as much as wee hate death and destruction so much let us abhor lying which is the cause thereof and with as much care and endeavour let us shunne the one as well as the other And as God thus punisheth lyes in this life so §. 8. That God punisheth lyars with everlasting condemnation much more fearefully in the life to come For first it excludeth lyars out of the Kingdome of Heaven seeing none are admitted to dwell in Gods Holy Psal 15. 2. Hill but those that speake the Trueth from their hearts and the Gates of this Heavenly Citty are onely opened that the righteous Nation which keepeth Esa 26. 2. the Truth may enter in And as the Apostle Iohn telleth us there shall in no wise enter into it any thing Apoc. 21. 27. that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lye And that without the gates of the Citty Apoc. 22. 15. are dogges and sorcerers and whoremongers and murtherers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lye Yea not onely doth this sinne of lying exclude lyars out of the Kingdome of Heaven but also if they live and dye in it without repentance it will irrecoverably plunge them headlong into Hell For the same Apostle telleth us that the fearefull and unbeleeving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars without any difference made of their divers kindes of lyes shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Apoc. 21. 8. death And therefore as we love to injoy eternall happinesse in Heaven so let us love to speake the Truth from our hearts which will assure us of it and as wee abhorre everlasting torments in Hell fire so let us hate and abhorre Lyes which are the meanes that will bring us to them CHAP. XIV Divers other motives to make us hate the Vice of Lying ANd thus have I shewed that lyes are §. 1. That lyes are odious because most opposite to truth accompanied with all manner of evils both of sinne and punishment and that both in this life and in the Life to come Unto which divers other motives might be added to bring us into a further detestation of this vice though none more effectuall than those already named if wee have any respect to Gods glory our Neighbours good our owne present comfort and well-being and the everlasting salvation of our body and soules As first that as lyes are friends and fanters of all vices causing and incouraging men to fall into them and to live in them without repentance so they are enemies and opposites to all Vertues and especially to Truth Justice and Charity First they stand in direct opposition to Truth so that where they are set up there Truth falleth and fayleth and where Truth is magnified and imbraced lyes are condemned and banished And this opposition betweene lyes and Truth the Apostle Iames noteth Jam. 3. 14. Lye not saith he against the Truth and the Apostle Iohn likewise where hee saith that hee who braggeth 1 John 2. 4. 21 27. that hee knoweth God and keepeth not his Commandements hee is a lyar and the Truth is not in him Yea they are such contraries as have no meane but the presence of the one argueth the absence of the other and the same heart at the same time cannot love and delight in both but if it loveth and delighteth in lyes it hateth and abhorreth the Truth And therefore seeing Truth is a most excellent Vertue and exceeding pleasing and acceptable unto God as being like unto him in his owne Nature It must needs follow by the rule of contraries that lying is a most base and dishonourable vice and most odious and abominable unto God as being opposite to his owne Nature Neither may wee qualifie and extenuate the sinne by our distinction of merry officious and pernicious lyes for howsoever these severall kindes may in other respects bee much more hainous and wicked one than another much more odious to God and men and will condemne lyars to greater or lesser punishments in Hell fire yet all of them are alike odious and abominable in this that they are all opposite to that excellent vertue of Truth and in every kinde of them contrary to Gods pure and perfect Nature who is essentially true and Truth it selfe In which regard even the best sort of officious lyes are evill and sinfull as namely when as men will tell them to confirme the Truth of Scripture and to perswade men more strongly and effectually to imbrace professe and practice the true religion by reporting fained miracles that have beene for merly wrought for the confirmation of this Truth which as also others of like nature are called pious lyes For first they are contrary to Truth an excellent Vertue and therefore must needes be vicious they are opposite to Gods Nature and dishonourable unto him as though hee were not able to maintaine his Truth unlesse wee helped him with our lyes neither do they so much grace and confirme the Truth of religion when they are kept secret as disgrace and weaken it when they are discovered and come to light nor so much strengthen mens faith in beleeving it being thus countenanced with lying wonders as weaken it when the deceit is knowne seeing these pious and officious lyes will make men when they are discerned jealous and suspicious of reall truths and take away from their teachers all power in perswading making their arguments and motives unto piety of no credit or efficacy seeing they that are moved and perswaded are ready to suspect that their speeches are all alike that seeing they have told them of false miracles therefore there are none true but all of one kinde although some more than other are more cūningly acted and that all the reasons and motives which they use to perswade men to a godly life are nothing but officious lyes which their teachers out of a pious affection and intention use to countenance religion and to make their exhortations and perswasions unto piety and honesty more forcible and efficacious And this was the reason which made Saint Augustine August lib. Epistol Epist 15. oppose Saint Ierome who maintained the lawfulnesse of such officious and pious lyes because if this were once permitted as lawfull or tolerable it would take away all authority in the teacher all faith and beliefe in the hearer yea make the Scriptures themselves to bee suspected so as no admonitions reproofes or counsells can bee given with any fruite because the hearers and readers will easily surmise that the things they heare and read are but pious and officious lyes to bring into and keepe men in the right way and not because they have in them any reallity of Trueth And therefore seeing these lyes are also unlawfull as being opposite to Truth I conclude that there are not any lawfull according to that of Saint
est quippe falsa significatio cum voluntate fallendi Aug. contr mendac ad Consent lib. 2. cap. 12. Qua propter ille mentitur qui aliud habet in animo aliud verbis vel quibuslibet significationibus enunciat lib. 1. cap. 3. it thus A Lye is a false signification with a will to deceive And that saith he is not a false signification when as though one thing is signified by another yet that is true which is signified if it bee rightly understood And this hee explaineth in another place where he saith that he lyeth who hath one thing in his minde and uttereth another thing in his words or any other way of signification more plainely as I take it wee may thus describe it A lye is a vicious speech in which the tongue disagreeth from the minde which is voluntarily uttered with a purpose and desire to deceive or thus a lye is a false expression or signification of the notions and conceptions of the mind by speaking writing or any other significant actions or gestures voluntarily uttered with a purpose and desire to deceive or when the Truth is suppressed and betrayed by silence when wee ought to declare and confesse it whereby it appeareth that these three things doe concurre in a lye First falsity or untruth uttered by speaking writing or any other meanes contrary to that Truth with which the minde is inlightned Secondly that it be voluntary the will resisting the minde and commanding expressions which are contrary to its notions and conceptions Thirdly that it bee done with a purpose and desire to deceive The two first doe containe the matter and forme the third the end at which he aymeth who telleth an untruth But for the better and more full clearing of the §. 2. Of the name or thing defined nature of this vice wee will first say something of the name or thing defined and then of the definition it selfe Our English name whereby wee expresse it is Lye the Etymology whereof we cannot easily guesse at It may seeme to bee derived or borrowed from the Belgicke word Lieghen or the German Lügen which signifie to lye and they to be derived from the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to speake or talke because as Scaliger observeth in much speaking or talking is usually some lying The Latine expresseth it by a name which signifieth the disagreement that is in it betweene the tongue and the mind mentiri quasi contra mentem ire to lye is to goe against the minde or to say that which the mind gain-sayeth the tongue speaking contrary to that Truth which the minde conceiveth The Grecians call a lye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to deceive because deceit is the maine end of lying And this some derive from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to flye or avoyde because lying is such a vice as men naturally abhorring when it is spoken against themselves do shun and fly from it others derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Arist eth lib. 4. cap. 7. signifieth to reprehend disprayse or disgrace because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lye is reprehended and dispraysed amongst all as a thing vaine and wicked The Hebritians commonly call a lye Aven the same word also signifying iniquity and sinne because in all lyes though they seeme never so specious and excusable there is iniquity and sinne because the will and the tongue doe disagree from the minde and doe betray it by forcing it like a false interpreter to speake that which it doth not conceive and thinke And so I come from the name to speake of the §. 3. Of the falsity that is in a Lye nature of the thing described In which the first thing considerable is the falsity and untruth that is in every lye The which is twofold First when that is false which is spoken Secondly when as Men speake the Truth falsely that is with a purpose to deceive Now he speaketh false who doth not speake as the thing is whether hee thinketh it true or noe or whether he purposeth to deceive or not to deceive and he speaketh falselye who doth not speake as hee thinketh whether that hee speaketh bee true or false The one is a Logicall untruth when as the speech agreeth not with the thing the other a Morall lye or a lye against Morality when as the minde agreeth not with the speech He that speaketh that which is false but yet thinketh it to bee true cannot bee said to lye though he speaketh an untruth because his speech agreeth with his minde and as hee thinketh hee speaketh onely it is his errour either through the weakenesse of his reason and understanding and defect in judgement or else through rashnesse incogitancie and negligence because he doth not duely consider and examine what he saith before hee speaketh it If the former it is not so much a sinne as the punishment of sinne or if a sinne in the strictest censure yet but onely as it is a branch of the corruption of nature or originall sin The other must bee acknowledged and bewayled as a sinne of infirmity if it be done seldome and at unawares though nothing so haynous and odious unto God as a lye But he that speaketh willingly that which he knoweth to be false or doth speake the Truth falsely that is either when through errour and mistake hee thinketh it to bee false or knowing it to be true that he may deceive or may be better beleeved when he lyeth he is a lyer and herein resembleth the Devill who either lyeth in speaking that which hee knoweth to be false or else when hee speaketh Truth doth it with a purpose to deceive or that hee may gaine the more credit to his lyes And thus he called our Saviour Christ the Holy one of God and his Apostles Paul Mar. 1. 26. Act. 16. 17. and Silas the servants of the most high God either because he would deceive the people and make them to suspect them the more because of his testimony and approbation as though they were friends to his kingdome of darkenesse or that he might bee the rather beleeved when hee should afterwards slander and reproach them as seducers and false teachers Now which of those two he that speaketh that which is false with a purpose to deceive or he that speaketh the Truth to the same end bee in greater fault it is not easie to determine because how much the lesse the one hath of Truth in his speech who speaketh that which is false so much the more the other hath of craft and deceit who can cunningly force Truth even against its nature to advance his false ends Whereby it appeareth that there is great difference §. 4. Of the difference between lying and speaking an untruth betweene lying and telling or speaking a lye or untruth for in a lye the
