A Supplement to Knowledge and Practice, Part 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of Lying.
IN ſpeaking of this ſubject, I ſhall proceed in this method.
1. I ſhall ſhew what a lye is, and wherein the formal nature of it conſiſts.
2. I ſhall ſhew the ſeveral ſorts, or kinds of lyes.
3. The great evil, and malignity of this ſin.
4. Give ſome remedies, and directions againſt it.
For the Firſt. A lye is a voluntary uttering of that which is againſt a mans knowledge and conſcience, with an intent to deceive. *Mendacium eſt voluntaria falſi enunciatio fallendi cauſa. Mentiri est contra mentem ire. In parabolicis locutionibus ſenſus literalis eſt non qui per verba, ſed qui per res, & facta deſignatur. G…ſon. Non adhibentur metaphorae, parabolae, apologi, aut aliae tropicae lo…uutiones intentione fallendi, ſed docendi majore cum venuſtate, & voluptate. Damnanda eſt Jeſuitica aequivocatio & mentalis reſervatio; & hoc ipſo mendatii convincuntur, quibus haec in uſu ſunt, nimirum, quia cum veram propoſitionem animo concipiant, falſum tamen enuntient. Davenant. in Coloſ.Therefore he that ſpeaks what he thinks does not tell a lye, though he may ſpeak an untruth, or that which is in it ſelf falſe. And in ſuch a caſe what he ſayes, is falſiloquium, but not mendacium, a falſhood, but not a lye. He offends not againſt moral truth or veracity, becauſe he ſpeaks as he thinks, and ſo he does not lye, but is himſelf miſtaken. 'Tis formale mendacium a formal and direct lye, when we expreſs or affirm a thing otherwiſe than we conceive, or think, with an intent to deceive.
2. I come to conſider the ſeveral ſorts or kinds of lyes. And ſo a lye is uſually diſtinguiſhed into
Jocoſum.
Officioſum.
Pernicioſum.
1. Jocoſum, when a man uttereth a lye in ſport to make others merry. To this we may apply that of the Prophet Hoſea, Chap. 7. Verſe 3. They make the King glad with their wickedneſs, and the Princes with their lyes. They that tell lyes meerly to make others laugh, are guilty of this kind of lying.
2. Officioſum, when a man tells a lye to help another out of ſome preſent danger, or inconvenience. God himſelf will not be ſerved with a lye, Job 13.7. Will ye ſpeak wickedly for God? Will ye talk deceitfully for him? We may not lye for Gods cauſe, or glory; much leſs may we do it for any mans benefit.*Plato was no good caſuiſt for Chriſtians, who allowed a lye either to ſave a Citizen, or deceive an enemy. And the piae fraudes allowed among the Papiſts are alſo much of this nature.
3. Pernicioſum, when a man tells a lye, which tends apparently to the hurt, or damage of another either in his life, goods, or good name.
3. I come now to ſhew the great evil and malignity of this ſin.
1. 'Tis a ſin, that makes men moſt unlike unto God. God is a God of truth, and cannot lye. He is ſtiled the Lord God of truth; Pſal. 31.5. Deut. 32.4. and Iſay. 65.16. That which makes men ſo unlike the true and holy God muſt needs be an odious ſin. One of the Antients ſaid well, that two things make us like unto God, foreign to ſpeak truth and to do good. And ſurely this conſideration, that lying is againſt the holy nature of God, ſhould work in us an extreme deteſtation of it.
2. 'Tis a ſin, that God hath declared in his word a great abhorrence of, as may appear if you conſider theſe following Scriptures.
Prov. 6.16, 17, 18, 19. Theſe ſix things doth the Lord hate, yea, ſeven are an abomination to him: A proud look, a lying tongue, &c. A falſe witneſs that ſpeaketh lyes, and him that ſoweth diſcord among Brethren.
Levit. 19.11. Ye ſhall not lye one to another.
Prov. 13.5. A Righteous man hateth lying, &c.
Rev. 21.8. The fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and whore-mongers, and ſorcerers, and Idolaters, and all lyars ſhall have their part in the Lake, which burneth with fire and brimſtone.
Rev. 22.15. Without are dogs, and ſorceres, &c. and whoſoever loveth and maketh a lye.
Pſal. 101.7. — He that telleth lyes ſhall not tarry in my ſight.
Hoſe 4.1, 2. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Iſrael: for the Lord hath a controverſie with the inhabitants of the Land, becauſe there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the Land: By ſwearing and lying, &c. they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Zech. 8.16, 17. Theſe are the things that ye ſhall do: Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour, execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates, &c. And let none of you imagine evil in his heart againſt his neighbour, and love no falſe Oath. For theſe are the things I hate, ſaith the Lord.
Epheſ. 4.25. Wherefore putting away lying, ſpeak every man truth to his neighbour.
