Khaled Hosseini

Khalid Hosseini is my favorite author and his book, the Kite Runner speaks to me more than any other.

The Kite Runner

“there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life… you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness… there is no act more wretched than stealing.”

He obviously does not think lying is fundamental, but that stealing is.

Christianity

Scripture

1. Genesis
   •  You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman ( Genesis 3:4 )
2. Leviticus
   • Do not steal, Do not lie, Do not deceive one another ( Leviticus 19:1 )
3. Psalm
   • O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; ( Psalm 15:1-2 )
   • For the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth ( Psalm 33:4 )
   • I hate and detest falsehood ( Psalm 119:163 )
   • …The LORD has sworn to David A truth from which He will not turn back: “Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
     “If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I will teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.”
     For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation.…
     ( Psalm 132:12 )
4. Proverbs
   • Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart. ( Proverbs 3:3 )
   • The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. ( Proverbs 12:22 )
   • An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies. ( Proverbs 14:5 )
   • Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler! ( Proverbs 17:7 )
5. Ecclesiastes
   • Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.
     The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.
     ( Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 )
6. Job
   • The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. ( Job 17:9 )
7.  Isaiah
   • I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. ( Isaiah 45:19 )
   • Truth is nowhere to be found,
     and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
     The Lord looked and was displeased
     that there was no justice.
     ( Isaiah 59:15 )
8. Daniel
   • But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. ( Daniel 10:21 )
9. Malachi
   • The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from iniquity. ( Malachi 2-6 )
10.  Hosea
    • Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One. ( Hosea 17:2 )
11. Zechariah
    • These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; ( Zechariah 8:16 )
12.  Zephaniah
    • They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” ( Zephaniah 3:13 )
13. John
    • Jesus and the Samaritan Woman …”God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” ( John 4:25 )
    • “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid.
      But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true.
      In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true.
      Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved.
      John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.
      But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
    • So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
      and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
      They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free ‘?”…
      ( John 8: 31-33 )
    • You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ( John 8:44 )
    • The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone – a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels — a plentiful harvest of new lives ( John 12:24 )
    • Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ( John 14-17 )
    • The Promise of the Holy Spirit …However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.… ( John 16:14 )
    • Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
      As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
      And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.( John 17:17-19 )
    • “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” ( John 18:37 )
14. Acts
    • Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ( Acts 5:3 )
    • Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ( Acts 20:30 )
15. Romans
    • Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ( Romans 1:24-25 )
16.  Ephesians
    • Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ( Ephesians 4:29 )
17. Colossians
    • Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ( Colossians 3:9 )
18. 1st Corinthians
    • This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
      The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
      The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments
19. 2nd Corinthians
    • For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory ( 2 Corinthians 4:6 )
20. Hebrews
    • For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ha fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? ( Hebrews 10:26-29 )
21. 1 Timothy
    • This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. ( 1 Timothy 2:3-4 )
    • Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. ( 1 Timothy 4:2 )
22. 2 Timothy
    • But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.” ( 2 Timothy 2:19)
    • Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth (  2 Timothy 2:25 )
    • holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ( 2 Timothy 3:5-7 )
23. Ephesians
    • Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
      ( Ephesians 4:15 )
24. 2 Thessalonians
    • He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10 )
25. Philippians
    • And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment.
      So that you can discern what is best, that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ( Philippians 1:9 -10 )
26. 1 John
    • …By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:… ( 1st John 2:3-5 )
    • But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
      Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them.But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. ( 1 John 4:6 )
27.  Titus
    • I have been sent to proclaim faith to[a] those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.
      This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.
      And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been entrusted with this work for him. ( Titus 1:1-3 )
    • …not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. ( Titus 1:14-16 )
28.  James
    • Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ( James 3:1 )
29. 2 Peter
    • But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.
      Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.
      In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
30.  Revelation
    • The Lamb and the 144,000 …These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. ( Revelation 14:5 )
    • Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. ( Revelation 22:15 )