as it is disguised with some shaddow or colour of truth an untruth thus mistaken cannot be accounted a lye because the will agreeth with the minde and the tongue is directed by the will so that though a man speaketh a lye yet hee is no lyer because he neither thinketh that hee lyeth nor would willingly doe it if hee knew it to bee so Interest enim inter mentientem mendacem nam mentiens est qui mentitur invitus c. Ad Consent lib. 1. c. 11. To this purpose Saint Augustine There is a difference saith hee betweene one that telleth a lye and one that is a lyer for one may tell a lye that lyeth unwillingly but a lyar loveth to lye and dwelleth with his minde in the delight of lying The third thing that concurreth in a lye is that §. 6. That a lye is uttered with a purpose to deceive it is an untruth alwayes uttered with a purpose and desire to deceive and to make the party to whom wee speake thinke that to bee so which is not So that such an untruth as is uttered without any purpose to deceive is not to be esteemed a lye because it aymeth not at that end which a lyer alwaies propoundeth For howsoever some appropriate this end to pernicious lies that the lier intendeth it therein onely yet indeed it belongeth also to those lyes that are officious and in jest It is true that there are some lyers that have a will and desire to deceive him unto whom they speake without his losse yea it may be for his profit and delight as those that use officious and merry lyes and some lye with a will and desire to hurt and endammage him as pernicious lyers but all agree in this that all would deceive though the one for their good the other for their hurt for whosoever speaketh that which is false wittingly and willingly whether it doth good or hurt hee alwayes speaketh it to this end that the Truth may not be understood by him that heareth him and consequently to deceive him I say it is his next end to deceive although his remote end at which hee aimeth bee to delight or profit him which hee useth as a meanes to attaine unto his desire As when a Physitian telleth his sicke Patient that the potion which he willeth him to take is sweete and pleasant though intruth it be bitter and loathsome that so hee may perswade him to drinke it for the recovery of his health the maine end at which herein hee aimeth is the welfare of the sicke Man but the next end is to deceive him by telling an untruth which he useth as a meanes to further the other end of curing him which is principally in his intention and desire The last thing in the definition to bee considered §. 7. Of the divers manner and meanes whereby a lye is expressed of is the divers manner and meanes whereby a lye is expressed and committed and that is either positively and directly when as the Truth is contradicted and opposed or else privatively and indirectly when as it is suppressed and betrayed The former is done by any outward signification of the inward notions and thoughts of the minde especially by our speech and actions By our speach a lye is expressed and committed when as wee speake otherwise than that which wee conceive in our mindes either affirming that to be which wee thinke is not or denying that to bee which as we conceive is By our actions when by our outward showes gestures and deeds wee deceitfully faine dissemble and disguise the Truth that we may deceive our neighbour by making him to thinke that to bee which is not or that not to bee which is and to conceive by our outward shewes and carriage that wee intend that which is least in our thought to this end that wee may deceive and hurt him Secondly a lye is committed privatively and indirectly when as the Truth is suppressed and betrayed and that is done when as by silence it is concealed at such times and before such persons wherein and before whom wee are bound in conscience to reveale and confesse it for the glory of God and good of our neighbours For truth and falshood being contraries without meane the suppressing of the one is the exalting of the other and we may bee truely said to lye when wee deny the truth and to deny it when wee conceale it by silence at such times as wee are lawfully called to confesse it And therefore our Saviour as appeareth by his antithesis and opposition maketh this to be all one to deny him and not to confesse him Whosoever shall confesse mee before men him will I confesse Matth. 10. 32 33. also before my Father which is in Heaven but whosoever shall deny me before men him will I deny also before my Father which is in Heaven So that our silencing of truth when it ought to be spoken and confessed is no better than a denyall seeing by such silence it is betrayed and the contrary errour and truth advanced and maintained And therefore fitly doth the Apostle Iohn in that Catalogue of Apoc. 21. 8. sinners which shall have their part in that Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone ranke the fearefull with lyers because as the one bely the truth so the other through their cowardize and infidelity dare not confesse it which is all one as to betray and deny it CHAP. III. Of divers sorts and formes of speach which are to bee acquitted from the censure of a Lye ANd these are the things which alwayes §. 1. Of hyperâ—olâ—es and that they are no lyes concurre in every Lye whereby it appeareth that divers formes of speaking which are suspected and accused as lyes are acquitted and cleared hereof at the Barre before the seat of Justice by a right sentence of true judgement as namely hyperbolicall speeches fables parables and ironies In all which though there bee not the same spoken which is meant punctually and literally yet the same in the sense and intention of the speaker in whom there is no will to lye or speake contrary to the truth with a love and delight in falshood but a divers expression of the same truth conceived in the minde in other words and phrases than are ordinary namely such as are tropicall metaphoricall parabolicall and hyperbolicall not onely for the greater elegancy but also for the more profit of the hearer and not to blinde him with untruthes or deceive him with lyes but rather the better to convince him of the truth and to move him to imbrace it with greater profit and delight As first for hyperboales or hyperbolicall speeches which is the raising of things to their highest pitch and the inlarging of them above all due proportion not to deceive for then some measure should bee observed to make the thing probable and credible but to expresse the conceits of the minde in an extraordinary
than truthes when hee judgeth them evill And againe certainly it is a thing intolerable to tell lyes Another telleth us that he is equally his enemy as the gates of Hell who conceaveth one thing in his minde and speaketh another thing with his mouth And that Iupiter the great father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Iliad lib. 4. Phocyllides who helpeth all yet will not be helpfull unto lyars Another perswadeth thus tell saith hee no lyes but speake all truthes And againe doe not hide one thing in thy heart and utter another with thy tongue Another affirmeth that every prudent Cleobulus and wise man hateth a lye And the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as before was shewed deriveth the Greeke word signifying a lye from another which signifieth a thing dishonest and worthy reprehension because every lye is of this nature Finally Plato in many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Theat lib. 2. de Repub. places condemneth lies and pleadeth for the truth To thinke the truth saith he is honest but a filthy and dishonest thing to lye And againe a lye is odious not onely to the gods but also to men And therefore if the Heathens could discover the fowlnesse and deformities of this vice by the dimme light of nature what a shame is it for us to bee so blinde in our understandings and ignorant as not to discerne the uglinesse of it when as we have the cleare sun-shine of the Gospell and the illumination of Gods Holy Spirit to guide and direct us But let us come more particularly to shew the §. 3. That Lying is opposite to Gods nature haynousnesse of this vice which will better bee cleared if we prove that it hath in it all relations of sinne as it is committed either against God our neighbours or our selves and is not onely a sinne in it selfe but also the cause and the effect of many other evills both of sinne and punishment as it will appeare if wee examine some particulars For first lying is in this respect a great sinne because it is contrary to God the chiefe goodnesse whether we consider his Nature or his Persons In his Nature and Essence he is in and of himselfe and the fountaine of Being and in this sense it is most true that being Truth and Goodnesse are convertible and all one He is not only True but Truth it selfe and all other things are true in and for him And thus he describeth himselfe Mercifull Gracious Exod. 34. 6. Long-suffering and aboundant in Goodnesse and Truth So Moses in his song He is a God of Truth and without Deut. 32. 4. iniquitie just and right is he So Esay Hee that sweareth in the Earth shall sweare by the God of Truth Esay 65. 16. yea hee is so essentially True as that there is none true besides him according to that of the Apostle Let GOD be True but every man a lyar and though Rom. 3. 4. it be at mans choyce to speake the truth or to lye yet truth being of Gods Essence and the Truth of God nothing but the True God hence it followeth that God can no more deny the Truth than deny Himselfe And therefore it is said that God is not a man that he should lye yea though he can doe Numb 23. 19. all things yet He cannot lye yea that it is impossible Tit. 1. 2. Heb. 6. 18. for God to lye which doth not argue any impotency in him but perfection of Being seeing if hee could lye hee could also deny himselfe and so not be seeing Truth in him and Being are all one And as the former places are affirmed of the whole Divine nature and so primarily of God the Father the Fountaine of Truth and Being so other places testifie the like of the Sonne namely that Hee is full of a John 1. 14. Grace and Trueth and that all b vers 17. Grace and Trueth come by him yea that hee is the c John 14. 6. Way the Truth and Life it selfe And so also of the Holy Ghost who is called the d John 14. 17. Spirit of Truth yea e 1 John 5. 6. Truth it selfe who proceedeth f John 15. 26. from the Father and the Sonne And those whom by regeneration hee maketh his Children g John 16. 13. He leadeth into all Truth and worketh in them all sanctifying and saving Graces and Truth amongst the rest which is therefore by the Apostle numbred among the h Eph. 5. 9. fruits of the Spirit In all which respects as it must needs follow that Truth is a Vertue most acceptable unto God as being according to his owne Likenesse so also that those best please him who resemble him in Truth by loving imbracing and speaking it approving themselves hereby to bee his Children because they are like him according to that of the Prophet Esay Surely they are my people Children Esa 63. 8. that will not lye To which purpose an Heathen Philosopher speaketh excellently who being asked Pythagoras in what thing men were most like unto God answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. if they speake the Truth And in this respect their magi or magitians affirmed that their greatest god whom they called Oromagden Serm. 11. was in his body like unto the light and in his mind or soule like unto truth as Stobaeus recordeth it And excellent to this use is the etymologie of the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which they signifie Truth which Iamblichus bringeth ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deducta sit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because as the Greeke word signifying the Truth so Truth it selfe is derived from the gods although others give another Etymology deriving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the privative participle because the Truth cannot lye hid Whereby it appeareth that as Truth is deare unto God so a lye which opposeth it is a great sinne and most odious unto him seeing it opposeth himselfe and his owne nature who is a God of Truth for hee who lyeth denieth the Truth and he who denieth it denieth God himselfe Again Truth which hath its existence in the minde against which the lyar speaketh is of the Spirit of God who is the Author of all Truth and therefore what is it to lye but to make the tongue speake against the Truth ingraven in the minde by the Spirit and consequently to speake against the Holy Spirit himselfe who is the Lev. 6. 2. Author of it Secondly by lying we sin immediately against §. 4. That Lying is a breach of Gods Commandement God in that we breake and violate his Word and holy Commandements which injoine us to speake the Truth and not to lye in any thing nor at any time For in the ninth Commandement under the name of bearing false witnesse against our neighbour as in the affirmative part hee requireth all Truth so in
us and give us helpe by Judg. 12. 6. setting also his Watch before our mouthes and keeping the doore of our lippes that no lying and lisping Sibboleth may passe out of them nor any speech which bringeth not with it the Watch-word of Trueth CHAP. XVI Of the uses which wee ought to make of the former discourse ANd thus having through Gods gracious §. 1. The first use that wee have Truth in high esteeme assistance handled the pointes which in the beginning of this Treatise I propounded and shewed the nature of this vice what it is the causes and kindes of it with the meanes whereby we may bee preserved from this common infection or cured if we bee tainted with it it now followeth in the last place that I adde a word or two by way of use And first seeing Truth is such an excellent Vertue and precious Jewell let this move us highly to prise and dearely love it and following the wise mans counsell let us buy it though it cost us Prov. 23. 23. deare but never sell it at any rate For though it may seeme at the first sight that we have much damage and disadvantage by it and that by speaking the simple truth wee make our selves a prey to the crafty who have great helpe by their lyes to circumvent and deceive us that wee have much losse in our trading and bargaining buying and selling when wee are restrained in our liberty of lying whilest that others that make no conscience of it have many helpes and advantages thereby to further their ends and advance their gaine And finally that wee shall by confessing the Truth when we have offended incurre much displeasure and expose our selves to the hard opinions of those that are set over us yea oftentimes to rigour and punishment whereas others more faulty by the helpe of their Iyes doe frame such excuses that they are acquitted as blamelesse held in good esteeme yea sometimes praysed and rewarded as innocent and well deserving yet let us rest assured that by loving and speaking Truth wee shall finde our selves gainers in the end For first Truth it selfe is such an unvaluable Jewell that it is sufficient to inrich its owners by it selfe and to make full amends for all the inconveniences disadvantages losses and punishments which they have by it seeing it is accompanied with the inward peace of a good conscience and Spirituall joy in the assurance of Gods Love and our Salvation Besides it will make us acceptable unto God who is in himselfe alone All-sufficient to reward our loving and imbracing of Truth in obedience to his Commandement and to recompence abundantly all inconveniences and disadvantages which we have by it For he is infinitely wise and knoweth how to uphold us in our simplicity and Truth against all the cunning machinations of crafty Machiavells He Psal 24. 1. is infinitely rich as being the Lord and Owner of Heaven and Earth and therefore able abundantly to recompence all losses which wee have by speaking Truth and shunning lyes and to give us sufficient riches by honest meanes and together with them such inward joy and peace that wee shall experimentally say with the Psalmist A little that a Psal 37. 