Col. 3.9. Lye not one to another, ſeeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.
3. 'Tis a great perverting of that noble faculty of ſpeech which God hath given unto man. God hath given unto man a tongue to expreſs his mind, and to reveal and declare what he apprehends in his heart; ſo that his tongue is to be the index and diſcoverer of his mind. Now you know, if the index or hand of a Clock ſhould point to eight, and the Clock preſently ſtrike ten, we ſhould ſay it was a lying Index, and greatly out of order. The caſe is ſo here, when the tongue utters one thing, and the mind thinks another.
4. Lying is a work of the Devil, and makes people reſemble the Devil in a manner. John 1.44. Ye are of your Father, the Devil, and the luſts of your Father ye will do, he was a Murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, becauſe there is no truth in him. When he ſpeaketh a lye, he ſpeaketh of his own: for he is a lyer and the Father of it. Pride, Malice, and Lying are the Devils ſins after a more eſpecial manner. And who would be willing to be like the Devil?
5. Lying is deſtructive to humane ſociety. 'Tis injurious to all converſe between man and man. How ſhall a man know what to look for, or what to expect, or what to truſt to, if he cannot believe the perſons he deals with; but finds that in what they affirm to him or aſſure him of, or promiſe to him, they notoriouſly lye unto him, and palpably deceive him?
6. 'Tis a ſin condemned by the light of natural conſcience. The more ingenuous among the Heathens abhorred it. The Apoſtle quoteth a verſe out of Epimenides a Heathen Poet, wherein he condemns Cretians for their frequent lying. Tit. 1.12. The Cretians are are alwayes lyars, evil beaſts, ſlow-bellies.*foreign.
7. 'Tis a reproachful, a ſhameful ſin. The maddeſt fellows, and moſt Ruffianly and debauched, who make ſo little conſcience of other ſins, yet cannot induce to be charged with a lye, becauſe 'tis looked upon as a cowardly and ſhameful ſin. Whoever gives them the lye provokes them beyond all patience. 'Tis the cauſe of many duels, and many times murders. Hear what that excellent perſon Mr. Herbert ſaith in his Poems.
Lye not, but let thy heart be true to God,
Thy mouth to it, thy actions to them both.
Cowards tell lyes, and thoſe that fear the rod.
The ſtormy-working ſoul ſpits lyese and froth.
Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lye,
A fault, that needs it moſt, grows two thereby.
8. Lying eaſily diſpoſeth to perjury. He that uſeth frequently to lye, 'tis to be feared he will not much ſtick at forſwearing himſelf upon occaſion. For when the heart is once hardened in one ſin, it is mighty proclive to another of the like kind and nature.
9. It makes a man uſeleſs in the world. When a man is once looked upon as a perſon that cannot be believed, no body cares to have any thing to do with him. For he that is not true in his words, will not be thought honeſt in his dealings. So that having loſt his good name he is incapacitated to do good, or benefit, others.
10. 'Tis a ſin, that being frequently committed wonderfully hardens the heart, and fears the conſcience. Therefore cuſtomary lying is called the way of lying, Pſal. 119.29. And they that are in that way, uſually have ſinned down all tenderneſs of conſcience.
11. We ſhould remember how it is made the note or character of a righteous man to ſpeak the truth from his heart; and the wiſe man tells us, Prov. 12.22. That they that deal truly are Gods delight, but lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
12. Deſtruction is the lyars reward, Pſal. 5.6. Thou ſhalt deſtroy them that ſpeak leaſing, &c. Rev. 21.8. Lyars ſhall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimſtone.
Prov. 19.5. He that ſpeaketh lyes ſhall not eſcape. And ſo much of the third particular, the great evil and danger of this ſin.
4. I come now to give ſome remedies, and directions againſt it.
1. Seeing people are ſo prone to this vice (through natural corruption,) let all humble themſelves before God for every ſin of this nature that ever they have been guilty of, in any part of their lives. Sins that we truly repent of, we are careful to keep our ſelves from, for the future.
2. Let us labour to keep our ſelves innocent. Saepe delinquentibus promptiſſimum eſt mentiri. Faultineſs commonly cauſeth faultring, and ſin uſually putteth men upon ſhifts to ſave themſelves from blame. Take heed therefore of committing faults, and then thou wilt not need to tell a lye to help thy ſelf. The beſt way to avoid lying is, to endeavour alwayes (as much as poſſibly we can) to be faultleſs, and blameleſs. 'Tis too too uſual for Children and Servants, when they have done amiſs, and are blame-worthy, to ſeek to hide their faults with a lye; and when they have told one lye, that that may not be diſcovered or found out, to back it with four or five more, and ſo they heinouſly increaſe their guilt. But they that labour to walk innocently and blameleſly need no ſuch miſerable and wretched ſhifts as theſe are.
