Moral Dilemmas and Divine Mercy
On rare occasions, we are forced to make a moral choice of the lesser of 2 evils between 2 options with undesirable outcomes. In these incidents, we can see God having mercy on his creation, despite his hatred of lying and sin.
We can not only see this with lying, but also, when it comes to saving a life. Jesus referencing David eating food so that he wouldn’t die, despite it breaking God’s laws.
“He answered, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.'”
There are also times that when it comes to protecting a life, concealing information is the lesser of 2 evils.
We can see this being applied to the Christian hiding the Jews from the Nazis, or even the midwives protecting the Hebrew babies.
While we can see these cases, these cases are rarely used, and when it comes to the use of deception, most of the time, SCJ has to rely on the argument of silence when it comes to most of their biblical examples.
For example, while it is true that Rahab the spy did lie to protect the spies, she was commended for her faith, not for lying. More specifically:
Hebrews 11:31 – “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
James 2:25 – “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”
Even with midwives, we can see that at best Shincheonji has an argument of silence:
Exodus 1:17-21 – But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had [p]commanded them, but let the boys live. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.
Shincheonji Response:
A Shincheonji person may claim that if God is willing to have mercy on someone for the use of deception to protect a life, then what about their eternal salvation?
Christian Response:
When it comes to evangelism, the Bible makes it clear that we are not allowed to use deception to recruit. In the category “Wisdom of Hiding”, we provide a counter to the verses that are used to justify the use of deception.