(August 7, 2012 at 3:14 am)padraic Wrote:Quote:in the case of war or the game of chess.
I repeat; sophistry,to deliberately deceive IS to lie. However, I do not argue that lying is always immoral..
IF you accept the concept of a 'just war', (I do not) Sun Tzu's precept that war is about deception is perfectly moral. To argue that it is OK to deceive/lie under some circumstances is to argue moral relativism,or that God is above his own moral laws.
My position is that of moral relativism,based on the sensible notion that the ends justify the means. Pretty sure those are not Christian ideals.
And I never said that God set out to use deceit with the prophet, what I said, was God allowed the prophet to deceive himself, this is the point I've been trying to get across.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.