Is God a liar? Earlier in my life I would not have guessed that at 74 years of age I would be spending a great deal of energy defending God’s integrity to other Christians. It is not surprising that atheists claim that the Bible is a primitive fairy tale, but it is tragic that so many of us Christians believe that the Creator lied to us! Poor liars share blatant untruths that are easily discovered and refuted. Really good liars know how to couch their fabrications in enough ambiguity to give themselves some deniability if their mendacity is eventually discovered. If God is a liar, then he falls into the second category, which would make him very evil indeed. Yet that is exactly what many Christians claim.
Where am I going with this? As you may know, over two years ago my eyes were opened to one of the greatest satanic lies of all time. Heliocentrism, with its required Big Bang antecedent, was introduced some five hundred years ago by a Roman Catholic astronomer named Nicolaus Copernicus at the encouragement of the Pope. His theory flatly contradicts the Bible’s testimony in Genesis and elsewhere, which makes it odd that a so-called Christian leader would support it. But the Catholic church long ago abandoned the Bible as the ultimate source of truth. Before heliocentrism gained traction, almost everyone in the world, except for a few ancient Greeks and Egyptian hermeticists, believed the biblical version of things in some form or another. Almost every culture and civilization understood the earth to be an enclosed circular plane. This belief is now blamed on scientific ignorance, but perhaps they got their view from Adam who got his from God. Just a thought.
Though initially resisted by the Protestant Reformers for being contrary to the Bible’s teaching, eventually heliocentrism gained favor and now is almost universally believed.
As a result of the acceptance of what is now considered a scientific fact, Bible scholars felt compelled to alter their interpretation of Genesis and other enclosed cosmology verses and passages in the Bible. Today, scholars agree that God spoke phenomenologically in such passages, using poetic language to communicate spiritual truths. This was exactly the same interpretation strategy employed to provide wiggle room for biological evolutionary Darwinism to be true.
By claiming that God spoke words that have no literal meaning, but only seem so, we accuse God of dissimulation. It is similar to when parents tell their children that a stork delivered them to the family, knowing full well that it is a lie. Perhaps we can excuse parents for wanting to protect their children from knowing about sexual matters at too young an age, but it is still a lie. How much better to tell the truth without being specific – something like, “You are a gift from God. When you get older I will tell you more.” However, since we are quite human and born liars, we often resort to telling a falsehood to avoid an uncomfortable situation. But God is a stickler for truth by nature. (Numbers 23:19)
The Lord would never lie about his creation because what he made testifies to his character.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, Romans 1:18–20 (NKJV)
If God lied to us about his creation, certainly we would have an excuse since he would be guilty of giving false testimony.
If we claim that God was less than candid about his creation and therefore modify the obvious meaning of God’s Word to make it fit the claims of accepted “science,” for all practical purposes, we call God a liar of the very worst sort.
Not only did he mislead his people for thousands of years, he now has put a stumbling block in front of those who previously trusted his every word.
Are we now to understand that sometimes God speaks phenomenologically about other things we thought were literally true, such as Christ’s resurrection?
Maybe our Lord did not actually rise bodily from the dead, but only appeared to do so, to his scientifically ignorant disciples. Perhaps miracles did not really happen after all, but only appeared to take place because the biblical authors were uninformed.
Once we assume for ourselves the authority to interpret some passages of Scripture poetically or phenomenologically, we can end up in some real difficulties.
To add to the confusion, those who claim God spoke poetically in Genesis also affirm a belief in the inerrancy of Scripture, citing such verses as the following.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV) 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), John 10:35 (NKJV) 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)
We cannot have it both ways. We cannot say God sometimes speaks things that are not meant to be taken at face value while at the same time claiming he always and unequivocally tells the truth.
The only times we can interpret God’s words less than literally is when the context demands it. The context of Genesis does not demand it, which is proved by the fact that the Israelites, Jesus, and the early Christians all believed the Bible’s version of cosmology. Are we really more informed than Jesus? No, it is not the context, but modern astrophysics demands it. Whom are we serving anyway?
Satan’s deceptions are so subtle that sometimes we are not even aware that we are questioning God’s integrity and knowledge. We cleverly formulate nuanced interpretations that we think will get us off the hook with God, but they do not. He sees right through our duplicity, just as he recognized and called out the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders of his day.
And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Mark 7:13 (NLT)
Most heliocentrists do not realize how far afield from the Bible’s version of reality they have been taken by Satan’s lies. I have written dozens of articles in an effort to bring this to light. A good place to start might be the one entitled, The Genesis Testimony, in which I contrast the Genesis account with what heliocentrists believe. It may shock you.
Anyone who believes in heliocentrism is forced to reject the six-day account of creation and to accept all manner of unproven theories and concepts.
Below is an example.
In summary, when we change God’s Word to conform to modern thinking, we declare that the Creator is either a liar or did not understand what he made. Isaiah had some penetrating words relating to such a mindset.
Surely you have things turned around!...shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Isaiah 29:16 (NKJV)
When we do not believe that the Bible means what it says or says what it means, we call God a liar.
...the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar... 1 John 5:10 (NASB95)
Adam and Eve did not vocalize that they believed that God lied to them, but their actions spoke loudly and clearly. They gave the serpent’s words more credence than God’s! Are we any different?
Every generation encounters the temptation to disbelieve God and his words.
Satan seeks to overwhelm us with deception to divorce us from God’s truth in every area. As Jesus said, the devil is the father of lies, and there is absolutely no truth in him. (John 8:44) Over the centuries, Satan has managed to deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9), which has resulted in the entire world system being under his power (1 John 5:19).
In many places, even now, Christians are facing stiff persecution and even death for confessing that Christ is Lord.
In the West, it seems that currently our biggest test of allegiance to Christ may be whether we will resolutely hold to the truth of God’s Word or surrender our minds and hearts to the wisdom of men.
The only way to escape the devil’s web of enslaving lies is to turn to Christ and to make a decision to firmly believe every one of God’s words found in the Bible, even when we do not completely understand them.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31–32 (NASB95)
Jesus made it clear that we do not get to choose which of the words of the Bible are true and which are not (John 10:35).
We do not have the authority to declare that the Bible contains truth, but not every single word is true (Matthew 4:4).
Neither do we have any right to dilute the impact of God’s words or nullify them through reinterpretation to fit our own grid of understanding (Mark 7:13).
To be true to God, we must be willing to make a stand for his revealed truth, even if it means we must call some men liars, maybe even the majority of men.
Truth is not established by what the majority believes, but by what God says.
May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.” Romans 3:4 (NASB95)
If things go true to form, some will mock my words as being those of a moronic conspiracy theorist. Satan mocked Eve for “naively” believing God’s words. The devil seeks to intimidate us because we do not understand everything. He gladly provides occult knowledge to fill in the gap. God requires us to trust him and be satisfied with what he reveals to us. (Proverbs 3:5-6) The occult secrets of the universe that Satan offers that contradict the Bible must be rejected in favor of God’s truth. We will have to choose whose moron we are going to be – God’s or the devil’s. Paul chose to be God’s fool. (1 Corinthians 4:10) So should we. God is not a liar, and we should never call him one.