1◠righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked and with the wise man Better is a little with Prov. 16. ◠righteousnesse than great revenewes without right Finally by his Power and Providence he ruleth our rulers and so disposeth of their hearts that they will as much like us for our truth and simplicity when we acknowledge our faults as mislike us for the committing of them and spare us for our ingenuity rather than punish our defects and failings or otherwise if they inflict upon us as much or much more than we have deserved if wee beare it with meekenesse and patience we shall have more peace and comfort in our suffrings than we should have had if wee had prevented and escaped them by telling of lyes In which respects let us not only Jer. 9. 3. stand for the Truth but be valiant also in defending and preserving of it seeing all that wee can doe or suffer is not comparable unto those benefits which we shall receive by it Secondly seeing it hath beene shewed and proved §. 2. The second use is that wee abborre lyes to the convincing of all mens Consciences not wilfully blinde that lying is a most odious vice dishonourable unto God and pernicious to our selves and neighbours let us not upon any pretence of pleasure or profit bee allured to like or love it or if wee have formerly beene overtaken with it yet let us not continue in it but rise out of this sinne by unfained repentance For howsoever heretofore our ignorance might make it the more excusable because wee did not know that it is so odious unto God so hainous in it selfe and pernicious unto us yet now that the light of Truth hath laid it open in its owne colours and shape if we still make no conscience of committing it nor lay it to heart to bewaile hate and turne from it by unfained repentance wee shall be left unexcusable and sinning against the light of our owne knowledge wee shall hereby aggravate our sinne and increase our punishment Finally seeing this vice is so hatefull and abominable §. 3. The third use is that Magistrates should indeavour by all meanes to suppresse this vice and bringeth with it so many and great evils both to private Persons and to all Families and Societies Church and Common-wealth and after this life hellish misery and eternall condemnation Let this moove all men in their severall places and callings to use their best indeavours to suppresse this vice and to amend and reforme it both in themselves and others And first Magistrates should be perswaded to doe all they can to discountenance this vice by making good lawes against it and seeing them duely executed because it is no lesse dangerous to a State than any other vices as being an incourager to all wickednesse and the colour and cover which doth conceale and hide it And therefore as Plato thought those Common-wealthes most miserable which abounded with Lawyers and Physitians because in them contentions and suites sickenesses and diseases abound also so may it much more truely bee spoken that those States and Kingdomes are most miserable in which lyes are most frequent without controule or punishment because it argueth plainely the abounding of all other vice seeing their chiefe use is to cover all other sinne and incourage to all wickednesse whilst they promise to hide it But especially it must be the care of Governors and Rulers to stoppe their eares to tale-bearers and lyars because it is the receivers that make theeves and if they had no eare to listen unto lyes men would have no tongues to tell them if they with their countenance as a North winde the raine would drive them away they would quickely
tongue disagreeth from the minde and falsely speaketh contrary to that which the minde thinketh and therefore lyeth though that bee true which is spoken because it is conceived and thought to be otherwise but when a Man speaketh that which is a lye or untruth being perswaded that it is true hee lyeth not because his minde and tongue agree together and he thinketh what he speaketh but hee onely erreth and would not willingly deceive but that himselfe is first deceived so that such an one cannot be said to be a lyer seeing he mindeth affecteth and loveth Truth but is onely mistaken in what hee saith through ignorance rashnesse or incogitancie And of this judgement are the ancients So Bernard there is Est qui dubiè profert mendacium nec mentitur est qui veritatem quam nescit affirmat mentitur c. Bern. in Cant. Serm. 17 saith hee that telleth a lye doubtingly and lyeth not and there is that affirmeth the Truth which he knoweth not and lyeth for he indeed saith not that to be which is not but yet affirmeth that hee beleeveth that which in Truth he beleeveth and he saith Truth although that be not true which he beleeveth But the other when he saith that he is Non est judicandus mendax qui dicit falsum quod putat verum quiaquantum in se est non fallit sed fallitur c. Anselm in 2 Cor. 1. certaine of that whereof he is not certaine speakeeth not the Truth although that be true which he affirmeth So Saint Anselme Hee is not to bee judged a lyer who speaketh false thinking it true because as much as in him lieth hee deceiveth not but is deceived and contrariwise hee lyeth who speaketh Truth thinking it to be false For hee is not free from a lye who speaketh true things with his mouth not knowing them to be so but knowingly he lyeth in his will Saint Augustine also speaketh Quisquis autem hoc enunciat quod vel creditum animo vel opinatum tenet etiamsi falsum fit non mentitur c. August contra mendac ad Consentium cap. 3. much to the same purpose whosoever saith hee speaketh that which either hee beleeveth or thinketh in his minde doth not lye although it be false For this hee oweth to the declaring of this faith that hee uttereth by it that which is in his minde and so conceiveth it as he uttereth it But hee cannot bee said to be in no fault although hee doth not lye if hee either beleeveth things not to be beleeved or thinketh that he knoweth what he knoweth not although it be true for hee taketh things unknowne as knowne wherefore he lyeth who conceiveth one thing in his minde and uttereth another thing by his words or any other significations From whence hee that lyeth is said to have a double heart a double cogitation one is of the thing which hee knoweth or thinketh true and doth not speake it another is of the thing which hee speaketh in stead of this knowing or thinking it to bee false Whence it commeth to passe that a man may speake that which is false and yet not lye if he thinketh it to be so as he speaketh although it be not so and that he may speake that which is true and yet lye if thinking it to be false he speaketh it for a Truth although indeed it bee so as hee speaketh For a man is to bee esteemed a lyer or no lyer according to the meaning of his minde and not according to the Truth or falsenesse of the things themselves And therefore he that speaketh that which is false for true thinking it to be so may be said to erre or to be rash but he cannot bee truely said to bee a lyer because when he thus speaketh hee hath not a double heart nor desireth to deceive but is himselfe deceived And in another place speaking to the same purpose hee saith neither by any meanes is he free from a lye Enchirid. ad Laurentium cap. 17. who with his mouth speaketh the Truth not knowing it to be so because knowingly hee lyeth with his will c. and he is better who not knowing it speaketh false because he thinketh it true than he that willingly hath a minde to lye though hee speake Truth not knowing it to be true which hee speaketh c. The like also may be said of promises as P. Martyr affirmeth when as a man making 1 Sam. 21. 12. them purposeth to performe them but afterwards doth not either because hee cannot through impotency which hee foresaw not when he promised or will not upon some pressing necessity and much altering of the case from what it was As when an able man promiseth to pay a debt at such a day and in the meane time is disabled by some unexpected losse So when one promiseth to lend a summe of money to one whom he taketh to be an honest man and able to repay it at such a time and in the meane while it appeareth that hee is an unthrift who will consume it in drinking or gaming or a dishonest banke-rupt who will make no conscience to cheate him of it Or if a man promiseth to lend his sword to one that is sober and in his right minde and soone after he prove distracted and frantique who is likely therewith to kill himselfe or some other In these and such like cases a man lyeth not though hee doth not performe what he promised because his minde and tongue agreed when hee made it and the change is not from himselfe but from him unto whom hee promised because there is error personae an errour in the person he not being the same man which hee was or seemed to bee when the promise was made And thus the Apostle Paul is excused from a lye when as hee said that hee would goe into Spaine Rom. 15. 24 28. 2 Cor. 1. 15 17. whither he went not and promised the Corinthians that at such a time hee would come unto them but did not performe it In neither of which he lyed because when he made these promises he did not dissemble speaking one thing and thinking another but speaking then what he afterwards purposed to performe God did in the mean while otherwise dispose of him whose disposition overruleth all and is above all humane resolution The second thing considerable in the nature of §. 5. That a lye is alwayes voluntary a lye is that it is alwayes voluntary the will resisting the minde in a knowne Truth and injoyning the tongue to speake that which is contrary to it the heart also and affections desiring and delighting in it either absolutely or conditionally in respect of circumstances So that if the will imbraceth not an untruth as it is untrue but onely as through errour of the minde and judgement it is presented and commended unto it and if the heart affecteth it not nor delighteth in it as a lye but onely
to be abhorred of all Christians yea though such breach of promise might be coloured and excused by equivocations mentall reservations or any other pretence whatsoever seeing such lyes and falsifying of promises are not onely most dishonourable unto God especially when as by oath he is brought in as a witnesse to a lye but also most hurtfull to humane societies and common wealths when as this chiefe bond of peace and justice is violated seeing none thus deceived would be willing afterwards to trust another or to make truce or peace upon any conditions when as they can have no assurance that they wil be observed and performed Yea such lyes and breach of promises are above all most pernicious to the parties themselves seeing through Gods just judgement they are either taken in their owne net and miscarry in their enterprise or have the same measure from others measured unto them who taking them upon advantage falsifie their faith to them whom they have found faithlesse For he that is Lord of hoasts and God of battailes Who giveth salvation to Kings Psal 144. 10. and delivereth David his servant from the hurtfull sword is also the God of truth and therefore as wee may expect that hee will crowne Justice and Truth with conquest and triumph so that he will execute vengeance upon lyers and not suffer falsehood to goe unpunished The like may be said of spies and intelligencers who if any other might in many respects pleade for a liberty in lying But howsoever it may bee lawfull for such to disguise themselves and their intentions and to use all good policies to conceale an unprofitable and unseasonable truth yet it is in no wise lawfull for them to use meanes that are evill and sinnefull to effect their desire as to deny the truth renounce their religion to make profession of a false religion as Judaisme Mahumetisme Popery by going to Masse and joyning with them in any superstitious service or finally by telling lyes or using any other falsehood to deceive and blinde their eyes with whom they converse that they may atchieve their designes the better when as they live among them unsuspected The second question is concerning simulation §. 3. The second question propoundedand discussed and first of simulation lawfull and unlawfull or faining and dissimulation or disguising Simulation is when by word action or any other signe that is fained to be which is not Dissimulation is when as by any of these means any thing is disguised and hid which in truth is Now the question is whether either of these can be judged lawfull and justly acquitted from being a lye For the former we must answer by distinction for either the thing fained hath no being at all either in reality and truth or in reason and signification or else though it have no existence properly and in the very nature of the thing yet it hath an improper and figurative being by which it signifieth and representeth something that is If the thing fained have no being at all then is it all one with a lye but though it have no being in reality yet if it haue a being in the reason of the thing and bee brought to signifie demonstrate and illustrate something that is then is it no lye but wholly tendeth to the setting forth of truth and of this kinde are many poeticall fictions fables apologies and parables So Saint Augustine not all that which wee Non omne quod singimus mendaciū est sed quando id singimus quod nihil significat c. Quaest Evangel lib. 2. cap. 51. faine is a lye but then it is a lye when as we faine that which signifieth nothing But when our fiction is referred to some signification it is not a lye but some figure of truth otherwise all those things which are spoken figuratively of wise and holy Men yea even God himselfe should bee thought lyes because according to common understanding truth is not in such speeches As for example the parable of the prodigall was not really and properly true but figuratively and in the reason and signification of it So our Saviours comming to looke for fruite on the figge tree when the time of bearing was not had in it no reall intention to finde fruite upon it seeing every one might know that in such a season it could have none but it was fained that as it were under this reall parable he might signifie that they who brought forth no Fictio quae ad aliquam veritatem refertur figura est quae non refertur mendacium est Aug. ibid. fruites were under the curse And therefore as he saith a fiction which is referred to some truth is a figure and that which is not thus referred is a lye Secondly wee may distinguish of the purpose and resolution of our minde and heart of doing or not doing what we faine and make shew of For either it is absolute or conditionall Now if in shew or words I faine that I will doe that which I have absolutely resolved not to do then doe I lye whether I doe or doe it not because my words and significations disagree from my minde and heart But if my resolution were onely conditionall then it dependeth upon the performance of the condition and I may doe a thing resolved on or not doe it without lying as the condition is observed or not observed As for example if I goe to a friendes house with a resolution to returne home to my owne supper if he doe not use some importunity in desiring me to stay supper with him then if I faine that I will goe home and use some earnestnesse that I may take leave I lye not if I goe away though I desired to stay being not at all or but sleightly intreated nor yet if I stay though I made shew that I would depart if importunity bee used because my resolution was conditionall and I was truely purposed to depart if not earnestly invited or to stay and suppe with my friend if he instantly desired it Lastly wee may distinguish of the divers ends which they that faine do aime at in their faining For either their aime is to deceive their neighbour in making him to beleeve that which is not true or to doe him some other hurt or else that they may hereby benefit themselves or others The former is to be reputed a lye yea such a lye as is hurtfull and pernicious as when men faine themselves to be pious and religious when as in truth they are impious and prophane the which is damnable hypocrisie and this fained piety double iniquity or when outwardly by their words and shewes they faine love and friendship when as their hearts are full of enmity that they may get the fitter opportunity of revenge and executing their malice These men lye in their faining seeing their minds disagree from their words and shewes and because also their end and aime is to deceive and hurt Now
