Chapter 5 (148)
Distinction XXXVIII | 159 Chapter 4 (147) 1. WHAT IT IS TO LIE. But to lie is to speak against what one feels in one's soul, whether what one says is true or not. And so anyone who speaks a lie lies, because he speaks against that which he feels in his soul, that is, with the will to deceive; but not anyone who lies tells a lie, because sometimes when lying he says what is true, just as conversely sometimes one reveals the truth while telling a falsehood.—AUGUSTINE, IN THE ENCHIRIDION. Hence Augustine: "Certainly, no one is to be deemed a liar who tells a falsehood which he believes to be true, because such a one, insofar as it is in him, does not deceive, but is deceived. And so a man is not to be accused of lying, if incautiously he believes falsehoods and holds them to be true; but, on the other hand, he lies who says what is true, believing it to be false. For insofar as it pertains to his soul, he does not tell the truth, because he does not say what he feels, even though what he says turns out to be true. Nor is that person free of lying who unknowingly speaks the truth, while knowingly he wills to lie."!
2. QUESTION REGARDING THE JEW WHO SAYS THAT CHRIST IS GOD.
Here it is usual to ask: if a Jew says that Christ is God, even though he does not feel this in his soul, is he telling a lie? What he says is not a lie because, even though he holds otherwise in his soul, nonetheless what he says is true, and so it is not a lie; and yet he lies by saying what is true.
Chapter 5 (148) 1. THAT EVERY LIE IS A SIN.—AUGUSTINE, IN THE ENCHIRIDION. Augustine indicates that every lie is a sin, saying: "It seems to me that every lie is a sin, but it is very relevant with what intention and on what subjects one lies. For the man who lies to help another does not sin in the same way as the man who tells a lie to do harm; neither does the man who by his lying sends a traveller on the wrong road do as much harm as the man who by his lie distorts the way of life."'
2. WHY EVERY LIE IS A SIN. "Next, every lie is to be called a sin, because aman must always say what is in his soul, whether it is true, or whether he thinks it to be so and it is not. For words were instituted not so that men might deceive one another through them, but so that they might by words make their thoughts known to others. Therefore, to use words in order to deceive, and not for the end for which they were instituted, is a sin."
3. THAT A LIE DOES NOT CEASE TO BE A SIN IF IT IS OF HELP. "Nor should one suppose that some lie is not a sin, because at times we can be of help
'Augustine, Enchiridion, c18.
'Augustine, Enchiridion, 18.
1bid., c22.