Father of Lies

[Charlemagne_II]

Father of Lies is one title given by Jesus to the devil.

Dr. Scott Peck wrote an interesting book titled The People of the Lie, in which he asserts that virtually all mental illness is based on lies.

Question: Is there any sin you can think of that is not somehow bound up in a lie?

Or, other than lying, is there a sin you can think of that is bound up in a lie?

 

[JDaniel]

Father of Lies is one title given by Jesus to the devil.

Dr. Scott Peck wrote an interesting book titled The People of the Lie, in which he asserts that virtually all mental illness is based on lies.

Question: Is there any sin you can think of that is not somehow bound up in a lie?

Or, other than lying, is there a sin you can think of that is bound up in a lie?

Do you want us to lie?

Back to seriousness, I think there is: the ultimate mortal sin. It is not a lie, per se, but is an egregious disrespect.

God bless,
jd

 

[JohnAlexander]

If by lie you mean an untruth then no. If by lie you mean a deception then yes.

Sin basically means we tell God, “Not your will, but my will be done” When we choose our will in conflict with God’s will we sin. Is that a lie? Is there any deception involved? I don’t think so.

Even when we know that God’s will is best for us we still sin. We sin against our own best interest. Our sin is the same sin as Satan’s sin. We aren’t so much deceived into sinning as having our natural inclinations prodded along.

Satan wants to exercise his will. Any time his will is the same as God’s will then it isn’t really his will. He has to will something contrary to God’s will just to will his own will. It doesn’t matter what God’s will is. The point of sin is that we sin in willing to sin.

 

[michelleds]

It would seem that theologically speaking, all of our sins could be traced to a lie from Satan, e.g., “you can do X, it won’t hurt” or “that’s not a sin” or " that doesn’t apply to you" or “just this once won’t hurt” or “you’d stop if you could, but since you can’t, God will understand”.

 

[puzzleannie]

yes all sin is based on a lie told by the father of lies: don’t believe what God has said about doing this or omitting this, believe me, it will not harm you, as he claims, it will help you, it will not kill you, it will improve your life, it will not cause you pain, it will give you great pleasure. look for the lie in any temptation, it is always there. The bigger and more outrageous the lie and the more obviously false it is, the bigger the sin. Look at the enormous lies that surround abortion, for instance, all of which deny the obvious that it is murder of an innocent person.

 

[Charlemagne_II]

I am thinking of the first lie told by the snake, but then adopted as the truth by Adam and Eve. That is, they began to lie to themselves that God had lied to them. Ever since, people (including Catholics) have been looking for wiggle room in the Scriptures, hoping to turn the gospel truth into a pack of lies.

 

[michelleds]

I am thinking of the first lie told by the snake, but then adopted as the truth by Adam and Eve. That is, they began to lie to themselves that God had lied to them. Ever since, people (including Catholics) have been looking for wiggle room in the Scriptures, hoping to turn the gospel truth into a pack of lies.

Not the whole gospel, just the parts that each individual doesn’t like!

 

[oreoboy]

How is mental illness a lie?

Mental illness is scientifically documented… It’s not someone’s fault they’re depressed, bipolar, or Schizophrenic… Geesh I would hope the good Catholics here don’t actually believe that mental illness makes one evil…

 

[Charlemagne_II]

**Mental illness is scientifically documented… It’s not someone’s fault they’re depressed, bipolar, or Schizophrenic… Geesh I would hope the good Catholics here don’t actually believe that mental illness makes one evil… **

Mentally ill people can be the source of great evil in this world. Mass murders, serial murders, cannibalism, etc. Pathological lying can also be the cause of evil. I hope you never have to have a close relationship with a pathological liar. They know they are lying, but they lack the will to stop lying. They have freely given themselves over to lying as a life style.

In the cases where the person’s brain chemistry is malfunctioning, or drugged, the person can be the cause of evil while not realizing it. Charles Manson, for example.

In the case of neurotic behavior, which is curable with treatment and counseling, Dr. Peck had documented in his own practice frequent resistance on the part of people to face the truth about themselves and their disturbed behavior. They will even lie to get out of being treated, claiming they are fully cured and no longer need treatment. When he would point out that they were far from healed, they would go into denial, following their own wish rather than the physician’s desire to continue treatment.

I saw a young teenager once self destruct by persuading himself that he needed no further chemo for his cancer and refusing further treatment. He died within 3 months.

I’ve often thought we tell more lies to ourselves than others can possibly tell us. In my own case, I’ve stopped standing on the weight scales every morning. Then I go have some pancakes and syrup!

There is a fine line between lying and delusion. But in both cases, the truth is not present.

 

[puzzleannie]

How is mental illness a lie?

Mental illness is scientifically documented… It’s not someone’s fault they’re depressed, bipolar, or Schizophrenic… Geesh I would hope the good Catholics here don’t actually believe that mental illness makes one evil…

no one here or anyone else has suggested mental illness is not genuine, or that people with mental illness lie, nor that they are evil.

What did you read that made you think such a thing?

also scientifically documented are the cases of psychotics who do dreadful things because of their illness, hearing voices, etc, but it is not Catholic teaching that those people who had no control over their actions and choices due to their disorder have sinned.