But let us examine this question yet more fully §. 3. That the truth of Religion is to be confessed when wee are lawfully called thereunto and distinctly in what cases the truth is to be spoken or concealed and when the Glory of God and good of our neighbour or our owne good doth require the profession of it and when wee should conceale and hide it by silence or otherwise For the understanding whereof wee are to distinguish of truth namely that it is either religious or civill Religious truth is the truth of religion or the doctrine of Faith the which we are upon all occasions to professe being lawfully called thereunto when the Glory of God or good of our neighbour doth require it according to that of the Apostle Peter Sanctifie the Lord in your hearts and be 1 Pet. 3. 15. ready alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekenesse and feare Neither is it enough to beleeve the truth and keepe it to our selves but we must also openly professe it for as with the heart man beleeveth unto Rom. 10. 10. righteousnesse so with the mouth confession is made unto salvation as the Apostle Paul telleth us For if wee conceale the truth when wee are called to professe it we doe not onely deny the truth but also the Lord of Truth who is the Author and Patrone of it and whosoever shall deny him before Math. 10. 33. men him will he deny before his Father which is in Heaven But when are wee called lawfully to make this confession of truth surely at all times when by our confession wee may glorifie God or benefit our neighbours As when wee are called before a lawfull Magistrate and required an account of our faith then wee must in no case suppresse the truth though we confesse it with the danger of our lives for he standeth in Gods stead as his Deputy and to hide or deny the truth before him is as it were to deny or hide it in Gods sight and presence And then also God is glorified by our Christian apology when as wee will not shrinke from the truth whatsoever we suffer for it So also we are bound to professe the truth of our religion before private men when as wee conceive that thereby wee shall glorifie God by propagating his Truth and edifie them to whom wee confesse it Otherwise if there be no cause why we should conceive this hope because we know them to bee scorners and enemies of Gods true Religion who would but deride it and our profession wee may yea in Christian discretion wee ought to conceale it seeing we shall by our confession dishonor God by exposing his Truth to contempt and wrong our owne persons by laying our selves open to scorne and derision if not to the danger of their rage and violence For which wee have our Saviour Christs Word for our warrant Give not that which is Holy unto Dogs neither cast yee your Pearles Math. 7. 6. before Swine lest they trample them under their feete and turne againe and rent you Secondly there is a civill truth which is exercised §. 4. That civill truth is to bee confessed when Gods glory or our neighbours good doth require it about the affaires of this life the which also is to bee spoken and professed when the glory of God and our owne and neighbours good doth require it or to bee hid and concealed when by the profession of it God is dishonoured and our selves and neighbours endammaged Now if we further enquire when Gods glory and our owne and neighbours good doth require it to be spoken and when it ought to be concealed wee are to distinguish of it either as it is to be spoken publikely before the lawfull Magistrate sitting judicially upon the judgment seate or privately to ordinary men in our common course of conversation When wee are judicially called before the lawfull Magistrate and required according to law to speake the truth we ought not to conceale it whether it bee for us or against us And for this wee have the same reason that we have for speaking of religious truth for the Magistrate sitteth in the place of God as his Deputy to enquire and examine the truth and therfore to deny or dissemble it unto him in a legal maner inquiring after it is as it were to deny and dissemble it unto God himselfe the which in this respect is the more grievous sinne because in course of law men are examined upon oath and are bound thereby to speake not onely the truth but also the whole truth in which they call God as Witnesse to what they say and so grosly abuse his Majesty being the God of truth if they draw him as much as in them lyeth to countenance and confirme a lye Secondly hereby they transgresse in a high degree Gods expresse Commandement by which as he forbiddeth us to beare false witnesse in the negative part so in the affirmative hee requireth that we speake the truth to his glory and our neighbours good Finally wee sinne against the common wealth and against all good policy order and government which cannot stand if in these legall Uterque reus est qui veritatem occultat qui mendacium dicit quia ille prodesse non vult ille nocere desiderat Ad Casulanum proceedings the truth should bee denyed or suppressed In all which respects Saint Augustine speaketh fitly to our purpose either of these are guilty and faulty both hee that hideth the truth and he that telleth a lye because the one denyeth to profit and the other desireth to hurt Upon which grounds and reasons I conclude §. 5. That the Truth must bee confessed before the Magistrate when hee requireth it in a Legall manner that being convented before a lawfull Magistrate and by him examined we are bound in conscience to speake the truth and whole truth if he proceed legally and in judiciall manner and demand of us such things as we may answere unto piously without dishonouring God and justly without any prejudice to the Church and Common-wealth or wrong to any particular person For if such questions bee propounded as are not lawfully demanded nor we bound by the Law of God and of the Common-wealth to answere wee may in such a case refuse and conceale the truth So likewise when the discovery of it tendeth to Gods dishonour to the hindering or suppressing of his true religion to the hurt and dammage of the Common-wealth by betraying unto the enemy the secrets of State or the delivering of the innocent into the hands of impious and unjust men that are in authority and seeke their ruine and the taking away of their goods liberties and lives we are not bound to answere the truth of the things demanded yea wee ought in such cases to hide and conceale it though it bee with the extreame and imminent
upon a Legall tryall that he may have the favour of the law for the remitting of his small offence and not as a reall cordiall and resolute deniall of the truth For when they plead not guilty it is not much unlike in sense though different in words as if they should say I will not discover my faults by acknowledging my selfe guilty and accuse my selfe seeing the law doth not require it but I will for my purgation put my selfe upon tryall and stand upon the examining of witnesses to the verdict of the jury to bee acquitted or condemned according to their evidence directing their Conscience And thus I have shewed how it is lawfull or expedient §. 8. Of confessing or concealing the truth to private men to confesse the truth when as wee are examined in a legall manner before a lawfull Magistrate now concerning the confessing or concealing of it in our private conversation the case is much different seeing therein we have a liberty to utter or hide it from those that have no authority to examine us according as our occasions shall require and Christian prudence direct us It is true that commonly and ordinarily we must speake that truth with our tongues which our minds conceive because they were given us to this end that they should be as faithfull Interpreters of our hearts to discover our thoughts one to another but yet this is no farther required than as in our speech we may be usefull and profitable one to another In which regard it is not onely lawfull but very expedient that wee should conceale the truth in many cases from those that have no authority to examine us of it And thus wee may yea ought to conceale such secrets as are intrusted to our keeping when as they are lawfull as also the faults and infirmities of our neighbors seeing love doth cover a multitude of sins yea to discover them when we are not necessitated thereunto by some great and necessary cause doth not onely shew want of love but also of honesty and justice which requireth that wee should doe unto others as we would have them to doe unto us And the like also may be said of our owne faults and infirmities which wee ought by all lawfull meanes to hide and conceale from all men unlesse it be to our spirituall Physicians that they may the better cure us or to our weake Patients troubled and afflicted in minde that we may comfort and cure them by making our selves examples unto them of the same infirmities wherewith they thinke none so troubled as themselves Otherwise except it be in these and such like cases it is not only permitted as lawfull but required as expedient and necessary to hide and conceale our owne sinnes and infirmities For first whereas in the ninth Commandement in the affirmative part God injoyneth us to use all good meanes both by giving a true testimony and also by our silence whereby we may preserve the good name of our neighbour setting forth their virtues and good parts and concealing their faults and failings he requireth also the same at our hands for the preserving of our owne fame and reputation for charity begins at home and the love of our selves is the rule of our love towards our neighbours And whereas it may bee objected that this Commandement injoyneth us to give a true testimony whether it be with or against us and that God requireth that every man should speake the truth to his neighbour Zach. 8. 16. to this I answer that affirmative precepts though they binde us alwaies to performe the duties commanded yet not at all times but when it is seasonable and profitable for Gods glory and our owne and neighbours good And as the Prophet requireth that wee should alwayes speake the truth to our neighbour so the Apostle teacheth how it Eph. 4. 15. must be spoken namely in love Secondly the unnecessary and unseasonable discovery of our owne faults and infirmities tendeth to Gods dishonour who as he is glorified when we bring forth much fruit John 15. 8. Matth. 5. 16. and have the light of our holy lives shining before men so is hee dishonoured by our evill conversation and his holy Name blasphemed by those that are without when they discover our sins and corruptions for the vices and faults of the servants 1 Sam. 2. 30. 2 Sam. 12. 14. doe often redound to the discredit of the master Thirdly the discovery of our faults and failings tendeth to the disgrace of Gods true Religino which wee professe when men that are wtihout discover in us such evill fruits and to the discredit of our Christians profession seeing they are apt to attribute them rather to our religion and profession than to our naturall corruption and are willing through the sides as it were of our fame and reputation to wound the Gospell Fourthly hereby we shall become scandalous and stones of offence to those that are weake and those also that are not yet called encouraging the one to fall into the same vices and sinnes by our evill example and discouraging the other from entring into the profession of our religion when as they heare us say well but see that we doe no better Lastly hereby we shall sinne against our selves in blasting and blemishing our good name with just aspersions and whereas it should bee in higher esteeme with us than great riches and sweeter than the most odoriferous Prov. 22. 1. Eccl. 7. 1. oyntment wee shall deprive our selves of this pretious jewell by unnecessary discovery of our faults and failings Neither can wee when we have once opened a breach stay at our pleasure the current and streame of mens suspitions but when we have spoken much they will bee apt to thinke that we could say more seeing every one is naturally so favourable to himselfe that he will speake the least of that which he knoweth will tend to his prejudice and disgrace And thus much of the second question whether it bee lawfull in whole or in part to conceale the §. 9. Of equivocations and mentall reservations truth and in what cases it is to bee approved as good or disallowed as evill unto which this Treatise would require that I should adde a third namely concerning equivocations and mentall reservations which are not onely in continuall practice among the Papists but also warranted and defended by their doctrine But I shall not neede to speake any thing in this point seeing it is already fully and learnedly handled of late by a reverend Mr. Henry Mason Divine in this Citty Only let me briefly set downe my judgement of it namely that such equivocations and mentall reservations are not onely lyes but in this respect of the worst sort in that there lieth lurking in them the greatest deceit as being masked with the shew of truth For not onely that which is false is in them affirmed both in his sense that speaketh as he desireth to be understood