3. Let us fear the diſpleaſure of God more than the wrath of men. If we be affraid of mans anger for our faults, (which is but ſhort, and tranſient) how ſhould we fear the inſupportable wrath and vengeance of God, which is everlaſting. The one is but like a drop of ſcalding water falling on our fleſh; the other like being thrown into a furnace of boyling metal. No mans diſpleaſure (how hot ſoever) is to be named the ſame day with the anger of the Almighty. Your Parents or Maſters may be angry with you, and threaten to correct you, but God threatens to damn you; and which of theſe two are you moſt to conſider?
4. Think it a leſs evil to take ſhame to thy ſelf by confeſſing thy fault, than to hide it with a lye. 'Tis Pride that makes people ſo impatient of the hard opinion of others. And ſhame is to ſome perſons ſo intolerable a ſuffering, that they will rather venture to diſpleaſe God than man, and choſe rather to tell a lye and expoſe themſelves thereby to the wrath of God, than indure a little ſhame or diſgrace from men. Whereas if they had a right underſtanding, and diſcerning of the difference between good and evil, they would think it far the better courſe to take ſhame to themſelves by confeſſing their faults than to hide it with a lye.
5. Labour to foreſee in what particulars, and upon what occaſions you may (in all likelihood) be moſt in danger of faultring, or telling a lye, and there ſet a ſtricter watch and guard upon your ſelf, fortifying your ſelf with the greter care and caution againſt this vice.
6. Labour to keep your conſciences tender, that it may ſmite you when you are apt to warp, or ſtart aſide from your duty. And reverence your conſcience, when it checks you, and liſten to it.
7. Live as in the ſight and hearing of God, and walk as one that is paſſing on to judgment.
8. Labour to get a keen hatred and deteſtation of this vice. Repreſent it to your thoughts as a ſin of an odious and ſhameful nature. And if you be affraid of ſhame, be affraid of lying which is in it ſelf ſo ſhameful.
9. Earneſtly implore the grace of God to keep you from this ſin. Earneſtly beg of God that you may never be left to your ſelf at any time, or upon any occaſion whatever.
10. Set a watch over the doors of your lips. Take heed of ſpeaking haſtily, or raſhly, or too much. For in the multitude of words this ſin is ſeldom wanting.
11. Take heed of a greedy, and an immoderate deſire of gain. How many trading people for a ſmall and inconſiderable advantage, for a two-penny or three-penny matter will not ſtick to tell a lye, and deceive. Hear what the Prophet Micah preached in his days. Chap. 6. v. 9, 10, 11, 12. The Lords voice cryeth unto the City, &c. Are there yet the treaſures of wickedneſs in the houſe of the wicked, and the ſcant meaſure, that is abominable? ſhall I count them pure with the wicked ballances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have ſpoken lyes, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore will I make thee ſick in ſmiting thee, in making thee deſolate becauſe of thy ſins. We read in the fourth of Matthew, 8.9. v. that the Devil took our Saviour up into an exceeding high Mountain, and ſhewed him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the glory of them; that is (as I ſuppoſe) pointed to him where they lay, and told him, that all theſe would he give him, if he would fall down, and worſhip him. But alaſs! the Devil need not bid ſo high for the ſouls of men now a-days. If he take them but into a fair, or market, or into a ſhop, for a ſmall gain they will lye and ſerve him.
12. Take heed of envy, and malice, which often put people upon lying. When men owe ſuch and ſuch perſons ill will, they care not what they ſay of them.
How ſad, and corrupt were the times wherein the Prophet Jeremiah lived, who in his ninth Chapter, verſe 4.5. ſpeaks to the Jews after this manner, Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and truſt ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly ſupplant, and every neighbour will walk with ſlanders, and they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not ſpeak the truth. They have taught their tongue to ſpeak lyes, and weary themſelves to commit iniquity. So the Prophet David complained in his time, Pſal. 12.1, 2. Help Lord, for the Godly man ceaſeth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They ſpeak vanity every one with his neighbour, with flattering lips, and with a double heart do they ſpeak.
14. Labour for a plain ſpirit without guile, and repreſent to your thoughts the amiableneſs thereof. Remember what is the note or character of a Godly man, Prov. 13.5. A righteous man hateth lying, but a wicked man is loathſome, and cometh to ſhame. Think with your ſelf how ill you ſhould like it, that thoſe, whom you deal with ſhould lye to you, or deceive you, and why ſhould you then do ſo to them?
15. Learn to truſt in God at all times. A man that does humbly repoſe himſelf on Gods Fatherly care and protection over him in the greateſt dangers and ſtraits, and is reſolved that he had better ſtand to Gods determination and choice in all things, than to his own, what need can he apprehend he hath of a lye, or any ſinful ſhift, even at the greateſt pinch? Diſtruſt of Gods fatherly care was Iſaacks weakneſs at Gerar, Gen. 26.7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he ſaid ſhe is my ſiſter: for he feared to ſay ſhe is my wife; leſt the men of the place ſhould kill him for Rebeckahs ſake, becauſe ſhe was fair to look upon.
