To Lie, Lies, False Testimonies

The false witnesses during one of the Trial of Jesus - James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum.

Lying is a sin Against the truth and Against the Neighbor. It is never permitted to lie, even if it results in a Good. God is the truth, He does not live in a Soul accustomed to lying.

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"[edit | edit source]

The Demon is the father of lies and he leads others down the path of lying.^[1]
Beside the plant, Eve finds the Seductor. To her inexperience, to her naive inexperience as a virgin, to the weakness of her inexperience, he sings the song of lies.^[2]
The "half-lies" of Judas: What do you mean? Why lie? I am the Truth, and I do not want falsehood neither in Me nor around Me.^[3]
"Do not bear false witness." Commandment commented on by Jesus.^[4]
The liar has given himself to the Lie and foolishly relies on its Protection. [...] The company of a sincere man provides security and comfort. The friendship of a man who is not sincere brings trouble and even his mere presence gives an impression of unease.^[5]
The oath is not necessary among honest people, and God, as far as He is concerned, did not teach it to you, on the contrary He made you say: "Do not bear false witness".^[6]
He who sees lies or betrayal everywhere is a Soul capable of such things, because he judges by his own pattern.^[7]
Man easily resorts to lying. And he does not know that in doing so, he puts himself on the path of evil. One step is enough, just one step, to no longer be able to get out... It is glue... it is a maze... it is a trap. A trap from which you do not climb back...^[8]
Satan knows so many things. He speaks through the lips of pythons, saying lies mixed with truths. And those truths which he hates because he is Lie, he only tells them—mark this well—to seduce you with the illusion that it is not Darkness speaking, but Light.^[9]
Do you not know that lying is the first step towards theft and murder?^[10]
Saying one thing for another, with good intentions, is always reprehensible. [...] Lie no more, even for a good purpose. The Soul becomes accustomed to imagining lies and the lips to uttering them.^[11]
The Son of man must not lie, even if telling the truth causes his death. For if the Son of man lied, he would no longer be the son of Truth, and Truth would reject him far from Her. I know God, both as God and as Man. And as God and as Man, I keep His words and I observe them.^[12]
But just as I never do useless things, so I never say false words.^[13]

In Fundamental Christian Texts[edit | edit source]

In the Bible[edit | edit source]

You shall not bear false witness Against your Neighbor.^[14]-^[15]
Your father is the devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father. From the beginning he sought to bring death to man; he did not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own Good because he is a liar and the father of lies.^[16]
Therefore, putting away lying, let each one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we Are members one of another.^[17]

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church[edit | edit source]

The beginning of sin and the fall of man was a lie of the tempter that led to doubt about the word, Goodness and faithfulness of God.^[18]
The devil is the "father of lies".^[19]
In their religious conduct, men also show limitations and errors that distort in them the image of God: Often, deceived by the evil one, they have gone astray in their reasoning, exchanging the truth of God for lies.^[20]
A good intention does neither make good nor just a behavior that is disordered in itself (such as lying and slander). The end does not justify the means.^[21]
Natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason what is Good and evil, truth and lies.^[22]
The reproach of false oath is a duty towards God.^[23]
"Putting away lying," the Disciples of Christ must "put away all [wickedness] and all craftiness, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander."^[24]
Lying (because it is a violation of the virtue of truthfulness), is a true Violence against others.^[25]

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.

[1] EMV 10.9

[2] EMV 17

[3] EMV 74

[4] EMV 130

[5] EMV 130

[6] EMV 172

[7] EMV 355

[8] EMV 374

[9] EMV 420

[10] EMV 442

[11] EMV 482

[12] EMV 507

[13] EMV 533

[14] Exodus 20:16

[15] Deuteronomy 5:20

[16] John 8:44

[17] Ephesians 4:25

[18] CEC 215

[19] CEC 392

[20] CEC 844

[21] CEC 1753

[22] CEC 1954

[23] CEC 2151

[24] CEC 2475

[25] CEC 2482 et seq.

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