Read chapter 9 in the Alec Hill text.
After reading the chapter, answer each of the questions under “Concepts to Understand.” These answers do
not have to be long, but they need to be long enough that I can tell you’ve read the relevant passages from
Scripture and have thought about them. There are four sections of questions related to conflicting duties,
mutual deceits, no right to the truth, exaggeration, and ambiguity.
Example:
Exodus 1:15-22. Do the midwives lie to Pharaoh? How does the author of Exodus evaluate their moral
behavior?
It appears that they lied, although it is not explicitly stated, it is implied. They definitely chose to disobey the
governing authority in this case. There was a conflicting duty between obeying those in authority and the taking
status of innocent life. The author of Exodus says that because of the action of the midwives, God blessed them.
Bonhoeffer would probably say in this circumstance that Pharaoh had lost his right to hear the truth.
Below are the questions from the text you should answer:
III. Concepts to Understand
How might each passage be applied to a business context?
1.Conflicting duties
Exodus 1:15-22: Do the midwives lie to Pharaoh? How does the author of Exodus evaluate their moral
behavior?
1 Samuel 19:11-17: Michal, David’s wife, lies twice. Is either lie (or both) morally permissible?
1 Samuel 21:10-15: Is it ethically acceptable for David to pretend insanity in this context? See also the
introduction to Psalm 34.
Joshua 2; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25: Do these authors condemn Rahab’s lie? Praise it?
1 Corinthians 10:13: How does this passage resolve the problem of conflicting moral duties? Is it possible to
build an entire ethical system on this verse? See also the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-
19.
2.Mutual deceits
2 Kings 6:8-23: Does Elisha lie to the enemy army in 2 Kings 6:19 when he says that “this is not the city”?
Does the military context of the story justify his comments? Or is he simply using ambiguous language?
Joshua 8:3-23: How does Joshua trick his enemy? Are his military tactics evaluated as unethical?
3.No right to the truth
Genesis 43:1–45:3: Have Joseph’s brothers forfeited their right to be told the truth by the way they treated him
years earlier?
2 Samuel 12:1-10: Nathan misleads David with his story about the lambs. Is this ethical?
1 Kings 3:16-28: Is Solomon deceptive in threatening to split the infant?
2 Kings 10:18-30: Why is Jehu rewarded for his apparent dishonesty? Does this story have limited
applicability?
Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:14-21: How are we to treat our enemies? Are we justified in telling nontruths to
them?
4.Exaggeration
Isaiah 5:18-20: How careful should we be in our use of words?
Matthew 10:37-39; 19:23-26; Mark 9:43-48: When is the use of hyperbole ethical? When not?
5.Ambiguity
Genesis 12:10-20; 20: Does Abraham engage in lying? In deceit?
1 Samuel 16:1-5: Does Samuel create ambiguity here? Is it morally acceptable?
1 Samuel 20:16-42: Is Jonathan’s statement that David “asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem” (1 Sam
20:28) a lie? An ambiguity?