16. Think much of Gods omniſcience, and that his eye is alwayes upon you. 'Tis a weighty ſaying of my Lord Verulam, He that tells a lye ſhrinks from man, and braves it towards God. He fears the wrath of man, and ſo tells a lye to prevent it; but he braſens it out in the face of the Alſeeing God. Gehazi feared his maſters anger, and ſo lyed to prevent it, thinking he could not find it out; But he feared not lying in the ſight of God, for which he was puniſhed with the Leproſie, 2 Kings 5.27.
17. Remember, that thoſe things that are got by a lye, are uſually imbittered with a great deal of ſmart and ſorrow. A remarkable inſtance hereof we have in Jacob, who indeed got the bleſſing by a lye. But obſerve what followed hereupon. 1. His Brother Eſau vowed to kill*Gen. 27.41, …2, &c. him for it. 2. He was thereupon ſent away from his Fathers houſe to his uncle Laban, who dwelt at Haran in Meſopotamia, a great way of? 3. As he had dealt deceitfully with his Father, ſo his uncle Laban dealt deceitfully with him, changing his wages ten times, (Gen. 31.41.) and gave him at laſt Leah inſtead of Rachel, beſide all the other hardſhips he endured there for twenty years together. 4. His Mother Rebeckah, that put him upon that courſe of beguiling his Father, never ſaw her beloved Jacob more, (as far as we can diſcern by the ſtory) ſhe dying as 'tis probable, before his return. Thus we ſee, that they that get any thing by lying and indirect dealing, have reaſon to expect that they ſhall ſmart for it in the end.
18. Avoid thoſe two great Jeſuitical tricks, viz. equivocation and mental reſervation. Equivocation is, when an anſwer is expreſſed in ſuch words as are ambiguous, and carry double, and contain more ſenſes and ſignifications than one, and that on purpoſe to deceive. Mental reſervation is, when the ſenſe is but half expreſſed; as if a Magiſtrate ſhould ask a Romiſh Prieſt, Art thou a Prieſt, and he ſhould anſwer, I am no Prieſt, reſerving in his mind, I am no Prieſt of Baal. This trick is plainly everſive of all truth in ſpeaking. For the reply in ſuch caſes being deceitful doth not anſwer the queſtion as it ought to do. But here one thing is to be interpoſed, viz. that Hyperboles and ſuch figurative ſpeeches are not lyes, but are uſed to expreſs a thing more ſignificantly; As the Land of Canaan is called in the Scripture a Land flowing with milk and honey, Exod. 33.3 whereby is meant only that it was a very fruitful Land, abounding with all neceſſaries. Neither are Parables or Apologues to be accounted lyes, when by things feigned an unfeigned truth is more lively repreſented, as in Jothams parable. Judges 9.8. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a King over them, &c. See alſo 2 Kings 14.9. and 2 Sam. 12.1. Neither is it a lye, when in ſhew of words ſome falſe thing is uttered, but by the geſture or pronunciation of the ſpeaker it owe may appear, that ſomething elſe is intended. See 1 Kings 18.27. And it came to paſs, that at noon Elijah mocked them (concerning their god Baal,) and ſaid, cry aloud; for he is a god, either he is talking, or purſuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he ſleepeth and muſt be awaked, &c.
19. Let Parents, Maſters, and Superiors be careful not too haſtily or ſuddenly to charge faults on their children, ſervants, or inferiours. For ſuch ſudden ſurpriſes put them by all due conſideration, and ſo diſorder their underſtandings, that many times they ſpeak what otherwiſe they would not. Therefore let them give them time to conſider, and let them adviſe them to ſpeak the truth, though againſt themſelves, declaring to them that if they be in a fault, an humble confeſſion of it is the only way to obtain pardon both from God and man. Whereas a lye will double their fault, and greatly increaſe their guilt.
20. Laſtly, let ſuch as profeſs religion, and pretend to piety take heed they be not at any time found tardy as to this vice. For thereby they will bring a ſcandal upon their profeſſion, and open the mouths of wicked and prophane ſcoffers, who are ready enough to watch for the haltings of good men, and to charge them (though unjuſtly) that they will lye though they will not ſwear. Let them therefore be very careful to be honeſt and true in their words, cautious in their promiſes, and faithful in their performances, that the name of God, and the Chriſtian profeſſion may not be blaſphemed through them. And though they that commonly ſwear make no conſcience of a lye; yet let it appear, that they*Iſay. 63.8. Surety they are my people, children that will not lye, ſo he was their Saviour. that fear to ſwear, fear to tell a lye alſo.