Quotes

1. Cutting It Straight with H.B. Charles Jr. [ Link ] & [ Link ]
   • Do not ever let their reaction control your faithfulness to the text ( Segment :- 20 thru 23 Minutes)
   • Preaching without a firm conviction and their can be no power in that preaching ( Segment :- 35-37 Minutes )
   • Error thrives in ambiguity. Playing around the margins.  One position is just as good as the other
   • We are living in very critical times
   • Satan’s great strength is that his lies make sense
   • Apologetics demands familiarity
   • Familiarity with the genuine lets one identify the counterfeit; for most people that is how they should reach the truth; they should not have to play around on the other side)
2. R. Albert Mohler, Jr
   • Can be assured that his weak and evasive non-answer to this reporter’s question will put him at very little risk for arrest. But then, pandering prophets are rarely at much of a risk from the public anyway. There was no conviction in his answer; no clear declaration of biblical truth; no Gospel, no judgment, and no promise. Just a non-answer with a smile. Pathetic . . . simply pathetic.”
3. Ravi Zacharias
   • The Hebrews gave to the world the moral categories. The Romans gave to the world the legal categories. The Greeks gave to the world the philosophical categories. The pursuit of the Hebrews was light. The pursuit of the Romans was glory, the glory of the Roman empire. The pursuit of the Greeks was knowledge. Now this is fascinating. The apostle Paul was born a Hebrew, a citizen of Rome, and studied in a Greek city. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 he writes, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ”.
   • Truth is what guides our lives. If we don’t know God’s truth, we will unfortunately ground our life and existence in a lie. Ravi Zacharias said “ The fact is, the truth matters – especially when you’re on the receiving end of a lie.” A life grounded in truth is stable, strong and deeply rooted.
   • Intent has to precede content. To him who does not love the truth. To give him the truth is to multiply the reasons for misinterpretations
   • Narrowness means that I can not identify my own truth.
   • Truth by definition will always be restrictive. Truth will always have its boundaries.
   • Taking it a step further, the three tests for truth must be applied to any worldview: logical consistency, empirical adequacy, and experiential relevance. When submitted to these tests, the Christian message is utterly unique and meets the demand for truth.
   • A man rejects God neither because of intellectual demands nor because of the scarcity of evidence. A man rejects God because of a moral resistance that refuses to admit his need for God
   • I came to Him because I did not know which way to turn. I remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has 330 million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all-inclusive.
   • Every other person who is at the heart of any religion has had his or her beginning either in fancy or in fact. But nevertheless, there is a beginning. Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem was a moment preceded by eternity. His being neither originated in time nor came about by the will of humanity. The Author of time, who lived in the eternal, was made incarnate in time that we might live with the eternal in view. In that sense, the message of Christ was not the introduction of a religion, but an introduction to truth about reality as God alone knows it. To deny Jesus’ message while pursuing spirituality is to conjure an imaginary religion in an attempt to see heaven while sight is confined to the earth. That is precisely what Jesus challenged when he said, “I have come that [you] may have life” (John 10:10). His life spells living. Your life or my life, apart from Him, spells death
4. Kill the Messenger, a movie
   • Now that you know the truth, you will be faced with the most important decision of your life. And, that will be what to with it.
5. Pastor Paris Reidhead
   • Ruling Religion is pragmatism. If it works, it is true. If it succeeds, it is good. The test of all truth is if it works. ( Ten Shekels And A Shirt by Paris Reidhead )
6. Chuck Missler
   • The only barrier to truth is that you already have it.
7. Christopher Yuan
   • My Response to the Closing of Exodus International (full)  ( Link )
     • Whether Christians agree or disagree with Chambers’ statements and apologies, it is true many Christians view homosexual sex and same-sex romantic relationships to be worse than any other sin and treat LGBT people with disdain. This is truth at the expense of grace and does not reflect Gospel-centered living. We must repent of this hypocrisy. Churches encourage compassion toward unreached people groups (Muslims, ethnic minorities in Asia, tribes in South America), the poor (homeless, Dalit), and the needy (those sexually exploited, those living with HIV/AIDS), but do little to reach out to one of the most unreached people groups in America—LGBT people. Is not the Gospel to be proclaimed to all people?
8. John Paul Jackson
   • Truth involves the motive for doing it. Fact involves just what you are doing.
   • Draw people into small groups. They don’t want you to hear.
9. C.S. Lewis
   • But, Pain sometimes gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul….
10. Eliza Farnham
    • The ultimate aim of the human mind, in all its efforts, is to become acquainted with Truth
11. Anais Nin
    • Truth is something which can’t be told in a few words. Those who simplify the universe only reduce the expansion of its meaning.
12. Kahlil Gibran
    • In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. He conceals the other half out of fear of the people’s wrath.
    • Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, and in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life…
13. Charlie Sheen
    • Regardless of their saltless reputations I also led with condoms and honesty when it came to my condition. Sadly my truth soon became their treason as a deluge of blackmail and distortion took centre stage in this circus of deceit ( Link )
14. Jon Foreman, Switchfoot
    • Art is to remain in that tension and tell the truth.
15. Ross Perot
    • If your wife can not trust you, who can