The Truth in Lying

But 'tis strange: And oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tells us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray's in deepest consequence.
(Wm. Shakespeare, Macbeth, Banquo Act 1, Scene III)

Okay. Here we have Banquo, the hero, warning Macbeth to beware of the Witches (Weird Sisters) auguries. Although some of their augury has come true, after all Macbeth did legitimately become Thane of Cawdor, there was still a lot left to that same augury that didn't seem to be too accurate, and if accurate it wouldn't be too good. Basically, the second half of their augury was that Macbeth would also soon become King. They were genuinely prophetic. Macbeth, as we know, did become king. But at what cost? There was, of course, no legitimacy to his kingship. He achieved it via murder.

As I read this last night I couldn't help but think of how the Devil uses "angel of light" methods to deceive us. He is, after all, disguised in beauty as an "angel of light" but we know that it's just camouflage. In reality, he is just coming to steal, kill, and destroy. He is a liar, and the father of all lies. Even the ones that have grains of truth. Those lies that we somehow reconcile with our own consciousness because of that half-truth. And there is no need, of course, for me to pull out the trite little soap box of "A half-truth is a whole lie." We all know that. We just overlook it, sometimes purposefully.

It was also Shakespeare (I think) who said that the Devil cites Scriptures for his own purposes. He undoubtedly knows the Word well. He quoted it to Jesus when tempting Him out in the desert. The devil lies to us with our emotions. After all, if it feels good we can do it, right? Or with our intellects. We reason so many things out. This can't be so, it's too absurd. Or we say, This has to be this way, any other way would be absurd. He even tackles our faith. Perhaps this is the area we most frequently overlook his lies. But he is an artful deceiver in these areas. He tells us that we can add to our faith via good works. He tells us that God condemns us for our sins. He tells us that we can't quit our sins. He tells us that unless we quit (which is impossible) God won't hear our prayers. He tells us that we are guilty. That we need to measure up to God's love. He tells us all these lies and more. But he does so artfully because he often involves kernels of truth to his lies. Nevertheless they are still lies.