Is lying ever alright?

I find this question curious, because it presupposes a sort of ethical structure involving right or wrong being deontological. Yet my reading of the Bible leads me to conclude that virtue ethics are a more appropriate framework, where not only the act itself but also its intents and consequences must all be weighed. So rather than claiming that lying is right or wrong categorically, we must speak of how lying and virtuous character are related.

Yeah I have to side with the poster above me.

I think the issue is not lying itself but malice, as in telling a child Santa is real is fine but lying to get a financial advantage or something is not

Is lying the right thing to do? Perhaps not.
Are there situations where lying is the right thing to do? Of course there are.
So just like the Bible. It's situational.

Paulwat said:

Do you think lying is ever ok? If so, where do we draw the line between ok lies and bad lies.

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Yeah as long as no one gets hurt.

I was raised to believe that all lying, no matter what the motive, was wrong. Both my mom and dad taught me that. I would get into trouble for lying. I think they hated being lied to...by anybody.

Also, what the Bible says about lying being wrong. I think God hates lying too. Isn't it in Psalms or Proverbs somewhere? Doesn't it say in Revelation that all liars will not inherit the kingdom of God? It says such people will be condemned to the Lake of Fire. Maybe that is a harsh doctrine, but that is what it actually says. God likes honesty because He is always honest and He always tells the truth no matter how bad it sounds. =/

Lying breaks trust.

Freth said:

From a Biblical standpoint, lying is never okay. It is one of the Ten commandments (to not lie).

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The commandment is "Do not bear false witness against your neighbor."

That is certainly a form of lying, but specifically it is a form of lying intended to cause harm toward your neighbor by dragging your neighbor's reputation through the mud. In the context of the Torah, where cases of guilt are determined within a court of law on the basis of two or three witnesses; plotting, scheming, and intending to bear a false testimony against someone is a high crime.

The commandment does not condemn, for example, the act of Rahab who lied to protect Joshua and Caleb.
The commandment does not condemn, for example, lying to the Nazis to protect your Jewish neighbors from the SS.

We can certainly make the argument that almost all forms of deception are harmful--whether it is a lie about someone else, a lie to avoid facing consequences for our wrong actions, or other similar acts.

But there are clearly examples of where lying to save a life is the more righteous act than betraying the trust of those who depend on you for their safety.

The commandment does not exist to condemn righteous acts, but to condemn unrighteous acts.

JacquelineDeane55 said:

I think God hates lying too. Isn't it in Psalms or Proverbs somewhere? Doesn't it say in Revelation that all liars will not inherit the kingdom of God? It says such people will be condemned to the Lake of Fire.

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Hello Jacqueline, yes, the Bible certainly has a lot to say directly about lying, both in the OT and in the New .. e.g. Leviticus 19:11, Psalm 120:2, Proverbs 12:22, Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:9, Revelation 21:8.

I believe that lying is always the wrong thing to do, except in very extreme/rare circumstances, some of which have already been mentioned in this thread (Rahab, Moses, and situations where we know that telling the truth would result in serious harm to oneself or to another person, for instance). Also, rather than justifying lying, even in the rare circumstance that requires that we do so, I think that we should consider it the lesser of two evils.

God bless you!!

--David