The Ninth Commandment, or the Eighth,
depending on which numbering system is used, states, “You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16, NRSV) Though in a narrow reading
this refers to testimony in a court of law, it is generally understood to forbid
telling a deliberate untruth in most circumstances.
Humanity has wrestled with the
necessity for truth-telling and the propensity to lie for as long as written
records exist. The philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, who flourished in the fourth century BCE, is said to have walked the
streets of Corinth with a lighted lamp, searching for an honest man. In our own time theologian and professor
Joseph Fletcher stirred widespread debate with the publication in 1966 of his
book “Situation Ethics,” in which he argued that adhering to absolute rules
such as “never lie” could produce cruel and unethical results.