whereby hee is able not onely to kill the body of him that lyeth as hee did Ananias and Sapphira but also to cast both body and soule into hell and in the meane time to frustrate all our hopes and ends which we propound unto our selves in lying either by detecting our untrueths or by crossing us in them so as they shall not effect our desires but rather hinder them and finally if wee did know that he is a God of trueth who hateth and abhorreth lyes and will according to his Word give lyars their portion in that lake which burneth Apoc. 21. 8. with fire and brimstone if they doe not prevent their just damnation by unfained repentance wee would not take pleasure in lyes nor bee hyred to tell them with the base wages of worldly vanities But it is our ignorance of these things that causeth us so easily to fall into this sinne when as Sathan or the World tempteth us unto it And therefore the Prophet joyneth them together as the Cause and Effect They bend saith hee their tongue like Jer. 9. ◠their bow for lyes but they are not valiant for the trueth upon the earth for they proceed from evill to evill and they know not me saith the Lord. Another Cause is oblivion and forgetfulnesse of God for many that know Gods Nature and Attributes and will acknowledge that he is omniscient omnipotent just and true in all his Word and wayes yet fall into this sinne through forgetfulnesse not pondering and considering what they know when they should make use of it to keepe them from sinning And of this the Prophet Esay speaketh Of whom saith hee hast thou beene affraid or feared that thou Esay 57. 11. hast lyed and hast not remembred mee nor laid it to thy heart A third Cause of lying is our inordinate and §. 4. A third Cause is immoderate feare of men immoderate feare of men more than of God the which the Prophet implyeth in the same words Of whom hast thou beene affraid that thou hast lyed and hast not remembred me whom thou hast more cause to feare than all men or devils For they at the most can but kill the bodie but God can also cast body and soule into hell Neither is either man or devill Mat. 10. 28. so able to protect us against the stroke of Gods vengeance when wee speake lyes as hee is both able and willing to defend and preserve us against all their might and malice whilest wee make conscience of speaking the trueth for according to his gracious promise Hee shall cover us with his feathers Psal 91. 4. and under his wings shall we trust his trueth shall bee our shield and buckler But because men looke onely unto the present and take care to avoid imminent danger and live by sense more than by faith beholding the arme of flesh ready to strike them and not the power of God which is all-sufficient to protect them nor seeing him that is invisible Therefore they make lyes their refuge and hide Esay 28. 15. themselves under falshood and vanitie And this appeareth principally in the practise of inferiours as children and servants who having committed any fault doe usually colour and cover it with a lye that so they may escape the displeasure of their governors whereas if they feared God more than men they would bee much more fearefull to fall into his hands than theirs seeing he is a consuming Heb. 12. 24. Fire who is able in his just wrath utterly to destroy them and would rather choose to speake the trueth though they lost the favour of mortall men than by lyes to loose the favour of the immortall God yea they would know that their greatest safety would be in speaking the trueth seeing God the authour and lover of it hath the hearts of all men in his hands and can move superiours to pardon what is done amisse yea to love them more for their trueth and ingenuity than to mislike them for their faults and errours A fourth Cause of lying is carnall confidence and security whereby men blesse themselves in §. 5. A fourth Cause of Lying is Carnall Confidence and Security this sinfull course presuming that their lyes shall bee so cunningly contrived and so boldly and impudently outfaced that they shall never come to light and that as they have long practised them and yet have escaped both the punishment of God and men so they may still goe on securely in their sinne without feare of danger And of such the Prophet Esay speaketh Who had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell promising unto Esay 28. 1◠themselves that when the overflowing scourge should passe thorow it should not come unto them because they had made lyes their refuge and hid themselves under falshood And againe they trust in vanitie and speake lyes hoping through their cleanly conveiance Chap. 54. 4. that they shall never be discovered But the truth which they oppose is as a shining light which will lay open all these hidden workes of darkenesse and bring them at length to shame and punishment And whereas they presume that they shall still escape because having long lived in this sinne they finde no hurt in it nor have felt Gods hand in punishing of it and so encourage themselves to go on in their wickednesse according to that of the Preacher Because sentence against an evill worke is Eccles 8. 11. not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sonnes of men is fully set in them to doe evill Let them know that though they are respited yet they are not remitted and though the overflowing scourge hath Esay 28. 18. passed over and not yet whipped them yet at last they shall as God hath threatned be trodden downe by it if they doe not prevent his judgement by true repentance or though they should wholly escape in this life yet this is but cold comfort if they consider that they are hereby hardened in their sinne that living and dying in it without remorse they may at last receive their full payment without mercie Apoc. 21. 8. in the world to come The last Cause of Lying which I intend to §. 6. A fifth Cause of Lying is Covetousnesse speake of is Covetousnesse whereby men immoderately loving worldly wealth will not stay Gods leisure in the use of lawfull meanes for the compassing of their desires but resolving to bee rich and making all haste in satisfying their greedy avarice they leave no stone unmoved no meanes untryed which may advance their ends Amongst the rest they finde none more fitting for their purpose than this of Lying as being a speciall helpe whereby they are inabled to supplant and deceive one another and to enrich themselves by their neighbours ruines especially when they have any entercourse of Trading buying and selling in which all manner of deceit is used to defraude one another and all disguised and hid
are mortall sinnes seeing veniall sinnes as they call them are not committed Contra praecepta decalogi sed praeter ea not against the Commandements but besides them Againe it is a sinne against nature to lye in any kinde because words naturally are the signes and significations of those things which are in the minde and therefore it is against nature to speake or signifie any way that which the minde thinketh not Finally in every lye though never so pleasant or profitable there is a losse of Truth which is a vertue most acceptable unto God and therefore the impeachment of it cannot be recompenced by our profit or delight But let us more particularly examine these divers §. 2. That merry Lyes are sinfull and unlawfull sorts of lyes and consider how and in what measure and degree they are sinfull and unlawfull And first for pernicious lyes there is no question made by any but that they are in a high degree sinfull as being against Trueth Justice and Charitie and wholly tend to Gods dishonor the hurt of our neighbors and our own destruction and damnation as I shall more fully shew hereafter And therefore passing them over I will examine the other kinds And first for merry lyes it is coÌ„monly conceived that if there bee no scurrility in them they may passe as tolerable because they doe no hurt unto our selves or neighbours but delight and recreate both and they that tell them intend not to deceive their hearers or but a while that they may the more delight them For either they are apparant in themselves to be but jests and lyes by the grosse absurdities that are seene at the first view or are discoverd to be so by the gesture and pronunciation So that they are not much unlike unto Hyperboles or Ironies in respect of the outward forme and shew saving that they differ in their end and use seeing they are used to teach and expresse the Trueth in a Rhetoricall manner but these onely to delight the hearer And of this minde Saint Augustine seemeth to have beene Contra mendacium ad Consentium lib. 1. cap. 2. who thinketh that they can scarcely bee taken for lyes Jests therefore saith hee are to be excepted which were never thought to be lyes because they have a most evident signification by the pronunciation or the disposition of him that thus jesteth and procede from a minde not willing to deceive although it uttereth not truthes And surely there is saith Peter Martyr but a litle of a lye in these merry tales seeing though they willingly speake that which is not true yet the falsity is easily discerned and cannot deceive the hearer But whether these merry tales or lyes ought to bee used by perfect men or strict Christians S. Augustine doubteth in Chap. 3. that place though he cleareth it in another where he saith that hee lyeth who hath one thing in his minde and uttereth another thing by his words or any other signification the which the merry lyar alwayes doth And though hee doth not deceive or hurt this doth not cleare his tales from being lyes but onely sheweth that they are not lyes of the worst kinde or such as are pernicious seeing he lyeth who doth speake willingly otherwise than he thinketh And as he speaketh in another Contra mendacium ad Consentium lib. 1. cap. 11. place Those lyes are not to bee admitted which although they doe not hurt another yet they doe not profit any and doe hurt themselves with lyes gratis and for nothing who properly Duo sunt genera mendaciorum in quibus non magna culpa est sed tamen non sunt sine culpâ cum aut jocamur aut ut proximis prosimus mentimur There are two sorts of Lyes in which is no great fault and yet they are not without fault when we jest or lye to profit our neigâ—â—â—rs Aug. in Psal 5. Tom. 8. Col. 27. Matth. 12. 36. are to bee called lyars For there is this difference betweene one that telleth a lye and a lyar For he telleth a lye who lyeth unwillingly but a lyar loveth to lye and hath a minde that delighteth in lying And though such lyes hurt not the hearer yet they greatly hurt the lyars themselves because in so lying they forsake the truth and delight in falsity and choose rather to please men than to speake the Truth Againe these merry lyes are not onely in their falsity opposite to Trueth but are also vaine and idle speeches and our Saviour telleth us that Wee must give an account at the day of judgement of every idle word Yea Epaminondas though an Heathen shall at this day rise up in judgement against merry lyars who was so strict and severe in embracing Trueth that hee would not allow a lye to bee spoken so much as by way of jest Furthermore if it bee unlawfull to tell officious lyes though they tend to our owne and others benefit as wee shall shew hereafter how much lesse these merry lyes which tend onely to carnall delight For if as wee ought to bee wee were spiritually minded why should wee rather take pleasure to heare or speake lyes than to speake and heare the Trueth Moreover the Apostle requireth that We speake the Trueth one to another and put away lying and that our speech be alwayes with grace seasoned with Ephes 4. 25. salt and tending to the use of edifying that it may minister Col. 4. 6. Ephes 4. 29. grace to the hearers Finally if they were condemned who made the hearts of Kings and Princes glad with their lyes who in respect of their great Hos 7. 3. cares and serious studies about their weighty affaires may bee allowed an over-measure of pleasure and delight how much more are they unlawfull if they bee used to ordinary persons who stand in neede of such meanes to glad and cheere their hearts Secondly it may bee demanded whether it bee §. 3. Whether officious Lyes bee unlawfull altogether unlawfull to tell officious lyes seeing these in divers respects may seeme both justifiable and commendable for he that telleth them hath no will simply to lye but to doe good nor delighteth in lying but only as it conduceth to this end neither hath hee any desire to deceive or hurt his neighbour but mainly aimeth at this end that hee may benefit him by delivering him from some dangers or free him from some great evill which hee is not able to effect by any other meanes To which I answere that if it be a sinne to lye as before I have shewed and shall more fully proove hereafter because it is opposite to truth a vertue which is in high esteeme with the God of Truth and a direct breach of his Commandement then it is unlawfull to lye out of a desire to produce the greatest good For every sinne is an offence against Gods infinite Majesty and therefore deserveth an infinite and endlesse punishment both in soule and
