Lying

• 1 Nephi 4:20-26

Nephi obtains the brass plates by deceiving Zoram.

• 2 Nephi 28:8

"And there shall also be many which shall say: .. God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor ..."

• Alma 43:30

Moroni "thought it no sin that he should defend [the Nephites] by stratagem"

• D&C 10:25-26

Satan "telleth [us] that it is no sin to lie that ... [we] may destroy ..."

• D&C 76:103

Liars among those destined for the Telestial Kingdom.

• Exodus 20:16

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

• Stake Pres., "The Important Distinction between Lying & Lying for the Lord", LDS (Mormon) Stake Presidents Blog, January 2, 2014

A semi-anonymous description of a doctrine called "Lying for the Lord". This is not an official doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is one man's description of the idea, which acknowledges a number of facts to develop an idea which, if true, would justify many examples of lying in church history. I have, as yet, no well-developed thoughts that completely embrace this idea, but the concept is not without merit based on what I have determined, (See Notes below.) and it is important to be familiar with as a philosophy of honesty that exists within the Church.

• "Mormonism and church integrity/'Lying for the Lord'", FAIRMormon

A treatment of the topic of "Lying for the Lord" by FAIR. It is an interesting treatment as it both denies then confirms the doctrine. Since Lying for the Lord is not taught in any specific way, it is not any specific thing. One can interpret either that they are denying some specific, incorrect, idea, or that they are simply denying that anything related is taught in any official capacity. Either would be true. At the same time, they admit that valid justifications exist for lying, which would mean that we, theoretically, can lie for the Lord, in a doctrinally sound manner, even if these justifications never really are taught as an item of church doctrine.

Notes

It is interesting to note that I am not aware that the scriptures specifically enjoin against lying as a whole, but rather enjoins against "bearing false witness against your neighbor", or against "[Deceiving] and [laying] in wait to catch, that ye may destroy". Despite this, most church literature on the subject of lying advocates a less nuanced approach. This may be simpler to understand, but the scriptures give instances where deception is used to advance the Lord's work, and the inclusion of qualifiers strongly suggest that "white" lies may actually have place, whereby a lie is told in order to thwart the adversary and promote the work of the Lord. Based on the qualifiers used, we might imagine that a "white" (or good) lie, might be any lie which the spirit of the Lord prompts us to tell, which is not designed as a trap for our fellow-man, or which is designed to thwart the designs of the destroyer, might be examples of permissible lies.

Lying as an item of prohibition seems to be closely related to, trapping others. The Nephites seem to have been keenly aware of this leading to the odd note in Alma 43:30 that Moroni "thought it no sin that he should defend [the Nephites] by stratagem". At least, this note always seemed odd to me, since strategem would seem an integral element of defense which would seem extremely permissible. However, if the Nephites linked strategem, or trapping, with lying, in a fundamental way, it would seem clear that Moroni, and/or historians writing about him, would need to develop clear reasoning as to why his course of action was permissible.

It should be noted that abusing trust or authority to deceive others for personal gain, or to hide our sins, would clearly be morally wrong, and is an example of Unrighteous Dominion.

Cross-References

• The 10 Commandments