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Carnell helps me by emphasizing that it is a choice, one of many choices Christians have to make every day. No matter how simple the situation, it may be a choice between two evils, and I do well to realize what I am saying/doing at that moment. When my hostess asks if I enjoyed what I considered a deadly boring evening, I can respond, "It was wonderful!" or "I'm so sorry, I really didn't enjoy it." Most of us will respond with the first. Let's just be aware we do it.

Ed Dayton
Newport Beach, Calif.

* Why are only two options offered: breaking covenant and lying? Are silence, partial information, unrelated facts, godly rebuke, or even blessing not considered as viable choices? Even God approved (and ordered) partial information that was not a lie (1 Sam. 16:2). Why is it assumed that lying is sometimes necessary to preserve a life, and how does one know that one of the third-option categories would not also deliver the person? Speaking what is clearly untrue when the speaker knows it is untrue, for the purpose of deception, violates the Christian virtue of trustworthiness in life and speech. Not everyone should be given complete information, but no one should be addressed falsely, especially by a person indwelled by the God of truth.

Prof. Robert V. Rakestraw
Bethel Theological Seminary
St. Paul, Minn.

The problem with Verhey's theological position on lying is that he, like many others, does not let God be God. Augustine and Calvin knew what Verhey seems to miss, namely, that when our logic fails to give account of things, we must dispose of our reasoning and rest in God's.

Scripture's silence on Rahab's lie is not endorsing it. When taken against the plethora of verses condemning deceit and falsehood, this example of Rahab is one of the weakest one could use to validate that the end ever justifies the means.

The ancient church fathers were right when they said fides precedit intellectium ("faith precedes intelligence"). When ethical decisions are required, we must in faith always trust God's unchanging instructions for our life. Lying is always a sin—unless, of course, God was lying.

Prof. Elden Stielstra
Cornerstone University
Grand Rapids, Mich.

Could another answer to the question be: Rahab was faced with what seemed to her a choice between a greater and a lesser evil—to share in the responsibility of the death of two men whom she believed to be messengers of God, or to tell a lie and save them? To a Christian, a lie can never be justified, but to a person like Rahab, light comes but gradually. "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." God accepts what is sincerely and honestly intended, even though there be a mixture of frailty and ignorance in it. Rahab's faith was tested and it rang true. God accepts us where we are, but we must "grow in grace."

Carroll V. Brauer
Toms Brook, Va.

What We Need Is Gender Unity
Thank you for your Conversations piece on "Re-Imagining Women" [May 24]. Janice Shaw Crouse rightly identifies the dangers of the radical feminist ideology. I, too, am an ordained woman who upholds biblical orthodoxy, which for many constitutes an oxymoron. I also believe we must respond with biblical and intellectual integrity regarding these issues. At the same time, I believe we must get past the "us vs. them" mentality that separates the two genders. Instead of calling only women to unite, are we not all called to unity? Until we get it through our minds and hearts that we are all, women and men, partnering in the ministry of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, we will continue to foster a spirit of divisiveness and impede the spread of the gospel.

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July 12 1999, Vol. 43, No. 8