Esa 52. 14. man and his forme more than the sonnes of men and seeing in him no forme comelinesse nor beauty that they should desire him Hee was despised and rejected of men as a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefes and they hid as it were their faces from him hee was Esa 53. 2 3. despised and they esteemed him not as the Prophet Esay prophecied of him and in this regard he saith that hee was a worme and not a man as if hee should have said I am so vilified of my enemies by reason of my sufferings and so despised and contemned because they see no forme or beautie in mee being defaced and marred with afflictions and persecutions that they number mee not among men but esteeme me no better than a contemptible worme which is good for nothing but to be trodden under foote And that he speaketh this of his enemies false opinion and not as himselfe thought or would have others to conceive the words following doe sufficiently shew I am a worme saith he and no man areproach of men and despised of the people All they that see mee laugh me to scorne they shoote out the lippe and shake the head c. CHAP. XII Of the meanes to disswade us from Lying and first because it is an hainous sinne HAving spoken of the divers sorts of lyes §. 1. That Lying is an hainous sin proved by the Scriptures and proved that they are all sinnefull and unlawfull It now followeth according to the order which I first propounded that I set downe the meanes whereby we may be preserved from this sinne The which are of two sorts the first is to shew the dangerousnesse and desperatenesse of this disease of lying that so wee may with more earnestnesse desire to be cured and then the remedies which may further the cure For so much doe men sleight this sickenesse of the soule as though there were no danger in it yea so farre are the most in love with it so loath to leave it and so willing to live and die in this disease which in their carnall reason they finde so pleasant and profitable that in this if in any other the question of our Saviour may be well propounded to our sicke and impotent Patients wilt thou bee made whole For as those that John 5. 6. are sicke of a Lethargy delight in sleeping though it will bring assured death and being rouzed out of it by their friends are much displeased with them because they are disturbed and disquieted so is it with the most men in this case apprehending no danger and sensually feeling delight in this sickenesse they love their disease and loath the remedies That men therefore may not securely sleepe in this sinne of Lying as apprehending no danger I will first shew the greatnesse and hainousnesse of it in the sight of God and all good men that so all may be brought into a hatred and detestation of it and then prescribe some means which may strengthen us against it Concerning the former though lying were but a small sin in it selfe yet it were not small unto us if wee allow and approve it love and delight in it seeing it is joyned with presumption and impenitency neither as one saith is there any sinne so veniall which is not Augustine made criminall whilst it pleaseth and delighteth But it is not so in Gods sight how lightly soever men esteeme of it as will easily appeare by the following discourse For the Apostle Paul setting downe a Catalogue of most hainous sinners as prophane persons parricides murtherers adulterers 1 Tim. 1. 10. Sodomites men-stealers and perjur'd persons doth ranke lyars in the reare of them and the Apostle Iohn numbereth them with dogs sorcerers Apoc. 22. 15. whore-mongers and idolaters all which shall bee excluded out of the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem And the Holy Ghost in the Hebrew tongue calleth a lye Aven which also signifieth iniquity implying that all lyes are iniquity and that all iniquity is after a sort included in a lye seeing every sinne is in this respect a lye as it is committed against the Truth of God which forbiddeth it And A lyer worse than a theefe howsoever men measuring the guilt of sinnes by their profit and disprofit doe hang up theeves and oftentimes laugh at lyars yea even reward them if they be skilfull in their Art yet is lying in it owne nature worse than theeving and a common lyar than a common theefe according to that of the sonne of Syrach A theefe is better than a man which Eccli 20. 25. is accustomed to lye and they both shall have destruction to heritage For theft is committed immediately against men but a lye against God the God of Truth and is therefore aggravated as being committed against a much more excellent Object Theft spoyleth us of our worldly goods and hurteth our estates but lying exceedeth theft in theft robbing us of a much more excellent jewell even spirituall truth which is the riches and ornament of the mind Yea it depriveth both the liar and him that hearkneth unto lies of eternall salvatiō seeing in this respect the theefe only hurteth himselfe but cannot hinder him from the fruition of blessednes whom he robbeth though he taketh from him his earthly riches Againe the Law of God appointed that the theefe should make satisfaction to him whom hee had wronged by restoring unto him sowre or five fold and so by recompence made the fault in respect of men curable but no satisfaction is appointed to bee made unto those who are wronged by lying there being for it no valuable recompence seeing they are robbed of a Jewell Prov. 23. 23. above all price Finally lying is worse than stealing as being the cause of it and the chiefe incouragement which setteth the theefe on worke to commit his sinne for if men were resolved to speake nothing but truth they would never steale seeing when they are examined they must confesse their offence and receive deserved punishment but because they hope to escape by hiding their sinne with lyes therefore they are imboldned to the committing of it And yet I have said nothing of the malignity of this sinne and sickenesse of the soule more than is in theft whereby it becommeth more contagious infecting others with its poyson for whereas in stealing the theefe himselfe onely sinneth and not he that is robbed by him in lying not onely they sinne who tell the lyes but all they likewise who delight to heare them and are too credulous in beleeving of them Yea not onely the Scriptures but even the Heathen writers Poets and Philosophers by the light §. 2. Lying condemned as a great sinne even by the Heathens of nature have in all ages condemned lying as an hainous and hatefull vice Many of whose sayings Stobaeus recordeth to this purpose One saith that he is unhappy who rather uses lies though seemingly Euripides good
the negative he forbiddeth all lyes and falshood in thought word and deede even as under the name of murther hee forbiddeth all the kindes and degrees of it as anger hatred rayling revenge and under the name of Adulterer all manner of filthinesse and uncleannesse And therefore raising of a false report by lying and bearing Exod. 23. â— of false witnesse against our Neighbours are both joyned together and forbidden in the three and twentieth of Exodus And that we may know that lyes in no kindes were ever tolerated God hath ever inhibited and condemned them both in the Law Prophets and in the Gospell In the Law yee shall not lye one to another So by the Prophet Levit. 19. 11. Zecharie Speake yee every man the Truth to his neighbour Zech. 8. â—â— and the Apostle Paul Lye not one to another seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds And Col 3. 9. Eph. 4. 29. to the Ephesians Wherefore putting away lying speake every man truth with his neighbor So that if we have any respect either to Law or Gospell in yeelding obedience unto them wee must speake the Truth and abhorre lying Finally we sinne immediately against God by suppressing truth and telling lyes because thereby we hinder and impeach his Glory whilest we hide our vices and faults from comming to light and stoppe the course of Justice when it should deservedly proceede against us to inflict upon us deserved punishment in the execution whereof Gods glory is advanced as Iosuah implieth in his speech to Achan My sonne I pray thee Jos 7. 19. give Glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done Secondly by lying we sinne hainously in many §. 5. That by lying we sin greatly against our neighbours by corrupting their mindes and judgements with errors and untruthes respects against our neighbours generally and particularly For first by lyes we corrupt and deprave their mindes and judgements in putting downe Truth which should raigne and rule in them to direct them rightly in all their courses and inthrone in the place of them false conceits and opinions which are fit guides to misleade them into all errours and sinnes Now if it bee a great wrong to blemish deface and defile the bodies of our neighbours then how much more to offer these injuries against their mindes whilest by our strong delusions wee make them to beleeve lyes Secondly Secondly lyes are pernicious to all humane societies in perverting order and overthrowing all contracts lyes are most pernicious to all humane Societies and Common-wealths by perverting that order which God hath appointed to bee amongst them which is that men conversing together should by their words and speeches impart and communicate their mindes and meanings one to another for the good of all whereas if lyes bee spoken in stead of Truth there can nothing follow but confusion like that of Babel whilest speaking one thing and thinking another they cannot understand one anothers language nor guesse at their meaning by their words whereby the building of the State and the worke and welfare of the Common-wealth is much hindred For hereby all contracts covenants and intercourse of dealings betweene man which is as it were the life of the CoÌ„mon-wealth the foode that nourisheth it and chiefe meanes whereby it is maintained and inriched are quite overthrowne when as men cannot give credit unto any thing that is spoken nor trust unto the performance of any promise nor bee assured of any bargaine seeing those with whom they deale make no conscience of lying nor have any care to keepe their word further than feare of losse or force of law compelleth them The which as it is pernicious unto States and Common-wealths in hindring their wealth and welfare their livelyhood and well being in time of peace so also it is no lesse hurtfull in time of warre when as Nations having experience of one anothers lyes and falsehood being at enmity can conclude of no firme peace or truce but take all advantages to worke one anothers ruine and utter destruction because they have little or no hope that any covenants betweene them wil be observed Thirdly these lyes are the causes of all jealousies §. 6. That lyes are the causes of jealousies and suspicions betweene man and man and suspicions amongst men when as there being found no fidelity and truthin the speaker there can bee no faith and beleefe in the hearer but having often found him faulty and faithlesse he dare no more trust him upon his word or promise and suspitioÌ„ interpreting al that is spoken to the worst hee will not beleeve what hee saith neither when he lyeth nor when he speaketh truth And whereas it is the nature of faith if it bee not abused to beleeve that which another speaketh because nature hath given men words that they may bee signes and significations expressions and interpreters of the minde when by lyes it is often frustrated it cannot assent to what is spoken but is turned to diffidence and unbeleefe In which respect one being Demetrius apud Stobaeum asked what evill befalleth them that tell lyes answered this that they were not beleeved when they speake the truth For we are apt to conceive that hee who hath often by lying deceived is a lyar and deceiver still and therefore shun all dealings familiarity and friendship with him because wee can have no assurance of his faith and truth So that as faith betweene man and man receiveth a deadly wound by usuall lying So is it the bane of all true friendship when we are jealous and distrustfull one of another and consequently pernicious to humane societies For not onely he that hath beene deceived distrusteth the lyar who hath falsified his faith but also he who usually lyeth distrusteth all others with whom he dealeth measuring every ones shooe by his owne Last and suspecting all others as guilty of the same vice whereof his owne conscience accuseth and condemneth himselfe to which purpose S. Chrysostome speaketh He that is a lyar saith he doth thinke Qui mendax est neminem putat dicere veritatem neque ipsum Deum In Math 6. §. 7. That lying depriveth men of the end and use of speach that no man speaketh the truth no not God himselfe Finally this vice of lying depriveth men of the use and end of that excellent gift and property of speech which was given to man above all other creatures that it might serve as a true interpreter to make knowne our mindes and the secret thoughts of our hearts one to another and not to lye and deceive seeing it were better to say nothing than to lye and to leave men to their owne uncertaine guesse then by our untruthes certainly to deceive them and mislead them into errours So Saint Augustine every one that lyeth doth speake Omnis qui mentitur contra id quod anima sentit loquitur
voluntate fallendi c. August Enchir. ad Laurent cap. 22. against that which he thinketh in his minde with a will to deceive Now words were therefore instituted not that by them men should deceive one another but that every one might thereby make knowne his thoughts to others And therefore to use words that wee may deceive and not for that end for which they were ordained is a sinne And as this sinne of lying is pernicious to the §. 8. That lying is pernicious to every particular family Common-wealth so also unto every particular family where it raigneth as being the common cause of all confusion and disorder of all evills and mischiefes which happen unto it For as it bringeth Gods judgements upon those families where it is tolerated as the deserved punishment of their sin so doe they suffer many evills from one another which are the effects of it For if the Governours be such as doe love and listen after lyes it maketh all the servants wicked because there will bee no Justice executed no difference betweene well and ill-deserving no rewards for the one nor punishments for the other when as the innocent and faithfull shall by lyes be traduced and branded and the faulty and faithlesse excused and commended No marvell then if the governement become lame and much weakned when as rewards and punishments which are the sinewes of it are cut in sunder and if there bee no good governement how can there be any true obedience And this is that which Salomon observeth If saith hee a Ruler Prov. 29. 12. hearken unto lyes all his servants are wicked Againe if in a family there be no conscience made of lying all that live in it become negligent of their duetie and are much emboldned to commit any fault so it be not knowne and to breake burne spoile steale and loose any thing that belongeth to their governours when as they can by a lye deny or excuse it neither is there any feare of shame or punishment to restraine them seeing they can by lying so shift and shuffle off the fault from one to another that the master of the family cannot possibly discerne who is faulty or faultlesse and therefore is put to his choice whether he will let the offender escape or indanger himselfe to punish the innocent and so either to suffer evill in others or to bee evill himselfe whilest his severity is not guided by knowledge and truth And all this made David so out of love with lyars that hee professeth hee would not suffer one of them to dwell in his family Hee that worketh deceit shall not dwell in my house hee that telleth Psal 101. 7. lyes shall not tarry in my sight CHAP. XIII That the Lyar sinneth most of all against himselfe BUt as lyes are in these and many other §. 1. That lying defaceth Gods Image in us and stampeth on us the image of Sathan respects hurtfull to our neighbours so are they much more pernicious to our selves and that both in respect of the evill of sinne and also of the evill of punishment Concerning the former lying is most pernitious unto our selves in many considerations For first it defaceth and blotteth out Gods Image in us seeing wee resemble him not onely in wisedome holinesse and righteousnesse but also in truth which hath such relation unto them all that it is necessarily required to their very essence and being so that wisedome righteousnesse and holinesse are of no worth and existence unlesse truth be joyned with them And therefore the Apostle exhorting us to bee renewed according to Gods Image doth bid us to put on the new man which after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4. 