudes, as capable and honest, are more credible than one.
7. As that certainty which is called moral, as depending on men’s free-will, is never absolute, but has many degrees, as the witness is more or less credible; so there is a certainty by men’s report, tradition or history which is physical and wholly infallible: As that there is such a place as Rome, Paris, etc. and that the statutes of the land were made by such kings and parliaments to whom they are ascribed; and that there have been such kings, etc. For proof of which know:
1. That besides the free acts, the will has some acts as necessary as it is to the fire to burn, viz. To Love ourselves and felicity, and more such.
2. That when all men of contrary interest, friends and foes, agree in a matter that has sensible evidence, it is the effect of such a necessitating cause.
3. And there is no cause in nature that can make them so agree in a lie.
Therefore it is a natural certainty. Look back to the sixth chapter.”
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All Untruths are Not Lies
Article
1600’s
Baxter, Richard – Section 2, ‘Whether every untruth be a lie?’ in A Second Admonition to Mr. Edward Bagshaw… (London, 1671), pp. 28-29
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It is Not Always Wrong to Speak Words or Do Actions one Knows Another will Misinterpret
Bible Verses
2 Kings 6:19
Acts 16:1-3
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More
The issue of decoys.
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Latin
1600’s
Voet, Gisbert
9th Commandment in Syllabus of Theological Problems (Utrecht, 1643), pt. 1, section 2, tract 1 Abbr.
Select Theological Disputations, vol. 4 (Utrecht, 1667)
41. Some 9th Commandment Problems: ‘On Lying, False Appearance & of Disguising’, pt. 1 631
42. pt. 2: ‘On Deceit, Equivocation & Mental Reservation’ 640
43. pt. 3: ‘On Falsehood’ 661
44. pt. 3: ‘On Falsehood’, pt. 2 681
. Appendix: Some Questions 695
45. ‘On Calumny, Detraction & Reviling’, pt. 1 702
46. pt. 2 715-29
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50. ‘A Syllabus of Questions on the Whole Decalogue’, 9th Commandment
Of veracity and deception in general 820
Of candor, simplicity, fidelity in words and promises, and the opposites: simulation, fawning, contrivances, frauds, equivocation and mental reservation or restriction 820
On some crass species of deception: detraction, cavillation, disparagement, calumny, or defamation through words, writings, comedies and widespread libels 821
On deriding 821
On envy, pride, arrogance, rash judgment, presumption and suspicion 822
On loquaciousness, or much-speaking 822
On keeping silent, governing the tongue and defense and vindication of a report 822
On punishments of deceptions 822
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