In my previous essay I argued that lying is incompatible with the love of truth that all human persons should have. I turn now to Augustine’s claim that lying is always, precisely because of its opposition to the good of truth, also in opposition to God, who is truth. I will characterize this as involving the claim that lying is contrary to the good of religion.
As with the good of truth, I will identify what religion is, how it is good, and how the lie stands in opposition to this good. To begin, let us identify the nature of religion as the attempt to make peace with, and live in harmony with, whatever greater-than-human source of meaning and value there might or might not be. At one extreme, “religion” so understood would simply involve making peace with the fact that there is no such source. At another extreme, “religion” so understood would potentially involve (as both Augustine and Aquinas believed it did) a relationship of friendship with the divine personal being who is the source of everything.
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