24. God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse or as the words there signifie holinesse of truth And this the Greeke Oratour saw by the light of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demosthenes for being asked in what things men came neerest to the likenesse of GOD answered in Trueth and beneficence Now this Trueth is most opposed and defaced by Lying and consequently it is most pernicious For if wee esteeme it a great hurt to have our eyes put out our faces gashed and deformed and our bodies maimed and dismembred how much more hurtfull is it to have these blemishes in our soules and to have Gods image defaced in us And yet it doth not onely blot out of us the image of God but it also stampeth on us the image of Sathan and sinne For the Devill is not onely a Lyar himselfe but also the authour and father of lyes according to that of our Saviour He is a Murtherer from the beginning Joh. 8. 44. and abode not in the trueth because there is no trueth in him when hee speaketh a lye he speaketh it of his owne for hee is a Lyar and the father of it where as Saint Basil observeth our Saviour putteth no difference In reg Contract Num. 76. of lyes but speaketh this indefinitely of them all And this wee see in the example of our first Parents unto whom Sathan lyeth even against God himselfe and also teacheth them to lye from whom this corruption and disposition of Lying is propagated to all their posterity in the example of the foure hundred false Prophets in whose mouth Sathan was a lying spirit teaching them to lye perniciously to Ahabs destruction as himselfe confesseth and of Ananias and Saphira Whose hearts 1 Kings 22. 22. Acts 5. 3. Sathan filled with deceit to lye unto the holy Ghost as Saint Peter speaketh Wherein he sheweth himselfe a right Serpent indeed seeing he carrieth his poison in his mouth whereby he killeth both himselfe and others And as the Devill is the Father of Lyars so are they his children in nothing more resembling him than in loving and making lyes For in this particular respect our Saviour chiefly speaketh Yee are of your Father the Devill and the lusts of your Father yee will doe Yea in this also they Joh. 8. 44. shew themselves to bee of this serpentine generation in that Their poison is like the poison of a Serpent Psal 38. 4. 140. 3. sharpening their tongues like him and having Adders poison under their lips Yea herein they goe beyond their Father the Devill in that hee beleeveth the trueth and trembleth whereas they not onely love and make lyes but also beleeve them more than truth yea rather any thing more than it according to the saying of our Saviour Because I tell you the Joh. 8. 45. trueth therefore yee beleeve mee not Now what can bee more pernicious unto man than to have Gods Image defaced in him to become the child of the Devill and to resemble him in sinfull Lying seeing they that are like him in his sinne shall hereafter be made like him in his punishments So also by Lying not onely the Image of Sathan §. 2. That the sinne of Lying encourageth men to commit
all other wickednesse is stamped upon us but also the Image of sinne and as thereby wee prove our selves to bee the children of the Devill so also the servants and slaves of sinne For as it is a great sinne in it selfe having in it all relations of sinne as before I have shewed so is it the cause of many other sins and a fruitfull mother and nurse of much other wickednesse even as it is also the bastardly Brat and hellish of spring of other sinnes which like cursed fathers beget it First it is the Cause of sinne because it is the common encouragement which setteth men on to worke wickednes whilest they hope to hide and disguise it so with their lyes that they shall never come to light This emboldeneth the adulterers to commit filthinesse because if they be questioned Expè delinqueÌ„tibus promptissimum est mentiri Lysâ—â—s apud Stobaeum Serm. 12. they resolve to deny it and none can prove it but only their Partners in wickednesse This heartneth men to kill and slay to coozen and deceive to rob and steale and what not Because if they bee suspected and examined they by their cunning lyes can hide their sinnes from the sight of men and so escape shame and punishment Whereas if they did not trust in lyes Adam would not eate the forbidden fruite Cain would not murther his brother Iacob would not deceive his father Iosephs brethren would not sell him to the Ismaelites Gehazi would not take a bribe the Harlot would not entice her young Lover to commit whoredome and then wipe her mouth as though she had not committed filthinesse Ananias and Saphira would not play the Hypocrites and withold part of the price of their possession the servant would not defraude his master the thiefe would not steale his neighbours goods nor the subject commit treason against his Prince and as the Prophet speaketh Israel shall doe no iniquitie if they will not Zeph. 3. 13. speake lyes to hide and cover it But when men have made lyes their refuge and have hid themselves under falshood then they are ready to make a covenant with death and an agreement with hell and to let loose the reines to all wickednesse because they hope for immunity and to escape punishment and that when the overflowing scourge shall passe through it shall Esay 28. 15. not come nigh unto them And as Lying is the Cause so also the Effect of sinne which followeth it as the shadow doth the body as we see in the example of our first Parents who having committed sinne did seeke to hide it with lyes and frivolous excuses even as they did with figge leaves seeke to hide their shame The which is also the common practice of all their degenerate posterity who are no more ready to sinne than to deny or excuse it with a lye For that which Saint Chrysostome speaketh Mendacil causa ex furto nascitur Chrysost in Mat. 5. Hom. 19. of stealing that the Cause of Lying springeth from theft the same may bee verified of all other sinnes which make men lyable to shame or punishment although indeed the sinne of stealing is a most usuall cause of Lying when as men having stollen doe use it as a colour and cover to hide their theft and therefore the Prophet Nahum joyneth them together as the Cause and the Effect Woe unto the bloody citie it is all full of lyes and robberie Nahum 3. 1. And as Lying is the Cause and Effect of many other sinnes so it is the meanes to make us lye and dye in them without repentance for whereas there is no other meanes to bring us to the sight of our sinnes and unfeined sorrow for it nor to worke in us reformation for the time to come but the carefull and conscionable hearing of Gods Word and Law which convinceth us of our wickednesse and sheweth our miserable condition whilest wee continue in it Lying doth stop our eares that we will not listen unto it nor beeleve it as the Prophet implyeth in those words This is a rebellious people lying children children that will not heare the Esay 30. 9. Law of the Lord. And this commeth to passe partly because they make lyes their refuge and sheltring and hiding themselves under this covert they imagine that as they deceive men with their lyes so they shall also deceive God and preserve themselves from his just judgements because he taketh no notice of their wickednesse and partly because being accustomed to Lying they give no credit to the words of his Ministers and Ambassadours nor beleeve God or man in any thing which is spoken against them as thinking that there is no more Truth in them than they finde in themselves Secondly the Lyar maketh himselfe guilty of §. 3. That the Lyar abuseth his tongue and speech a great sin by abusing of his tongue which should bee his glory and which was given unto him by God as an excellent instrument to set forth his praise to speake the trueth which his minde conceiveth and to discover it to others for their mutuall good a privilege wherein God hath advanced man above all the rest of the creatures but Lyars shamefully abuse this singular gift of God and whereas it was given unto them as an instrument of righteousnesse and trueth and for the setting forth of Gods praise they make it to become a weapon or instrument of iniquity by their lying wherewith they dishonour God and hurt their neighbors whereby they make it appeare that they are subjects of Sathan For whereas there are two kingdomes the one of light the other of darkenesse and God the King of the one the Devill of the other they have also two severall languages the one of trueth which is the language of the spirituall Canaan the other of lyes which is the idiome or language of hell So that by our speech we may be knowne unto what Kingdome wee belong either of God when we speake the truth from Psal 15. â— our hearts or of Sathan when wee commonly lye and deceive which language when wee usually speake it may bee said unto us as it was unto Saint Peter thou art a subject of the Kingdome of darknesse for thy speech bewraieth thee Now if any lyar shall object that this is not his ordinary language Incredibile est non mentiri hominem ne capiatur qui mentitur ut capiat i. It is not to bee beleeved but that a man will lye that he 〈…〉 bee 〈…〉 who 〈…〉 not to â—â— that he may 〈…〉 â—nd overâ—â—â—â—â— August Senâ—â—â—â— 2 3. Ubi causa meÌ„tiâ—nâ—i sublata est mentimur ex consuetudine Sen. Epi. 46. Qui non seductione diaboli deceptus mentitur sed proposito mendax est nunquam desinit esse mendax neque post mortem Chrysost in Matth. 6. Hom. 10. Matth 7. â—2 but that he only useth it when it may seeme for his advantage to this I answere that a frequent act will
bring an habite and he who often lyeth for his profit will within a while be so inured unto it that he will bee ready to lye out of meere vanity and love of lying for his pleasure and delight Yea he will be ready to lye when hee never thinketh of it and as the skilfull Musition who hath brought his hand by much practice to an habite will play his lesson when his minde is on some other matter so when by custome men are come to an habite of lying they will lye at unawares and if they bee challenged for it they are ready to lye againe by denying that they lyed In respect of which habite and custome Saint Chrysostome saith that a lyar will continue to lye even after death He that lyeth saith he being not deceived by the seduction of the Divell but willingly and of set purpose will never leave to lye no not after death for death separateth the soule from the body but doth not change the purpose of lying wilt thou know this consider those lyars even after death Lord in thy name we have done this and that Did not they know in themselves that they never loved Christ nor did his Will yes but they thinke that as in this world they have deceived men so also there that they can deceive even God himselfe and therefore hee doth not say depart from me ye that have wrought iniquity but ye that now worke it because wicked men cease not to be wicked no not after death seeing though they cannot now sin yet they retain still their purpose of sining Thirdly the lyar sinneth against his owne soule §. 4. That the Lyar robbeth himselfe of his good name and credit Eccles 7. 1. Prov. 22. 1. in that by his lying hee robbeth himselfe of a most precious jewell even of a good name which is better than a precious oyntment and much to be preferred before great riches for a poore man being true and honest is better than alyar though never so rich Prov. 19. 22. as the wise man telleth us Neither is it possible that a man should hold his reputation when hee hath by lying lost all opinion of his truth but his words are esteemed no better than winde and if there be no clearer evidence for what he saith then his bare word hee is no more beleeved when hee speaketh truth than when he lyeth according to that of the sonne of Syrach Of an uncleane thing what Eccli 34. 4. can be cleansed and from that which is false what truth can come Now what greater mischiefe can befall a man in this life than to live infamous what greater losse than to loose a good name And when it is once lost what can againe bee more hardly recovered If wee loose our riches by labour and industry we may recover them If wee loose our health by physicke and good dyet it may be regained If our bodies be sore wounded they may be cured but if we once loose our fame and have woundes inflicted into our good names and reputation they hardly admit of any cure or if the wound bee healed there will ever after remaine a scarre But there is no more ready way to bring this evill of dishonour upon us than to bee accounted common lyars for as the son of Syrach telleth us The disposition of a lyar is dishonourable and Eccli 20. 26. his shame is ever with him And the wise man teacheth us the same lesson A righteous man saith hee hateth lying but the wicked man that is as the antithesis Prov. 13. 5. inferreth such an one as loveth lyes is loathsome and commeth to shame Neither can there in common repute a greater shame befall a man than to bee esteemed and called a lyar whereof it is that the very name is so much abhorred in all Nations and amongst all conditions of Men yea even those that make no conscience of committing the sinne that by a certaine kinde of propriety or eminency it is called the word of disgrace and no greater injury or affront can be offered unto them than that any upon any cause yea even when they deserve it shall give them the lye Although I thinke that our great gallants doe not take the word so much to heart because their truth is questioned and impeached for then they would hate the vice it selfe as much as the name as because it toucheth them in their valour and courage seeing lying is a base and cowardly vice into which men oftentimes fall out of meere feare and because they dare not speake or stand to the truth Fourthly this vice of lying maketh us odious §. 5. That lyes make men odious unto God and men both to God and men First God abhorreth lyars and hateth lyes because they are contrary to his Nature and to his Law and not onely very sinfull in themselves but also the causes of much wickednesse And therefore Salomon numbreth it amongst those seaven abominations which God abhorreth A proude looke a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent Prov. 6. 17. Prov. 12. 22. blood And againe lying lippes are an abomination to the Lord but they that deale truly are his delight And wisedome even that eternall Word and Wisedome of the Father his onely deare Sonne professeth that his mouth should speake truth and that Prov. 8. 7. wickednesse that is the iniquity of lying as the antithesis sheweth is an abomination to his lippes now how odious ought this vice to be unto us that maketh us odious unto God and how ought we to love and imbrace Truth which God so much loveth according to that of Ieremy O Lord are not Jer. 5. 3. thine eyes upon the Truth namely to approve love and reward it for he loveth Truth and desireth it above all things in the inward parts as the Psalmist Zech. 8. 19. speaketh And who would not love that which God loveth and embrace and delight in that in which God delighteth and will reward Secondly it maketh lyars odious unto men as being a dishonest and dishonourable vice reprehended and condemned of all as unworthy an ingenuous civill man and much more a Christian who professeth himselfe a servant and childe of the God of Truth But especially it is hurtfull to those that feare God and love his truth and maketh those that make and love lyes odious in their eyes according to that of the wise Salomon A righteous man hateth lying but Prov. 13. 5. a wicked man that is a wicked lyar is loathsome and commeth to shame An example whereof wee have in David I have saith hee hated them that regard Psal 31. 5. lying vanities And againe I hate and abhorre lying Psal 119. 163. but thy Law doe I love Yea hee maketh this a note and signe of a blessed man that hee dis-respecteth lyars Blessed is the man saith he that respecteth not Psal 40. 4. the proud nor such as turne aside to lyes
