not in his mind. Hence the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv, 7) that
"lying is in itself evil and to be shunned, while truthfulness is
good and worthy of praise." Therefore every lie is a sin, as also
Augustine declares (Contra Mend. i).

Reply Obj. 1: It is unlawful to hold that any false assertion is
contained either in the Gospel or in any canonical Scripture, or that
the writers thereof have told untruths, because faith would be
deprived of its certitude which is based on the authority of Holy
Writ. That the words of certain people are variously reported in the
Gospel and other sacred writings does not constitute a lie. Hence
Augustine says (De Consens. Evang. ii): "He that has the wit to
understand that in order to know the truth it is necessary to get at
the sense, will conclude that he must not be the least troubled, no
matter by what words that sense is expressed." Hence it is evident,
as he adds (De Consens. Evang. ii), that "we must not judge that
someone is lying, if several persons fail to describe in the same way
and in the same words a thing which they remember to have seen or
heard."

Reply Obj. 2: The midwives were rewarded, not for their lie, but for
their fear of God, and for their good-will, which latter led them to
tell a lie. Hence it is expressly stated (Ex. 2:21): "And because the
midwives feared God, He built them houses." But the subsequent lie
was not meritorious.

Reply Obj. 3: In Holy Writ, as Augustine observes (Lib. De Mend. v),
the deeds of certain persons are related as examples of perfect
virtue: and we must not believe that such persons were liars. If,
however, any of their statements appear to be untruthful, we must
understand such statements to have been figurative and prophetic.
Hence Augustine says (Lib. De Mend. v): "We must believe that
whatever is related of those who, in prophetical times, are mentioned
as being worthy of credit, was done and said by them prophetically."
As to Abraham "when he said that Sara was his sister, he wished to
hide the truth, not to tell a lie, for she is called his sister since
she was the daughter of his father," Augustine says (QQ. Super. Gen.
xxvi; Contra Mend. x; Contra Faust. xxii). Wherefore Abraham himself
said (Gen. 20:12): "She is truly my sister, the daughter of my
father, and not the daughter of my mother," being related to him on
his father's side. Jacob's assertion that he was Esau, Isaac's
first-born, was spoken in a mystical sense, bec