But though lyars are chiefly odious in their eyes yet not in theirs onely for even ingenuous men though meerely civill doe abhorre lyars as they are pernicious members of a State and bring with them much mischiefe both to the whole Common-wealth and also to private families and particular persons yea oftentimes they that make no conscience of lying for advantage do yet hate it in others when unpartially they looke upon it and doe not behold it through the spectacles of selfe-love and even they that like and love it in themselves yet cannot indure that others should use it Yea so loathsome it is in its owne nature if it be not sugred and sweetned with some profit or pleasure that though they use it yet they are ashamed to owne it and can upon no tearmes indure to bee branded with the name which they hold most odious and reproachfull though they make no scruple so it be unknowne to be tainted and poysoned with the vice Finally as lying maketh men odious both to the innocent and guilty so it maketh the innocent odious to the lyar when as hee knoweth that he hath abused them with his untruthes according to that Italian or rather Machivellian proverbe whom I have wronged I will never forgive And this disposition the wise Salomon observeth to be in malicious lyars and slanderers A lying tongue saith he Prov. 26. 28. hateth those that are afflicted by it Of which this may be the reason because they who have injured others by their lyes doe expect from them just revenge and upon due examination of their fault that they will bring the truth to light and them to suffer deserved shame and punishment §. 6. That Lyes weaken faith and hope dispoile us of the girdle of verity and a good conscience Fifthly lyes are pernicious unto the lyars themselves in divers other respects for first they weaken their faith in the assurance of their salvation yea deprive them of all hope of Heavenly happinesse seeing it is an infallible marke of one that shall dwell in this holy Hill that hee speaketh the Psal 15. 2. Truth in his heart Now if we count that pernicious to our persons and state that defaces our evidences of some earthly Patrimony and cuts off all our assurance ever to injoy it how much more is that pernicious that cuts off all our hopes to our everlasting Inheritance and deprives us of that comfortable note and signe that wee have just title unto it Secondly it dispoyles us of a chiefe part of our Christian armour the girdle of verity wherewith Eph. 6. 14. all the rest is buckled unto us and so layeth us open and naked to all the assaults of Sathans tentations to bee thereby foyled overcome and led captive of sinne when as he findeth us so disarmed Thirdly because it depriveth us of a good conscience when as wee make no scruple of such a sinne as is committed directly against it yea it wasteth and woundeth a naturall conscience when as wee live in such a vice as it condemneth For if conscience be not sear'd it is ready as soone as a man hath lyed to accuse him of sinne and to testifie against him that he hath offended God by denying truth and done that which would be a shame and dishonour unto him if it should come to light And this is the cause why having lyed they are so loath to acknowledge it but use all their Art and policy to hide and cover it that so they may seeme not to have lyed yea if they bee convinced or but suspected of it they are ready to discover their inward guilt of conscience by their outward blushing the which is especially to be observed in children who are not by custome hardned and heartned in their sinne because they even naturally knowing that lying is a fowle and dishonourable vice and that they have done evill in falling into it as their consciences are pressed with the guilt of their sinne so their faces are filled with the shame that accompanies it And thus lyars are pernicious unto themselves §. 7. That lyes bring upon lyars the evill of punishment in this life in respect of the evill of sinne Now further it commeth to bee considered how it bringeth upon them the evill of punishment For howsoever it is made but a sleight sinne amongst men and so accordingly for the most part sleightly punished yet it is haynous in Gods sight and punished by him with great severity And though the lyar through his cunning skill can often so hide his lyes that men cannot discover them and so are freed from the punishment both of their fault and lye with which they cover it yet Gods All-seeing eye can easily finde them out in all their subtilties and cunning conveyances and his mighty hand of Justice shall surely reach unto them and inflict upon them Prov. 19. 5. deserved punishments So the wise man saith that howsoever it may fare with others yet he that telleth Psal 63. 11. lyes shall not escape And though they delight to open their mouthes to lye for their advantage yet God will stoppe them with his punishments as the Psalmist speaketh upon which ground in another place by a Propheticall Spirit foreseeing their impenitence he prayeth against them for the sinne of their mouth and the words of their lippes let them even Psal 59. 12. bee taken in their pride and for their cursing and lying which they speake Neither will God lightly punish those who love and make lyes but it causes him to have a controversie with a land to hasten his Assises and to inflict such heavy judgements as will make the land to mourne and every one that dwelleth therein to languish as the Prophet Hosea threatneth Hos 4. 1. 2 3. For he will bring upon lyars utter destruction according to that of the Psalmist Thou shalt destroy Psal 5. 6. them that speake leasings and that of the wise man A false witnesse shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lyes shall perish To the same purpose speaketh Prov. 19. ◠the sonne of Syrach A theefe is better than a man that Eccli 20. 25. is accustomed to lye but they both shall have destruction to heritage And because they are seldome severed either in this life or in the life to come therefore the Prophet joyneth the sinne and punishment together Ephraim daily increaseth lyes and desolation Hos 12. 1. And of this we have examples in the Scripture as in Gehazi whose lie was punished with a perpetuall Leprosie upon himselfe and all his Posterity In Haman who slandering Mordecai and the Jewes and by his lyes plotting their ruine was taken in his owne net and both hee and his sonnes hanged upon the same gallowes which hee had made for innocent Mordecai And in Ananias and Sapphira Hest 3. 8. Act. 5. 2. 3. who for their lye were punished with present and sudden death And therefore
Augustine There are saith he many kindes of lyes Mendaciorum genera multa sunt quae quidem omnia universaliter â—disse debemus Contmendac ad Consent lib. 2. cap. 3. all which universally we ought to hate For there is no lye which is not contrary to Truth for as light and darkenesse piety and impiety justice and iniquity sinne and righteousnesse health and sicknesse life and death even so Truth and lying are contrary to one another and therefore as much as we love that so much ought this to bee hated and abhorred And againe those things which are done against the Law of God cannot bee just and David saith unto God thy Law is Truth so that Psal 119. what is against Truth cannot bee just as all lyes are c. And therefore when examples of lying are alleadged out of the Scriptures either they are not lyes but are onely thought so because they are not understood or if they bee lyes they may not be imitated because they are not just as being against Truth And this is the next motive to make us to abhorre and forsake lyes because they are also opposite §. 2. That lyes are opposite to Justice to Justice the which consisting in an evennes equality and just proportion and agreement of one thing with another that is to be esteemed unjust wherein there is inequality and disagreement And consequently there is unjustice and iniquity in every lye wherein there is no equality or agreement betweene the speech and the minde this conceiving one thing and the tongue uttering another that dictating what is the truth and this speaking what is false To which purpose Saint Augustine thus speaketh every one who lyeth Omnis qui meÌ„titur iniquitatem facit c. August dedoctr Christiana Tom. 3. col 19. doth iniquity and if it seemeth unto any that a lye is sometimes profitable it may also seeme unto him that it is profitable to commit iniquity for no man that lyeth in that wherein he lyeth keepeth his faith For his will is that he to whom he lyeth should have faith to beleeve him which notwithstanding in lying to him himselfe keepeth not now every one who violateth his faith is unjust And therefore either injustice is sometimes profitable or else a lye is alwayes unprofitable and hereof it is that the Prophet Zephany joyneth these two together The remnant of Israel shall not doe Zeph. 3. 13. iniquity nor speake lyes neither shall a deceitfull tongue bee found in their mouth And so Malachie affirming that Truth was in Levies mouth denyeth also that there was iniquity found in it The Law Mal. 2. 6. of Truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lippes And therefore as wee love Justice so also we must love Truth and if we would not bee accounted unjust and wicked we must be carefull to hate and shunne lying Finally lying is contrary to Charity which as §. 3. That lyes are opposite to Charity 1 Cor. 13. 6. the Apostle speaketh delighteth and rejoyceth in the Truth Now Charity is the fulfilling of the whole Law and compriseth in it all duties towards God our neighbours and our selves and therefore lying in this respect as it opposeth Charity transgresseth the whole Law of God for first it dishonoureth God and robbeth him of his Glory as in those respects formerly spoken of namely because it is contrary to Gods Nature and Truth and transgresseth his Word and revealed Will so also because the Lyar like the Divell in a sort blasphemeth God in opposing his workes taking upon him to give a being to that which is not and to make something of nothing which is proper and peculiar to divine Omnipotency which neverthelesse is but an apish imitation and not done in Truth for whereas God by his Almighty Power giveth a true being to things that are not and maketh all things of nothing the Divell and those his children that resemble him in lying doe not by their words give a true being to things that are not but onely labour to imitate God herein as much as they are able giving unto them a false being in the opinions of those whom they deceive with their lyes and though they are not yet make them seeme to bee in shew and appearance Even as the Divell by his jugling trickes and impostures casteth false mists before mens eyes and maketh them beleeve that they see many things which they see not and which in truth are not whilest being unable to give a true existence to these things he onely deludeth and abuseth their phantasie Secondly it is contrary to true Charity in respect of our neighbors seeing it robbeth their mindes of that precious Jewell of Truth and putteth in the place thereof as it were the base bugles and worthlesse counterfeits of lyes besides all those evills and mischiefes of which I have formerly spoken Finally it is most contrary to that Charity and Love which every man oweth to himselfe seeing it bringeth upon a man innumerable evills spoyling him of truth and many other graces in this life and depriving him of all hope to injoy eternall blessednesse or to escape the everlasting torments of Hell fire in the life to come Againe for a conclusion of this point that we §. 4. That lying is but a vaine and sleight vice may be moved to loath lying let us consider that as it is base and dishonourable so it is but a vaine and sleight vice which hath no solidity or substance in it and therefore lasteth and endureth not but onely serveth for the present turne to make a seeming and false shew and then like a snuffe the blaze going out it endeth in stinke It may seeme to bring profit for the time and to make us rich like a Bristoll Diamond or counterfeite Pearle but being so soft that it will not indure the hard touch of a wise tryall it will soone loose its glosse and glory and make the owner if hee have given oughts for it a looser by his bargaine It may like glittering tinsell seeme for the time rich and make a faire shew and promise also to cover our nakednesse but even whilest it seemeth outwardly to hide our sinne and shame we are inwardly in our hearts and consciences never the warmer in respect of peace and sound comfort and within a while this base and sleight stuffe will bee worne out to ragges so that it will bee easie to see through it and to discerne all that nakednesse and filthinesse of vice and sin which at the first they promised to hide To which purpose the wise Salomon speakeeth excellently The lippe of Truth shall be established Prov. 12. 19. for ever but a lying tongue is but for a moment The which even the Heathens have found by their Menander apud StobaeuÌ„ Serm. 12. owne experience For one of them saith that no lyar can long lie hid Another speaketh the same more elegantly no lye proceedeth and